The month of September, a period where we tilt in the direction of our cultural heritage in South Africa has arrived. It is further signified by our celebration of the actual day of heritage (September 24), which serves as a part of the many values inculcated into South Africa’s public life by the democratic order. In the process, inevitably implying unity amongst all people. This is a time when the cultural quintessence that forms as a part of our rainbow nation – its unique eleven official languages, ethnic diversity, thus varied traditions and celebrations – reverberate in remarkability. In such a propitious time as this for culture, we appreciate the diverse lexicon of dialects that South Africa is enriched with, as such is arguably intelligible beyond South African borders. Think of Setswana from Botswana, Sesotho from Lesotho, or Swazi from Eswatini (and other languages such as Ndebele). Crossing, as it…
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Dr Heather Goode provides some insights as she delves deeper into Tshepo Langa’s book entitled, “The ADI Model: What am I Thinking?” Hidden between the pages of Tshepho Langa’s book is a Richard Templar quote from his book “The rules of management”, who once said “being creative is about finding new and different ways to solve problems”[i]. Therefore, a challenge in leadership is finding ways to shift your thinking, adapt to changing contexts, improve your problem-solving skills, and approach old problems and new contexts with new ideas. Tshepho Langa, who is a faculty member at The Da Vinci Institute, sought to engage with this essential aspect of personal development when he wrote, “The ADI Model: What am I Thinking?”. Tshepho describes writing this book as being “about inspiring intentional mindset change towards a meaningful success and contribution to others.” The book initiates by detailing Tshepho’s own experiences and shifts…
ALUMNI: Meet The Da Vinci Institute’s Alumnus, External Examiner and Visiting Lecturer, Dr Diliah Abigail Mutambara The home of remarkability recently had the pleasure of catching up with one of its own, Dr Diliah Abigail Mutambara, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) graduate from the class of 2018. This is a recognition of how one of The Institute’s alumni continues to harness her remarkability, utilising the tools of her engaging mind. Originally from Zimbabwe, Dr Mutambara grew up to educationist parents and had a burning desire and insatiable curiosity to always get a deep and more meaningful understanding of the world and its diverse societies. She ultimately got a chance to do so through education, and through the subsequent opportunities she got of touring the world. In consequence, her touring around, and exploring of, the globe has arguably enhanced her world view about the international scene of education. A voyage by…
by Ntokozo Mahlangu, Alumnus/Vice-Chairperson of Council Together with the shift to working from home, delivery modes for higher education have also shifted, embracing technology. Such changes are roundly embraced as the “new normal”. In many respects, this may not be a bad situation depending on how you envisage both the workplace and higher education structures of the future. In terms of higher education, I believe a trend toward partaking in shorter programmes has emerged and may arguably be a very concerning trend when considering long-Covid victims. Long-Covid patients are experiencing significant, and possibly, permanent cognitive loss. It also appears that these effects have been somehow under reported and not thoroughly on public discourse and seem to have slipped under the radar of higher education institutions. Cognitive ability (mental agility) in my opinion, is the heart of teaching and learning. Consider for a moment, a colleague or researcher who has had…
A faculty member at The Da Vinci Institute, Mixo Sweetness Sithole reflects… Unemployment continues to be a crisis in South Africa, and we should be wary about its negative effects on people and society in general. Socio-economic impacts society at the micro, meso, exo and macro levels. Melinda Du Toit, a post-doctoral research fellow at the Centre for Social Development in Africa (University of Johannesburg) indicates that, “[u]nemployment has both individual and social consequences that require public policy interventions. For the individual, unemployment can cause psychological distress, which can lead to a decline in life satisfaction. It can also lead to mood disorders and substance abuse. Unemployment can affect one’s social status ascription as well, which manifests through stigmatisation, labelling, unfair judgement, and marginalisation.” Furthermore, unemployment can result in increased crime rates, as well as socio-political unrests – as witnessed recently in South Africa. According to a recent publication by…
It’s a journey . . . that I propose . . . I am not the guide . . . nor technical assistant . . . I will be your fellow passenger . . . (A Journey – By Nikki Giovanni) Wenzel originally comes from the construction industry, where he co-created for several years. Over time, according to Wenzel, “I was afforded an opportunity to start a new venture in Europe”, and for almost two decades, I then decided that my time rather be divided between Europe and my manufacturing operation in South Africa.” In the year 2016, he reinvented himself again and decided to concentrate all his energies on a management-development consultancy. It was through and during that process that his keenness for furthering his education became palpable – The Da Vinci Institute was his first option. Then the journey began, and Wenzel kept his head high…
In women’s month we continue to showcase some of our remarkable female alumni and today we profile one of our recent Doctoral graduates – Dr Shannon Nell This work is dedicated to nursing leaders – whoever and wherever you may be. I honour you. By Dr Shannon Nell Dr Nell comes from the health fraternity and has been a nurse for four decades. She has co-created in a multitude of clinical areas, including maternity, paediatrics, adult intensive care, and paediatric oncology, as well as in nursing education. Currently, Dr Nell serves as the Director of Nursing and Nursing Education at Netcare, a position she has held for the last seven years. We salute our remarkable Davincian, for all that she has done and continues to do on the frontline in our country, giving daily of herself to the betterment of others. Besides her extensive experience, Dr Nell also holds several…
On 18 August 2021, Prof HB Klopper, CEO & Executive Dean: Research and Institutional Partnerships at The Da Vinci Institute, presented an online Inaugural Lecture titled, “Adapting Higher Education for Lifelong Learning.” “…In my address, I approach lifelong learning as a broad concept, founded on the theoretical principles of andragogy and later heutagogy. Considering the scholarly discourse on the topic, it is almost impossible to give justice to the volume of available literature and research that has unfolded since the early 2000s. Hence, I tried to categorise the main thoughts and ideas of heutagogy, as we continue our learning journey into the future. To illuminate the most important aspects related to a lifelong learning ecosystem, we must begin with what we are hearing from the new consumers of education, whereafter we must move into the predicaments and barriers holding their problems in place, before concluding with solutions and revealing the…
A shining star in the Da Vinci Galaxy is our Doctoral Alumnus Dr Estie Serfontein, an agile, aligned and engaged managerial leader in the aviation industry. Dr Estie Serfontein is a dynamic and remarkable female leader of the aviation industry, and a Doctoral alumnus who flexes her academic muscles with her research output. Dr Serfontein is also a self-motivated leader with passion and resilience in abundance and extensive experience in the aviation industry. She is the quality assurance manager for Execujet Aviation. Her skills have led her to successfully manage teams and processes as a strategic driver of programmes that allow for continuous quality improvement and efficiency through audits and special projects. Through her experience, Dr Serfontein has amassed a breadth of knowledge in analysing data and orchestrating project implementations, as well as ensuring compliance with local and federal regulations. Ever a consistent high achiever, Dr Serfontein not only successfully…
“We are entering a changing world of expatriation and international human resources management that will never be the same. The only way forward is the presentation of online solutions to a dynamic global mobility issue” – by Zain Donnovan Reddiar It always is an exhilarating moment when one of our remarkable student’s gets to fulfil a lifelong learning journey. Today it is one of our recent remarkable Doctoral alumni and Council member Dr Zain Donovan Reddiar that we profile. Dr Reddiar explains that, “the journey was a mixture of excitement and trepidation.” He confesses to have experienced some, “highs and lows, but what a phenomenal journey it has been.” He concedes that, “there were times when I felt energised and on top of the world, as well as times when I felt completely confused. The confusion spurred me to dig deeper, to read more, and I soon found my path.”…