Marj Brown (President)

 

As president of SASHT, a lot of my role is overseeing the different portfolios. We have moved the bank account to Kimberley where our treasurer Raymond Nkwenti Fru is based. In 2024 we held monthly webinars which have included History students, newly qualified teachers and experienced teachers and academics from SASHT and AHE Afrika. These are recorded and become available as resources for teachers on our website. I have played an active role in this and in encouraging new teachers and students to join SASHT. The 2024 conference saw two young history teachers added to the SASHT executive and minor changes to our constitution. The main change was ratifying free membership.

 

 

Johan Wassermann (Yesterday & Today editor-in-chief)
 

I am Professor Johan Wassermann of the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria. As editor-in-chief of Yesterday & Today, an accredited journal hosted by the University of Pretoria and on the Scielo platform it is my duty, along with the editorial board, to see to it that the journal appears in July and December of every year. Yesterday & Today consist of two sections - a section for academic articles which are reviewed in a double blind manner and a section dealing with the practical experiences of History educators and learners.

Byron Bunt

(IT coordinator)

 

I am Byron Bunt and I am an associate professor at North-West University Vanderbijlpark Campus. My personal goal for the SASHT for this year will be to deliver a world class website, keeping all our members up to date on any and all announcements pertaining to the development of History teachers. I also aim to boost our numbers using the Facebook social media presence. The key to gaining long term membership is to attract several young up and coming History teachers, and I aim to achieve that goal as IT coordinator. I will also manage and coordinate the monthly webinars and host the events on a monthly basis. These webinars will be recorded and placed on the website along with the presentation material.

Mahunele Thotse (Education department liaison coordinator)

 

I am Mahunele Thotse, a Senior History Education Lecturer and academic head of Department of Social Sciences and Economic Management Education at the University of Limpopo. As the SASHT Education Department Liaison Coordinator, my ideal situation is to be able to forge and maintain strong relationships with Education departments, provincially and nationally on a matter of mutual concern, i.e., history teaching in schools. To achieve this feat, one will need to consider coordinating history teachers and grow the programme steadily up by setting up communication channels with the history teachers even if at the level of the circuit. I will be working with Marshall Maposa in this portfolio.

 

 

Marshall Maposa

(Vice president)

 

I will be working with Mahunele Thotse to liaise with the Department of Education. We, however, recognise that in order for us to be taken seriously by the department, we need to show significant membership statistics. We will, therefore, find ways of engaging history teachers, subject advisors and other academics (including tutors) within our reach. We will start the process in provinces that we already have easier access to, and hopefully expand to other provinces. We will work on identifying active regional representatives who will help us in this drive. 

 

 

Kirstin Kukard

(Resource coordinator and developer)

 

Kirstin Kukard is Head of History at Herzlia High School in Cape Town.

SASHT is seeking to grow its reach by providing resources for teachers. We aim to help teachers translate ideas from our conferences into their classroom practice. As we face the prospect of changes to the history curriculum, we feel that the time is right to strengthen networks of teachers in their efforts to teach history in an engaging and thoughtful way. We want to work with teachers and teacher trainers to develop high-quality resources. We also want to provide a platform for existing resources and highlight potential partnerships with museums and heritage sites. If you would like to be a part of this process, please let me know at kirstinkukard@gmail.com.

Raymond Nkwenti Fru (Treasurer)

 

Raymond Nkwenti Fru is a senior lecturer of History and Social Science teaching and HoD for Human Science teaching at Sol Plaatje University. I occupy the portfolio of treasurer in the South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT). My portfolio plays a watchdog role over all aspects of financial management in the association. I work very closely with the president of SASHT to ensure a clear and accurate record keeping as well as reporting of the association’s finances. Together with colleagues in the executive team, we explore different avenues to raise funds to carry out our envisaged projects. I believe that maintaining budget credibility and reliability will enhance our trust as an association and hopefully attract relevant stakeholders to join our ranks.

Fikile Sithole

 

Fikile Sithole History Teacher & Education Enthusiast As a devoted History teacher and historian, Fikile Sithole has been shaping young minds in the Basic Education fraternity for over 5 years. Stationed at Emang Mmogo Comprehensive School in Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa, Fikile's expertise lies in FET History teaching, fueled by a passion for Decoloniality and History curriculum development. Dedicated and passionate, Fikile's teaching philosophy centers around inspiring critical thinking, cultural awareness, and historical consciousness. His research interests explore the intersection of History education and Decoloniality, seeking to redefine the narrative of African histories.

 

Lefuno Lerato Monguni

 

Lufuno Lerato Monguni is a History teacher and Subject Head at McAuley House School, with a background in Political Science from the University of Johannesburg and University of Cape Town. A Jakes Gerwel Fellowship Alumni and Teachers Change Agent Network Fellow, she began her career at Wynberg Girls High in the Western Cape. Monguni has led provincial Model UN competitions and published research on using music and storytelling in teaching apartheid and amplifying women's voices in the armed struggle. She advocates for project-based learning, incorporating indigenous games and mystery boxes to teach Southern African history. As an entrepreneur, she has written about the importance of teaching entrepreneurship in schools, with her work featured in The Mail & Guardian and other media. Passionate about coding, she introduced it as an extramural activity and aims to integrate it into history lessons to preserve and share historical knowledge, while fostering problem-solving skills in students.

 

Gill Sutton

 

I am Gill Sutton and at present I am developing History materials for Grades 8 to 12 curricula for both the DBE and IEB. I have been involved in SASHT for almost twenty years. During which time I have attended many of the events and conferences in different parts of the country. My participation in SASHT has informed and moulded my practice and encourage me to think more deeply history education. I have had the opportunity to engage with young historians at both a university and school level, as well as in my currently online and blend model educational space. History education is a very exciting and challenge space in which to work, and SASHT offers everyone the opportunity to engage in this thrilling endeavour with other committed academics and school educators.