Thirteen Formative Years |
 EDUCATION – St Stithians College: A September 2019 photograph of the main classroom block, which is behind the chapel (parts of which can be seen behind the trees in the middle of the picture). When I was at the school, I was fortunate to be taught by one outstanding teacher and a range of other good ones. Rocco Erasmus was the outstanding teacher. I sometimes say he was the reason I became a university lecturer, because he taught me to think like an examiner. In addition to teaching Afrikaans at St Stithians, Rocco also “moonlighted” as a radio broadcaster for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Good, competent, interesting teachers included Louis Kernick (Latin) and John Woodley (who taught us Geography and whom we inevitably nicknamed “Herb”, because a character in the Dagwood comic strips was called Herb Woodley). Another good teacher, Stein Krige, was also the housemaster at Mountstephens, as well as being the college’s deputy-principal during the three years I was at the school. |