Students walk to the dining area at the camp. Images: Shelley Christians/UWC

Two white buses snaked up the steep road to the Wemmershoek campsite in Franschhoek. When they finally came to a stop, more than 50 young men and women alighted from the vehicles, creating a plume of gravel dust before trying to find reprieve from the savage sun. After a short briefing, they dispersed to the face-brick barracks, their bags and blankets in tow. 

These are not military cadets in training but first-year BEd Foundation Phase teachers starting their coaching on the complexities and challenges unique to the South African education system. This unique introduction to the students’ academic journey at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) was carefully facilitated by the Faculty of Education. The students hail from diverse backgrounds, cultures and schools, and to ensure that they were on equal footing, they were dropped off in the remote forest and issued with identical basics: a bed and mattress in a dorm with communal temperamental showers. Now equals, their academic journey began.

Students explain the reasoning behind their sun stoves.

First, the students were asked to work as teams and reflect on the positives and negatives they experienced as former high school pupils. How favouritism and bullying affected them. And how they could do better and be better teachers. Dr Carli Louw, a first-year lecturer, said it was inspiring to watch students dive into the assignment with such vigor. She also noted that it was encouraging to see more male students engaging in the discussions. Traditionally, foundation phase teachers have overwhelmingly been women, but she has noted that men are pursuing careers in this field: “We are so excited to include these males in our programme as we know that Foundation Phase learners often don't have a male figure in their households.” 

Other activities implemented at the weekend fostered strategic collaboration, deeper thinking and problem-solving. The Famine and abundance game, for example,  provided students with a firsthand experience of prejudice, allowing them to feel the impact of being judged solely on their birthplace. Each student was assigned a country and was issued with a passport and money - “World Dollars”. Americans, Norwegians and Canadians were called to a “store” to do some shopping for luxuries. 

A student holds the passport issued during the Famine and abundance game.

They walked through “passport control” with ease and could buy a variety of items. Some walked away with six chocolates, cool drinks and chips. Then it was time for the South Africans, Syrians, Indians and Ghanaians to shop. They were met with tighter security who carefully scanned them and scrutinised their passports more intensely. The store had less variety available to this group because the previous round of visitors purchased most of the stock. The intensity of security and heckling was amped up as the last round of students from Yemen, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone came through customs. They were physically patted down, thoroughly searched and treated with disregard. The items left for them included slices of bread, loose crackers and a few sweets. They had less money than the previous countries and the prices of the items were ramped up.  They were bribed for the basics and left with barely anything from the shop. 

All the students then sat together to enjoy their purchases. 

Caption: Busisiwe Ntleki smiles as she is jokingly asked for a bribe during the Famine and abundance game.

Elice Mokhomong was deeply impacted by the activity. It catalysed just how unequal society is and how lived experiences differ so vastly.

“I was [from] the most privileged country, I was [from] Canada…What I learned today is what I want to apply in being a teacher. We all come from different backgrounds, and as teachers, we have to teach equality,” said Mokhomong. 

Dr Benita Nel, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education, said the game can be applied to the schooling system, which consists of very well-resourced schools and painfully under-resourced ones with children from different social backgrounds. 

“As teachers, we need to be prepared. We need to guide [students] and assist them to also work within different social contexts,” said lecturer Dr Susann Louw. 

Erin Solomon was a creche teacher before joining the Recognition of Prior Learning programme, which assisted her enrol for a teaching degree. She admitted that at times little thought goes into how one's actions impact a child: “I'm not perfect and I used to work at a school where I did put too much focus on one child, especially the stronger, academically-inclined ones. Then you forget about the child that actually needs you more.” Solomon, as with many students, took time to reflect on her journey as an educator. 

Caption: Dr Nel checks the temperature of the water during the sun stove activity.

It is what lecturer Tswakae Sebotsa calls self-directed learning, where individuals take the initiative to identify their learning needs, set goals, find resources, and evaluate their learning outcomes. It is key for teachers to be “agents of change”, as Sebotsa put it, and adapt to different teaching environments. He said the university aims to foster a mindset of self-directed learning and encourages students to take ownership of their learning journey.

“There’s a word that we must remember as teachers. The word is reflective. You must reflect on what you do as a teacher, because a lot of times people do not reflect, meaning you don't improve as a teacher, Dr Nel said. 

She went on to say that as a teacher criticised for favouritism, you should do inner reflection “as we all are human”. Teachers are not supposed to have favourites and should treat all as equals, but it happens. “The key thing is to ask yourself how you can improve yourself and be better; that is your role,” Dr Nel said. 

Dean of the Faculty of Education, Prof Rajendran Govender, said the camp provided an opportunity to meet other students to form strong bonds and network with their classmates. “I am quite excited that this is the third excursion that we are pursuing for our students who come from various contexts in the country. Some come from families who don’t have parents living with them. They have to survive on their own and go to school. We have others coming from schools that don’t have facilities and don’t have teachers,” he said. 

“And so by enabling our students to come on the excursion we provide them with an opportunity to meet other students, form stronger bonds, connections and network and also develop particular skills in terms of teaching.” 

The view during the hike at the end of the camp.

The weekend concluded with a peaceful morning walk through the surrounding forest to a scenic viewpoint. As the group made their way uphill from the camp, students chatted animatedly. Gradually, as the path grew steeper and the walk more demanding, the group began to spread out. Bit by bit, the conversation quietened, leaving only the sound of the breeze rustling through the trees.

Eventually, the path curved, revealing a breathtaking view of the valley below. The final ascent was steep and slippery, but many students pushed on, encouraging one another along the way. At the summit, they posed for photos and took in the panoramic views of vineyards and glistening bodies of water nestled between Paarl and Franschhoek.

It was a memorable way to end the weekend—and a refreshing start to their academic journey.