UJ Faculty of Education

‼️ R E M I N D E R ‼️

📢 PUBLIC LECTURE | 🧠 Are we doing enough to protect the of school learners ⁉️ As rates of anxiety, stress, bullying, social exclusion, and emotional distress continue to affect young people worldwide, conversations about learner mental health have never been more important.
✉️ Join Prof Jace Pillay, South African Research Chair in Education and Care in Childhood and in Mental Health and Psychological Support for Teachers and Learners, for a critical public lecture on:
ℹ️ Mental Health of School Learners in Developing Countries
🎙️ Presented by: Prof Sibnath Deb (Pondicherry University, India)
⚠️ This timely lecture will explore the challenges facing school learners in developing countries and examine how families, schools, and communities can work together to create supportive environments that promote resilience, well-being, and academic success.
📅 Date: 18 June 2026
⏰ Time: 17:00 – 18:30 (SAST)
💻 MS Teams: https://lnkd.in/eHfGwb3C
🔑 Meeting ID: 336 209 981 659 586
🔐 Passcode: TW3Yu3s3
If you are a teacher, parent, psychologist, researcher, student, or anyone concerned about the well-being of children and youth, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

🎓 CONGRATULATIONS DR LINFORD MOLAODI! 🎓 The Faculty of Education proudly celebrates our colleague, Dr Linford Molaodi, on the successful completion of his PhD.

What makes this achievement especially meaningful is that Dr Molaodi is a true UJ success story; a product of the University of Johannesburg who began his journey here as a student and progressed through the academic ranks to become a lecturer and researcher in the Faculty.

He completed his BEd, BEd Honours, Master’s degree, and now his PhD at UJ, reflecting the University’s strong commitment to growing its own talent and building academic capacity from within.

His doctoral research, titled: “Enhancing pre-service teachers’ preparation for teaching through participation in a Scratch Coding Club”, contributes to the field of coding, robotics, and innovative teacher education.

Dr Molaodi’s PhD was supervised by Prof Sarah Gravett (former Dean of the Faculty of Education) and Prof Jacqui Batchelor, whose academic mentorship supported this important scholarly milestone.

Beyond his academic achievements, Dr Molaodi is currently a lecturer in the Department of Childhood Education and serves as project manager of the Faculty’s Creative Coding @ UJ initiative. Through this work, he supports both pre-service and in-service teachers in coding and robotics education, helping to prepare future-ready educators for a rapidly changing digital world.

Before joining UJ, he was recognised nationally when he received the Department of Basic Education National Teaching Award for Excellence in Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning (2019), and he has been widely acknowledged for his contributions to ICT integration in under-resourced schooling contexts.

Dr Molaodi also maintains strong links with education communities in Limpopo, where he continues to contribute to teacher development and community-based educational initiatives.

This milestone reflects excellence, innovation, and the University’s commitment to developing its own — from student to teacher, to academic, to PhD graduate.

Well done, Dr Linford Molaodi! 🎉

. Before children learn to read and write, they learn by exploring, imagining, creating and playing.

Play is a fundamental part of early childhood development. It helps children build confidence, develop social and emotional skills, nurture creativity and make sense of the world around them. Yet too many children still lack access to quality early childhood education and care education where play is recognized as a powerful part of learning.

Across UNESCO's Compendium of Promising Practices in Early Childhood Care and Education, countries share innovative pedagogical approaches that use play.

In Burkina Faso, an innovative picture-book initiative has improved learning opportunities for more than 7,800 young children while equipping hundreds of educators with new teaching tools.

In Nigeria, a play-based curriculum and teacher training programme are creating more engaging, child-centred learning environments.

And through the Sesame Workshop's ‘Watch, Play, Learn’ initiative in Bangladesh, Colombia and Kenya, children affected by crisis and displacement are developing foundational skills, resilience and social-emotional well-being through playful learning.

On the , reaffirms the importance of play as part of every child's right to learn, develop and thrive.

Because every child deserves the chance to grow and succeed.

Learn more: https://www.unesco.org/en/early-childhood-education

📢 PUBLIC LECTURE | 🧠 Are we doing enough to protect the of school learners ⁉️ As rates of anxiety, stress, bullying, social exclusion, and emotional distress continue to affect young people worldwide, conversations about learner mental health have never been more important.
✉️ Join Prof Jace Pillay, South African Research Chair in Education and Care in Childhood and in Mental Health and Psychological Support for Teachers and Learners, for a critical public lecture on:
ℹ️ Mental Health of School Learners in Developing Countries
🎙️ Presented by: Prof Sibnath Deb (Pondicherry University, India)
⚠️ This timely lecture will explore the challenges facing school learners in developing countries and examine how families, schools, and communities can work together to create supportive environments that promote resilience, well-being, and academic success.
📅 Date: 18 June 2026
⏰ Time: 17:00 – 18:30 (SAST)
💻 MS Teams: https://lnkd.in/eHfGwb3C
🔑 Meeting ID: 336 209 981 659 586
🔐 Passcode: TW3Yu3s3
If you are a teacher, parent, psychologist, researcher, student, or anyone concerned about the well-being of children and youth, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

📰 IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS | 165,000 graduates locked out of jobs‼️ Is South Africa’s costing us our future economy⁉️

⚠️ is creating a damaging cycle: graduates cannot access their qualifications needed for employment, while universities remain under pressure to recover outstanding fees. The result is thousands of qualified young people unable to enter the workforce. ⛔

In this compelling , Prof Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis, Director of the Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education Studies ( ), unpacks the scale of the problem and calls for urgent, balanced solutions that protect both graduates and the higher education system. 📌 What does this mean for South Africa’s skills pipeline and economic recovery?

📖 Read the full opinion piece here.

South Africa cannot afford to lock 165,000 graduates out of the economy Student debt is creating a vicious circle where graduates are unable to secure employment without certificates and universities are unable to recover outstanding fees.…

📢 WEBINAR | 🎓 From Candidate to Doctor: Strategies for a Successful Oral Defence, presented by Prof Terry Lovat, Distinguished Visiting Professor at UJ.
ℹ Are you preparing for your doctoral oral defence? Join this informative webinar as Prof Lovat shares practical strategies, international perspectives, and valuable insights drawn from decades of research into doctoral examination processes and experience examining more than 80 doctoral theses across several countries.
📅 Date: 10 June 2026
⏰ Time: 15:00 – 16:30 (SAST)
💻 MS Teams: https://lnkd.in/dU-zAwqG
🔑 Meeting ID: 385 198 024 335 857
🔐 Passcode: 3tU9nL69

🧡 This webinar is particularly relevant for PhD candidates approaching the examination stage of their studies.

Hosted by the UNESCO UniTwin Chair in Values Education, Prof Nazreen Dasoo, together with the Department of Education and Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education at UJ.

📣 FREE -Accredited Opportunities for and Health Professionals

🎉 The first two masterclasses in our Master Class Series have concluded successfully, with excellent engagement and insightful discussions from practitioners across the field.

🚩 There's still time to join us for the three remaining sessions in this exciting series!

🧠 Upcoming Sessions:
📅 9 June 2026 – Imposter Syndrome in High-Performing Environments
📅 11 June 2026 – Survival Guide for School Psychologists
📅 23 June 2026 – Basic Training in ICD-10 Coding for Educational Psychologists

💻 Online sessions
🎓 HPCSA-aligned CPD activities
🆓 FREE to attend

🔗 Register here: https://forms.office.com/r/JjmKFnM766?origin=lprLink

ℹ️ For full programme details: https://lnkd.in/dBnHAzTg

Don't miss this opportunity to learn from experts, engage with colleagues, and earn CPD points at no cost.