Star teacher of the week

Vieno Ndumba is a teacher at Ekondjo Senior Primary School in the Kavango West Region, teaches all junior primary phase classes and is a class teacher for grade 3c.
Enzo Amuele
Can you tell us who inspired you to become a teacher and where and when your teaching journey started?

I was inspired by Mrs Dipare, she was my English teacher in high school. My teaching journey started in 2008 at a school called Bravel Mankupi Primary School, it is situated a few kilometres away from Tsumeb. I have been teaching for more than 10 years.

What is the most frustrating part about being a teacher?

Well, being a teacher is one of the most stressful professions. Having to give extra time and attention to learners whose only problem is that they just don’t care about school. Besides that, seeing learners perform poorly in academics is the most frustrating part about being a teacher.

How do you motivate your learners to come to class every day?

I encourage open communication and free thinking with my learners and I make participating fun by giving each learner something to do. I also offer small incentives which makes learning fun and motivate learners to push themselves.

How do you deal with sensitive learners?

I believe sensitiveness is caused by a lot of things, it could be that they are depressed and have low self-esteem. What I do is I except them for who they are by being patient with them as well as creating a positive learning environment.

How do you approach learner discipline?

To begin with, confidence comes from discipline and training, I come up with a list of classroom norms every year, it is important that I as an adult lead the way and show learners how to uphold them consistently. Besides that, I keep things exciting and I reward my learners for a good behaviour.

What is the best part about being a teacher?

The best part is interaction. I enjoy learning from them every day. Seeing my learners learn and seeing them understand what they are learning makes me feel at ease. The most exciting part is when what I teach makes a connection with the learners.

What is your favourite subject?

I am a lower primary teacher and I teach all the subjects; however, my favourite subject is English.