An invitation SERIANE: Dear Roela. I would like to collaborate with you to write a paper on Showcasing Innovative Teaching and Learning Projects. I learned MOST of my strategic and creative thinking skills from you. It would be an honour to write about our achievements with you. Please let me know if you are willing . ROELA: What a fantastic plan, Seri! Yes, please. Let’s meet, discuss, and submit an abstract. Maybe we can write a reflective piece in a dialogue format. Reflection ROELA: Seri, I wonder if you are familiar with the book We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change by Myles Horton and Paulo Freire (1990)? Everything in the book, the title, the way the book came about (Freire asked Horton to write a book with him), the dialogue format, and of course the critical reflections about teaching and learning resonate with me and are quite relevant to this paper, our context as scholars, teachers and colleagues at the University of Johannesburg. Maybe we can do the same and reflect on some key points that connect us to our journeys of becoming lecturers in strategic communication, specifically. The following quote reminds me of our conversation on MS Teams when we discussed the concept of this paper: “The teacher is, of course, an artist, but being an artist does not mean that they can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves” (Horton & Freire, 1990, p. 181). How about we structure the paper by first reflecting on moments that stand out in our journey of getting to know one another and working together. SERIANE: What an interesting book choice, Roela. I will relate one of my most memorable teaching moments from you with a chapter in this book titled: The difference between educating and organising. The scholar asserts that education and organisation are used synonymously, which is incorrect, as you just pointed out, the former teaches you how to ‘package’ yourself to be and become. One of the most memorable moments I remember embodying this idea is when you took out your handbag during the lecture, searching for something. Still, while searching, I faintly remember you taking out items such as a needle and thread, band-aids, and sweets. You said that when you are a mother, you must always have certain items handy. Do you remember that moment? ROELA: I faintly recall that moment in 2015, just after I started permanently at UJ. It must have been part of an exercise related to profiling the stakeholder group. It is such a typical way to profile someone; I find it weird that it is memorable. I think profiling works best if one can find an aspect that reflects the specifics of a person, on the one hand, qualities and activities that make that person like others in the same category – this might be sociographic, demographic or psychographic aspects - but on the other hand, also details that are specific to only that specific person that one is profiling. The idea is to avoid stereotyping and find an insight into the stakeholder group. It can be seen as a snapshot of a segment of customers a business targets. This also reminds me that when I started teaching copywriting years ago at AAA School of Advertising, I knew very little about branding and communication, coming from a creative writing, drama and teaching English background. I asked Gordon Cook in my very first week after he appointed me, How does one know which idea is relevant or right when creating a brand communication campaign. He told me that the shortcut is to always identify with the target audience and look at the issue, the brand, or the product from their point of view – in that way, one removes the personal likes and dislikes and can figure out what is relevant about the brand from the “consumers” point of view. SERIANE: This is true. I remember seeing a need fill a need Honours project we completed with you. Stereotyping was an issue I experienced in my personal life and the Honours group I worked in. I used the stereotyping associated with light-skinned black people to educate about the dangers of skin lightening or bleaching. 51 A Journey of Innovation
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjU1NDYx