As a young lecturer, my main interest in the SOTL, as well as in practice was the concept of motivation. I wondered why some students with a huge amount of talent and support just didn’t excel, whereas others with very little support and resources somehow managed to do so. I wondered what my actions as the lecturer could do to motivate students (or demotivate them!). I read loads of the literature and used my teaching as a place to try to understand what I was reading. Later, I became increasingly interested in the performative aspects of teaching. I’m still engaged in thinking and reading about this fascinating theme. I’m particularly interested in understanding the embodied nature of the performance of teaching, and this links very closely to a project in which I am currently engaged. This project, one that is yet to be launched, is an experiment in understanding how embedding ethics teaching in nonphilosophical curricula by means of VR technology will impact on the uptake of ethics teaching. The project is already allowing me to engage with experts in other disciplines and learn from them and so promises to be an exceedingly worthwhile project. The idea of embedding ethics teaching is a significant one in the literature, and I am excited to see the project launch in the future. Despite the satisfaction I get from my teaching and learning practice and research, the most rewarding part thereof is seeing where my students go and what they do as they launch their careers. Some of my students have gone on to take up lecturing positions at universities in South Africa and abroad; others are working in industry or in education; some have won prestigious prizes, scholarships and bursaries both nationally and internationally; some are publishing books and scores of articles. Bumping into a student of mine years later and hearing them speak of the impact of their philosophical training on their current career, and their formation as a person, is a gift that makes my work as a teacher of philosophy immensely worthwhile. Despite the satisfaction I get from my teaching and learning practice and research, the most rewarding part thereof is seeing where my students go and what they do as they launch their careers. 92 A Journey of Innovation
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