For his research, Mr Khoza was supervised by UMP Vice-Chancellor, Professor Thoko Mayekiso and co-supervised by Professor Calvin Gwandure, Head of the School of Social Sciences at UMP. Mr Khoza is grateful for the support he received from Professor Mayekiso, who always made herself available to guide and give him feedback on his study.
“Professor Mayekiso was always available, throughout the journey of my study, she made sure that I worked hard to meet deadlines, she was always available to receive my submissions and make corrections. She made sure that I grow professionally in the world of research,” he adds.
“Her sage guidance, insightful criticism and patient encouragement aided me to write the dissertation in numerable ways. She managed to take time out of her tight schedule, always directing honest judgements and comments during the entire writing of my dissertation.”
For his master’s, Mr Khoza conducted a study titled: Assessment of strategies utilised by teachers to manage diversity and promote inclusion amongst learners in Early Childhood Education in Ehlanzeni District of the Mpumalanga Province.
“My findings revealed that there was evidence that racial inclusion is practised at Ehlanzeni District schools and that there were only co-education schools in the Ehlanzeni District, as there were no schools segregated based on gender.”
He further explains that the study also revealed that educators need continuous training and skills development on how to identify and address barriers faced by learners in their classrooms.
As a principal, Mr Khoza had to juggle his research and his demanding work schedule. He mentions that finding a balance between work and studying was a challenge in the beginning.
“It became better when I gained experience and understood how I wanted to shape the direction of my research to suit my unique interests. I then developed a schedule and stuck to it. I found that if I schedule time to research and made a commitment to get that work done, then I finished all my work on time.”
The educator has intentions to pursue a doctorate degree to advance his research skills to, “contribute to the knowledge of education by bringing new ideas on how to solve challenges that are faced by teachers and learners in the education system on a daily basis."
His future plans include being a lecturer to ensure that student teachers get the necessary knowledge. "I love to disseminate information while I also learn from others.”
@ Story by Lisa Thabethe. Pictures supplied.