Tom Smits, an Extraordinary Professor at the Department of Curriculum Studies visited Stellenbosch University in the week of 13 November 2023. Tom Smits has been collaborating with Professor Nhlanhla Mpofu since 2019 on both teaching- and research-related initiatives. Their most recent collaboration also includes the Stellenbosch Centre for Pedagogy (SUNCEP) in a three-year international research and capacity-building project funded by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), an agency of the European Commission located in Brussels, Belgium.
Tom Smits is excited to spend part of his time at the Department of Curriculum Studies meeting with colleagues to jointly launch the EACEA-funded project, called ProTEEM, which stands for “Professionalisation of Teacher Educators in English and Mathematics". It is a collaboration between two European universities (University of Antwerp, Kaunas University of Technology), two South African universities (Stellenbosch University, Rhodes University) and four academic partner institutions from the DR Congo (Université Pédagogique Nationale, Université de Kinshasa, Université de Lubumbashi, Université de Bukavu).
ProTEEM provides continuous professional development (CPD) of teacher educators in English and Mathematics for students' academic equity and success through quality literacy and numeracy education. More than 30 senior or junior teacher educators at the four universities across the DR Congo will profit from the other partners' expertise in scarce resource education. ProTEEM focuses on CPD in inclusive, autonomy-enhancing and blended learning environments for English and Maths to increase gender equality and reduce poverty through quality education.
Next to teacher training, the DRC Inspectorate and teacher associations are also involved in the dissemination of project outputs: lesson plans and materials for flipped classrooms, blended learning, gender-responsive tasks, low-tech digital tools, etc. Research into the project outcomes has added capacity building value that all partners as education and research institutions with a community service mission benefit from: the partners collaborate in PhD projects on the effectiveness of the project's hybrid CPD approach in the specific context of low-income countries. Four female PhD students, affiliated to each DRC partner university, will collect and analyse CPD (transfer) data from the CPD participants and their students.
ProTEEM will profit from the CPD experience of the SUNCEP team, aiming to improve both literacy and numeracy in the DR Congo, because quality English and Maths education is crucial for educational equity and socioeconomic emancipation. SUNCEP is also well-versed in implementing the project's sustainable hybrid on-site/online training approach, with evidence-informed modular blended learning. Last but not least, scientific capacity building is effectuated through the PhD co-supervisors from Stellenbosch, Rhodes and Antwerp University, Professor Nhlanhla Mpofu, Dr Kavish Jawahar, Dr Ellen Vandervieren and Professor Tom Smits, who will be teaming up with a DRC colleague to launch the careers of four young academics.
Tom Smits' Alma Mater and home base is the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He is a Fulbright alumnus and a Professor of German variational linguistics at the Department of Linguistics, and of English, German and CLIL teaching methodology at the Antwerp School of Education (University of Antwerp), in combination with a position as Chief Researcher in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania). He received the German Agathe Lasch Prize for his PhD on sub-standard language variation in German and Dutch, and its influence on attitudes to regional language use in media and education. He developed additional expertise in differentiation and multiperspectivity, lecturing on urban education combined with Community Service Learning, awarded with the Antwerp University Teaching Award. His education and research cover language variation as well as foreign language education, including CALL, and intercultural competences with students in the EU, Asia and Africa.
