Trinityhouse Littlefalls, Johannesburg, 07 May 2018

(60 learners)
It is always a pleasure to visit a school with a vision and staff who are committed to making a difference. Mr David Brown, the Deputy Principal, is at the heart of the process and met me on arrival. We identified a spot at the back of the newly built hall with some sun filtering through the windows at midday. It was decided that the learners would be seated in a semicircle around the demonstration table which worked well based on the numbers in the group.
It was refreshing to experience engaging with the learners right from the outset. More importantly it was the girls who come to the fore answering many of the questions and showing great insight into the processes. There must be a connection between the level of education they are receiving and the quality of answers provided which showed in the responses provided.
The Wind Turbine challenge was solved by the first learner asked. It turns out that he was interested in engineering. On the one hand it is encouraging to find learners with this attitude while on the other hand there is also a lot of learning opportunities when learners are unable to solve the challenge. It is difficult to identify beforehand which learners will come up with a wrong answer which can be used as to extend the discussions.
There were a number of additional snippets of information added based on the information provided by the group of inspired learners. I was also able to introduce the mechanism of the Proton Exchange Membrane and relating this to the structure of the atom. There have been very few groups in the past that I was able to reach this level of explanation.
I look forward to seeing the results of this group of learners as Mr Brown was planning on implementing the first (Wind Powered) competition during the midyear examinations for Technology education – an innovative idea to ensure that all learners are exposed to the concepts of clean energy.