Distinguished Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka, a leading figure in environmental education, was awarded the 2024 SAERA Research Honours Award by the South African Education Research Association (SAERA) last week (31 October) at their annual conference in Johannesburg. The award recognises her substantial contribution to the development of education research in South Africa, especially within the fields of Environmental and Sustainability Education, over a remarkable 30-year career. The accolade, which is one of the highest forms of national recognition for a researcher in the Educational Sciences in South Africa, also marks a significant first for Rhodes University’s Education Faculty.

The Faculty of Education at Rhodes University is offering bursaries to study towards a Master of Education degree.

On 19 September 2023, the Office for Equity and Institutional Culture and the Student Representative Council (SRC), hosted a remarkable event at the Oppidan Dining Hall. This event featured a distinguished guest speaker, Landa Mabenge, the author of "Becoming Him: A Trans Memoir of Triumph," who shared his invaluable experiences on the path to self-acceptance and empowerment.

Dean of Education initiative to retain postgraduate candidates.

The Master’s programme at the ELRC has always been lauded as a flagship programme in mobilising the capacity of educational change makers in cutting edge research praxis that is responsive to the questions of our times. This year’s M.ED programme welcomes the critical questions that experienced teachers, practitioners and researchers hold in their practice towards Regenerative African Futures and Sustainability.

The South Africa Sweden University Forum (SASUF), of which Rhodes University is a member, recently held its Research and Innovation Week 2023. Several Rhodes University academics and executives participated.

PhD scholars gather for the first Higher Education Studies Doc Week of 2023

Empowering academic staff: CHERTL launches New Academic Staff Mentorship Programme

The Department of Higher Education and Training has awarded Rhodes University R13 497 000 to run three projects aimed at making a national impact on the higher education sector.

Digital archives are an essential aspect of the educational sphere. They serve as a form of immortalising knowledge, which can easily be lost if time is not taken to ensure its survival. The Rhodes University Library, in collaboration with the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC), recently presented an initiative to ensure that knowledge is stored and packaged for years and years to come through a digital archive project.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a shock to higher education systems everywhere. But while some changes, like moving lectures online, were relatively easy to make, assessment posed a much bigger challenge. Assessment can take many forms, from essays to exams to experiments and more.

Rhodes University Environmental Learning and Research Centre (ELRC) recently hosted a welcoming launch in celebration of the new qualification, the Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainability Learning [PGDip (SL)].

The Master’s programme at the ELRC has always been lauded as a flagship programme in mobilising the capacity of educational change makers in cutting edge research praxis that is responsive to the questions of our times. This year’s M.ED programme welcomes the critical questions that experienced teachers, practitioners and researchers hold in their practice towards Regenerative African Futures and Sustainability.

This is a full time contract doctoral/post-doctoral and RA research position for an Early Career Researcher / Post-doctoral Scholar to work with the SARChI Chair on Global Change and Social Learning Systems on a prestigious, and exciting international research project focussing on ‘Times of a Just Transition’ funded by the British Academy in collaboration with the SARChI Chair.

’Time for Justice’: Interesting new project by Heila Lotz-Sisitka The SARChI Chair: Global Change and Social Learning Systems in the Environmental Learning Research Centre at Rhodes University, is pleased to announce its participation in an exciting new project titled ’’The Times of a Just Transition’ This project forms part of an innovative, and prestigious global convening programme established by the British Academy to support researchers world-wide to give time to consider critical issues at global level in conversation with each other over a three year period.

The first ever Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainability Learning was launched at Rhodes University on the 6th of February 2023. The exciting inter-disciplinary qualification was created to open up more study pathways in the environmental education sector.

Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (National) Tutor Workshop with Dr Bella

A special graduation season for our Doctors in red

Two academics from Rhodes University, Distinguished Professor at the Environmental Learning Research Centre, Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka and Computer Science Lecturer Dr Dane Brown, were inaugurated as Members of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) at the annual Awards Ceremony. The two academics were among the 29 scholars and scientists that ASSAf inaugurated.

In our August 2022 Doc Week, we were fortunate to host international guests stemming from a variety of projects Professor Sioux McKenna has been involved in for the past few years. Guests included Professor Kevin Kinser and Dr LaWanda Ward (Penn State University, USA), Dr Jan McArthur (Lancaster University, UK), Dr Patrick Onyango (Maseno University, Kenya) and Dr Lynn Kisembe (Moi University, Kenya), along with a number of their own doctoral candidates. We also hosted supervisors and scholars from Durban University of Technology and the University of Zululand.

Alumnus, Dr. Million Belay

The Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) hosted a seminar to build support networks for female school principals as part of their initiative to professionally develop and equip females in school leadership.

The 40th Conference for the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EESA), held at the University of Namibia from 23rd to 25th August 2022, featured a very esteemed activity, Sustainability Starts with Teachers (SST) policy dialogue. SST is a capacity building programme for teacher and TVET educators in mainstreaming Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Alumnus, colleague and friend Donna-lee Griffin Page passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, 23 July 2022

SADC Ministers approved the Regional Strategic Framework on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) on 17 June 2022 in Lilongwe, Malawi.

The Sustainability Starts with Teachers Course celebrates 106 graduates!

The ELRC will be hosting a Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) Research School in July 2022.

Stories of collective learning and care during a pandemic The Environmental Learning Research Centre at Rhodes University, in partnership with the international Transforming Education for Sustainable Futures (TESF) research programme, are pleased to release this beautiful monograph, produced through collective learning and care with eight partner groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. The monograph, entitled ‘Stories of collective learning and care during a pandemic’ offers stories from eight carefully crafted reflective research projects by practitioners, researchers and community-based organisers. The stories share insight into the collective shifts and praxis needed to regenerate transformative futures.

Congratulations to our PhD Scholar, Sidney Muhangi, who has been awarded the Commonwealth Split-site Scholarship sponsored by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission. Sidney’s scholarship is tenable at the University of Nottingham, UK, where he will be based while completing his studies over the next 12 months.

April marked the first live graduation ceremony since the Covid-19 pandemic in the start of 2020. The occasion saw two of our ELRC PhD scholars cross the stage and capped by the ‘Green Dean’, Professor Eureta Rosenberg, on Friday afternoon. We celebrate with Dr Anna James and Dr Priya Vallabh who joined a lovely line up of PhDs and Masters who graduated on the virtual stage during lockdown.

The 2nd cohort of ACEFL students finally graduated after 2 years of hard work amid all the challenges of the pandemic brought about by Covid-19.

In January this year, PhD scholars and supervisors from the Social Justice and Quality in Higher Education project, which forms part of the broader CHERTL Higher Education Studies Doctoral Programme, were lucky enough to spend four days in the Stellenbosch mountains on a doctoral writing retreat.

The Rhodes Faculty of Education has this week (22 -26 July) hosted its second ‘Doctoral Week’ for 2019 at the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC). Read more...

Following campus-wide concerns over poor lecture attendance in various academic disciplines, CHERTL initiated a ‘conversation’ on Tuesday 6 August using the question ‘Why DO students attend lectures?’

As part of the Education Faculty’s Doc Week, on Wednesday evening, CHERTL hosted a campus-wide panel discussion on “Troubling Curriculum Change”. Read more...

Takalani Sesame Play to Learn Certification Ceremony

Master of Education (Environmental Education) - Applications now open for 2022!

From Rhodes University in South Africa, Sioux Mckenna asks whether the technological arms race of plagiarism detection is of any benefit to students and learning

From 26 - 29 August 2021, CSD launched the Makhanda BookDashX project in collaboration with Amazwi South African Museum of Literature.

The Right to Read and Write Campaign

The SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063 proposes that southern African countries upscale industrialization activities.

A record number of 300 participants have registered for the online 2021 Sustainability Starts with Teachers Course, as the initiative begins to go to scale in southern Africa. Opening the 2021 Sustainability Starts with Teachers Course, Prof Hubert Guizen, Director of UNESCO Southern and East Africa, welcomed participants to the third iteration of this UNESCO/Rhodes University regional course on Education for Sustainable Development.

It is often times said that water is life. One old Xhosa woman once said ukuba asiwaxabisanga amanzi sichitha ubomi bethu.

CSD 40 Year Anniversary Save the Date

Rhodes University Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC) in partnership with Engagement Global (Germany) invite applications for participation in this Internationally designed learning opportunity.

The Centre for Researching Education and Labour at Wits University, in partnership with the SARChI Chair in Global Change and Social Learning Systems and the Chair of Environment and Sustainability Education in the Environmental Learning Research Centre at Rhodes University, and the Education Faculty at the University of Zululand, are inviting applications for scholarships for 3-5 Masters and 3-4 PhDs from South Africa to join this exciting research programme, co-ordinated out of the Wits University REAL Centre and implemented in partnership with the SARChI Chair of Global Change and Social Learning Systems at Rhodes University.

The SARChI Chair in Global Change and Social Learning Systems in the Environmental Learning Research Centre at Rhodes University, in partnership with Wageningen University in the Netherlands are inviting applications for scholarships for 3 PhDs from south/southern Africa to join the RIVER COMMONS research programme co-ordinated out of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, but implemented in South Africa by the SARChI Chair of Global Change and Social Learning at Rhodes University. The linked website offers more information, including an introductory video on the programme.

In South Africa a growing network of small-scale fisher leaders, environmental justice organisations and researchers from the One Ocean Hub, currently called the Coastal Justice Network (CJN), has been responding collaboratively over the past two years to a range of injustices – social, environmental, economic – experienced by coastal communities and environments.

In this short #EEASA2021 presentation, Ludwig Chanyau and Prof Eureta Rosenberg share some early findings from the MECCE project's Regional Knowledge Synthesis for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Are you interested in sharing your research internationally?

On 23 June 2021 Prof Eureta Rosenberg, Chair in Environment and Sustainability Education at Rhodes University, presents a case-based analysis of green economy features in the South African school curriculum in the EEASA 2021 Conference.

First Prize in the prestigious 2021 MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship

On the 23rd April 2021, Fundisa for Change launched an online course as part of the Keep It Cool: Climate Change Education Project (KIC:CCE) for teachers.

NORRAG, an associate program of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland, invites contributions to NORRAG Special Issue #7 with a focus on Education in Times of Climate Change. The Guest Editors for this Special Issue are Distinguished Professor Heila Lotz Sisitka and Professor Eureta Rosenberg, from the Environmental Learning Research Centre based at Rhodes University.

The Takalani Male Care-givers project is a pilot

CSD Welcomes two new staff members to our team in 2021

The national Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy (2010-2030) aims to drive a systemic approach to developing skills for biodiversity, in pursuit of ‘a socially equitable and suitably skilled workforce of biodiversity leaders, professionals and technicians to optimally implement the sector’s expanding and increasingly complex mandate’1.

Meet our new PhD candidate Aaniyah Omardien, who is conducting co-creative practice-based research that explores innovations in public pedagogies of care for the hydro-commons in a South African context.

The drug whoonga has plagued South African communities for at least a decade, yet only gained significant public attention when it appeared more visibly in the inner-city and surrounding suburbs of Durban, the major city in the country’s KwaZulu-Natal province.

CSD encourages all ECD practioners to urgently register for the President's Stimulus Relief Fund regardless of whether you are in a fully registered centre or not.

The Amanzi for Food team is very excited to announce that a data-free version of the Amanzi for Food website and the online Training of Trainers course has been developed.

Co-ordinator of Community Centred Programmes

Nicci and Nolly at VG for International Book Day

We invite you to take action to help every child in South Africa to reach their dreams with a solid foundation of through access to Early Childhoood Development Services.

Nicci Hayes from the Centre for Social Development talks ECD to eNCA's Tumelo Mothotoane

Post Graduate students and Postdoctoral fellows were recently invited to make a 3-minute thesis video sharing their research with the general public!

Join in NECDA's Campaign for real reform for ECD at www.ecdreform.org.za

Literacy progress amidst the pandemic

Fantastic news for the ECD sector as court rules this week that full subsidies and grants must be paid! Read the full judgement here:

Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future

After months of ECD centers sitting empty, ECD practitioners remaining unpaid and the full responsibility of learning having to be taken by parents and care-givers at home, the Makhanda community decided that enough was enough.

The Sustainability Starts with Teachers (SST), is bringing together Teacher and TVET educators for an intensive regional course, following successful in-country workshops in the three countries. The course will be hosted virtually by the Environmental Learning Research centre at Rhodes University for a twenty-day period from the 14th of September to 13th November 2020.

CSD is involved in International Literacy Day and National Book Week.

The Rhodes University Environmental Learning Research Centre and Wits Centre for Researching Education and Labour invite you to a virtual book launch of Green Skills Research in South Africa

On 23 July 2020, during the Higher Education Studies ‘Doc Week’, Professor Sioux McKenna (CPGS) and Dr Kirstin Wilmot (CHERTL), along with co-editor, Professor Christine Winberg (Cape Peninsula University of Technology), launched their new book, Building knowledge in higher education: Enhancing Teaching and Learning with Legitimation Code Theory.

If you are interested in joining the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) team, now is your chance! They are advertising three exciting posts: * Senior Researcher: Economic and Climate Justice * Junior Researcher: Economic and Climate Justice * Part-time Communications Officer

Grocott's Mail Opening Doors

Over the past two weeks CSD staff members, Nolly Shelle, Boniwe Msimango and Vati Shelle have been distributing a total of 1000 DUPLO 6-bricks packs through 25 early childhood development (ECD) centres to more than 600 families.

1st Edition Building Knowledge in Higher Education Enhancing Teaching and Learning with Legitimation Code Theory By Christine Winberg, Sioux McKenna, Kirstin Wilmot

Is lockdown preventing you from getting out do your usual Mandela Day service?

Calling All Researchers and Practitioners of Work & Learning, You are invited to join scholars, policy-makers and practitioners from around the world in Toronto (Canada) for the 12th Researching Work & Learning (RWL) Conference on July 14-16, 2021.

The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust (OMT) has granted R3.8 million to Rhodes University to support the University’s efforts to transition to online teaching and learning and implement an effective response strategy that adapts its classroom-based methods to effective delivery on digital platforms following the outbreak of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Facilitating Social Learning & Stakeholder Engagement in the context of Natural Resource Management: Introductory Course Rhodes University and the Tsitsa Project are excited to announce the opening of registrations for this new national level online course. The course aims to inform and strengthen the existing and future practice of educators, trainers, facilitators (and people interested in these roles) working in NRM contexts with up-to-date theory, methods and processes. Participant practices will be strengthened through a series of assignments tailored by students and their mentors to meet their contextual and organisational needs.

Over the past two weeks, the CSD Community Team has delivered 1000 packs of 6 bricks Duplo blocks along with booklets of how to use these for joyful play in the home.

The CSD team is devastated to report the passing of Mr Thuso Moss, friend, colleague and father to our staff and many many of our students.

Although the concept of remote teaching at Rhodes University is not new, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought this form of teaching and learning into focus.

Last week CSD delivered 846 Grocery Packs to Grahamstown residents.

CSD staff delivered 520 food parcels today sponsored by HCI and Lunchbox.

In addition to the challenges of keeping in touch with our students and continuing our courses from a distance, the CSD has been innovative, flexible and fast moving in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.

Some insight into what the various departments within our faculty have busied themselves with in the first quarter of this year.

Creative Practice Methodologies in Participatory Research: A workshop in Makhanda, South Africa, 10 – 12 March 2020

The ELRC and The Proteus Initiative, in collaboration, present a four module Postgraduate Short Course.

Eastern Province – Grahamstown (Makhanda)

Bella Vilikazi’s PhD is looking at the ways in which feedback on students’ work can open the doors of learning or keep them firmly shut. Her narrative approach to data collection is emerging in a rich collection of stories which offer academics significant insights.

Celebrate World Read Aloud Day 2020

The 2020 academic year may have just started at Rhodes University but the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC) is already in a full motion.

The Centre for Social Development hosted a certification ceremony on the 3rd of December for practitioners who have completed their level 4 and level 5 National Diploma in Early Childhood Development SETA accredited courses.

The Rhodes University - WWF South Africa Research Team presented at the Collaborative Research Working Group meeting in November.

The Education Faculty was well represented at the Volkswagen Community Trust’s (VWCT) 4th Annual Literacy Conference which took place in KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage this month. Volkswagen SA has a long history of Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programmes in education. The VW Legacy Literacy Programme Project (VLLP) is an ambitious school-based literacy intervention focused on Foundation Phase of schooling in five KwaNobuhle primary schools.

Delegates from as far as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) travelled to Makhanda to celebrate the opening of the new model Confucius Institute Centre at Rhodes University on 9 November.

World Teachers' Day is celebrated globally on the 5th of October. The Eastern Cape Department of Education had a World Teachers' Day Celebration this year at the International Convention Centre over two days (4-5 October).

Lalela uLwandle will be toured and performed in a number of coastal towns in KwaZulu Natal, including a run at the UKZN Square Space Theatre in Durban, from the 7th to the 19th of October.

This month Prof Eureta Rosenberg joined other researchers and policy makers to discuss the causes of land degradation, and shared among other studies, the ELRC's research regarding Mining.

Many countries around the world have made the implementation of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) one of their top development priorities.

The third National Geography Olympiad took place during Term 2, with over 1 300 learners participating from 72 schools across South Africa. Professor Di Wilmot, representing the South African Geography Olympiad committee, presented the Olympiad certificates to two St Andrew’s boys who won awards.

Pupils from Seventh Day Adventist School, Ntsika High School and a group of out-of-school youth were hosted by Rhodes University’s Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC) in a workshop with international film director, Amanda Blue.

Early Childhood Care and Education (0-4) Transdisciplinary approach Edited by Adéle Moodly (lead editor), Namhla Sotuku, Kim Schmidt and Nkidi Phatudi

CHERTL's 2019 tutor development course, Engage, has doubled the number of places on offer for RU tutors. Funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training South Africa, the course currently has 30 registered students spanning the faculties of Humanities, Commerce and Science.

Lessons from the Kalahari Tracking Tracking Teachers' Professional Development Edited by Monica Hendricks and Giulietta Harrison

WISDOMS celebrates the peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of the ELRC, through their work as ecological citizens and social and environmental justice scholar activists

Social change begins with you - the people of Makana with rich histories, complex struggles and formidable resilience. Tapping into this deep well of stories and lived experiences is the core purpose of Rhodes University’s new Social Innovation Hub - a multi-faceted digital storytelling lab launched by the Rhodes University Community Engagement Division on the chilly evening of 25 June.

The Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC) is excited to announce a bold new platform within the National Arts Festival programme entitled: Re-imagining Creative Practice in Sustainability.

Some 50 skills and evaluation specialists gathered at the ServicesSETA in Parktown on 12 June 2019 to discuss proposals to streamline the SETAs' monitoring and reporting system, and strengthen SETA evaluations and their use.

"Are those screens… are they battery operated?” these are the most frequently asked question by children visiting the uShaka Marine World Aquarium when seeing the large marine tanks (and the marine life inside them) for the first time.

New M.Ed. students from around South Africa and Namibia arrived at the ELRC this week to start a course in environment and sustainability education. Staff and post-docs joined the students for a workshop on the commodity chain of the plastic bottle.

Jay O’Keeffe was a passionate river ecologist, bringing people together towards holistic approaches to sustaining rivers around the world.

It is with a deep sense of grief and pain that the Environmental Learning Research Centre at Rhodes University announce the recent passing of Kudakwashe Lovejoy Mudokwani, one of our talented Masters scholars. Kuda passed away tragically on Friday 1 February 2019 in a fatal car accident in Zimbabwe.

From 2014 to 2016, Dr Anna Nkomo, a newly appointed member of the academic staff in the Education Department, conducted her PhD research on instilling and nurturing reading for pleasure in the Foundation Phase at D D Siwisa Primary School

Trading Live is a uniquely Rhodes Initiative that seeks to honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela and build the community of Grahamstown. This year Trading Live was from 18 July to 24 July 2018.

On 14 June 2018, the Education Department students signed their Matthew Goniwe Scholarship contracts with the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) of the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE), Mr M Makupula.

Qualities and processes of learning and change are seldom given the depth perspective needed in transformations to sustainability research

The Conference aimed to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in synergy to industry, community interests, the political sectors, and society, framing these discussions in how best to situate these SDGs within the African context.

The T-learning research programme being implemented by the ELRC for the International Social Sciences Transformations to Sustainability Research Programme is already in its third year of implementation. This short blog piece shares a brief update from all of the nine country case studies being developed in this research programme.

The transdisciplinary triple jump: A three-part movement in which PhD scholars must learn about paying attention to scientific rigour and excellence, societal relevance and engagement, and self-respect and care (Graphic by Caydn Barker).

The New Academics Programme (nGAP) lecturers recently participated (5 April 2018) in the New Academics’ Transitions into Higher Education Regional Colloquium hosted by the Western Cape Universities (Cape Peninsula University of Technology, University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, University of the Western Cape) at UCT.

At the Rhodes graduation ceremony at 9.30 on Thursday 5 April 2018 CHERTL staff were proud to witness thirty-two Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (PGDip (HE)) students and three PhD students crossing the stage.

The citation read by Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Peter Clayton, at Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitkas conferment.

DayOne is a podcast by/for Cape Town towards better understanding the ways water flows in our city.

CSD is also working with other amazing organizations as well! Please take a look at what they are doing and also what they offer.

The 2018 academic year started off on a positive note. The first contact session for the Eastern Cape cohort who are in their second year, was held from Monday, 8th to Friday, 12th January 2018 in the RU Education Department

Professor Karl Maton’s visit was greatly anticipated by the many academics and PhD scholars drawing on Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) for their research.

The launch of the book, Going to University- The Influence of Higher Education on the Lives of Young South Africans, took place at Rhodes University on 5th March 2018.

Rhodes University presents Professor Di Wilmot’s Inaugural Lecture titled Transformative Teacher Education in a time of crisis on Thursday, 7 September 2017 at 18h30 at the Eden Grove Blue Lecture Theatre.

The ELRC are pleased to announce that one of their recent publications ‘Critical Realism, Environmental Learning and Social Change’ (Routledge, 2016) has been awarded the Cheryl Frank Memorial Prize for 2016.

Two projects shared the spoils at this year’s Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Community Engagement Awards in April 2017. The WRC Amanzi for Food Research Programme and the Recreational Fisheries Research Group came first place in the competitive annual award,which recognises meaningful and committed partnerships between members of the university and the community.

Last week Rhodes University hosted the first Inaugural Lecture of the year by Professor Sioux McKenna titled Unmasking the Doctorate.

“One of the primary roles of a Higher Education institution in a society is knowledge generation and knowledge dissemination. The community must benefit from the quality of the university’s Research, teaching, and learning. Through community engagement, Rhodes University endeavours to expose our students and staff to the social realities of our local community (Grahamstown)”. – Dr Sizwe Mabizela, Vice Chancellor.

Congratulations to the Dean of Faculty, Prof Di Wilmot, who has been elected as a member of the Steering Committee of the Commission on Geographical Education of the International Geographical Union (IGU), the largest international body in the field of Geography.

Principal Joubert Retief of P.J. Olivier Hoërskool talks about the Principals’ Programme and what needs to be done to improve school education in South Africa:

Being accepted into Rhodes University is just the beginning of a challenging academic and social journey, and for those from disadvantaged backgrounds the journey can be particularly gruelling. But Rhodes University’s Extended Studies Unit (ESU) and its Trojan Academic Initiative (TAI) Student Peer Mentoring Programme are committed to ensuring that students not only arrive, but thrive.

The Principals’ Programme is a leadership development programme run by Rhodes Business School in 2016 for all the principals in Grahamstown’s government schools.

In June this year, Professor Di Wilmot was re-elected unopposed to serve a third term as Dean of the Education Faculty at Rhodes University. Her motivation for continuing in this role was based largely on the fact that she facilitated a strategic planning process and the initiation of a number of new programmes, which she would like to see through to completion.

Recently the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC) was awarded R13 million to lead an international research programme on learning- centred transformation in the social-ecological sciences (SES).

Rhodes University Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka has been awarded a prestigious Tier 1 SARChI Chair under the National Research Foundation’s South African Research Chair Initiative. This research chair will focus on learning pathways for green skills and transformative social learning more broadly.

Education can and should change people’s lives. Education systems ought to operate with the public good in mind.

The Murray & Roberts Chair of Environmental Education and Sustainability turns 25 this year, having more than proved itself to be a sustainable success.

A natural talent brought this young maths whizz from Dutywa to Rhodes through the Rhodes University Maths Education Project, but her commitment to hard work and perseverance will see her realise her dreams

Travelling by bus from Malawi, Dick Kachilonda’s persistence paved the way for a Masters cum laude in Environmental Education. And now his son is following suit.

Through development work and research, the Numeracy Chair at Rhodes has seen a big boost in confidence in teachers and learners over the past five years.

Starting with early learning, the Education Faculty with the support of all educational and community partners, is leading interventions to fix school education woes

The additional educational interventions initiated by Rhodes University, both short- and long-term, are providing much needed and relevant support to the educational mix.

The recent award of three new SARChI Chairs at Rhodes takes women chair holders to 50% of all SARChI Chairs at the University. This is well above the national average which sees the percentage of women chair holders at 40%. Championed by Minister Naledi Pandor, the latest call for SARChI Chairs was reserved for women in a push to recognise and elevate both established and emerging women researchers in South Africa.

According to author and professor of Psychology Carol Dweck, the only way to physically grow new synapses is your brain is to make mistakes. Professor Mellony Graven, the South African Numeracy Chair (SANC), and Dr Debbie Stott, the Maths Club Coordinator and Senior Researcher on the project, have found this to be a good philosophy underpinning the teaching of mathematics.

The ELRC are pleased to announce that Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka has been awarded a prestigious Tier 1 SARChI Chair under the National Research Foundation’s South African Research Chair Initiative. This chair has an explicit focus on transformative social learning and green skills learning pathways.

After visiting the Rhodes campus in December 2014, Ms Dimitra David donated a generous 25 000 euros to the Education Department. “I am deeply appreciative of your interest in, and recognition of, the primary importance of education

At the beginning of March Rhodes Alumni & Development had the pleasure of hosting alumnus Mr Chris von Christierson on a tour of two Early Childhood Development centres, the Joza Youth Hub and the Assumption Development Centre.

Shortly after his landmark inauguration as the Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University, the Donor Digest team sat down with Dr Sizwe Mabizela to highlight some of the grand challenges he feels Rhodes University is well situated to help the Grahamstown community tackle.

For Professor Di Wilmot, the Dean of Education, the opportunity to teach learners Geography during the High Impact Supplementary School (HISS) provided exciting insights, directly from the learners’ perspectives, into her own research into the teaching of Geography.

As a strategic intervention to help matriculants to either pass Matric or improve their passes and enter the tertiary education environment, the High Impact Supplementary School (HISS) has met its mandate to renew a sense of hope and an optimistic “can-do” attitude among the learners.

As we increasingly grapple with pressing socio-ecological problems both locally and globally, environmental education has never been more important. The DSI/NRF SARChI Chair in Global Change and Social Learning Systems is inviting prospective Masters and PhD candidates to apply for DSI/NRF Bursaries under the DSI/NRF research programme of the SARChI Chair and Environmental Learning Research Centre (the ELRC).

As the world grapples with climate change, young people play a vital role in fighting for a more just and sustainable world. It is their future, but its path seems to be made by men in suits far away from the local realities of drought, floods, food insecurity, and rising seas. With their touring protest poetry production and workshop 'Burning Rebellion', Well Worn Theatre Company invites young people to connect with and embody their local experience of environmental injustice. The ELRC hosted a showing of their provocative performance and a workshop at the end of May.

In a remarkable celebration of academic excellence and partnership, CHERTL’s Commerce Extended Studies Program (CESP), in collaboration with Investec, hosted a prestigious awards ceremony on September 4th. The event marked two significant milestones: the 15th anniversary of Investec's sponsorship and the CESP students’ first semester achievements. Top-performing students were honored with generous cash awards, recognising their hard work and dedication. The ceremony also paid tribute to the exciting students and mentors who have been integral to the success of the Program over the years. This event was held at Settlers Monument to celebrate students at large.

On July 26th, 2024, Eden Grove Blue at Rhodes University was abuzz with excitement. Distinguished guests, national role-players, academics, and students gathered to celebrate a significant milestone: the launch of the university's new multilingual project and a collection of case studies showcasing diverse multilingual teaching pedagogies across faculties. The event, titled "Teaching Through Diverse Tongues: Multilingualism in Every Classroom," was a collaboration between the NRF SARChI Chair: Intellectualisation of African Languages, Multilingualism and Education, housed in the School of Languages and Literatures, the Language Committee and the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning (CHERTL).

ChatGPT has dominated news headlines since the release of ChatGPT 3.5 in November 2022 and has been followed by an explosion of GenAI tools and services. These AI tools and services will likely grow and continue to develop new capabilities in the future. How can the academic community stay up-to-date about the latest developments and be supported to leverage AI for academic purposes?

As the 2025 academic year commenced, Rhodes University welcomed a new cohort of academic staff through its Academic Orientation Programme (AOP), which was held from 20 to 24 January 2025. The AOP, themed Becoming a Rhodes Academic, introduced new academic staff to multiple aspects of Rhodes University. These included Rhodes University culture, governance, and the services offered by the library, the Centre for Postgraduate Studies (CPGS), the Divisions for Community Engagement, People and Culture, Communication and Advancement, ethics committees, staff unions and the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching, and Learning (CHERTL). CHERTL HoD, Prof Jo-Anne Vorster, encouraged new lecturers to utilise the resources and professional development support programmes offered by CHERTL.