MERVYN COETZEE Tell us about the background of your research. As a former resident of Bonteheuwel and survivor of the injustices and brutality of Apartheid, I am wired for egalitarian thinking and practice. On a more personal level, I was born with a physical anomaly. I was born with 12 fingers: two thumbs on each hand. In this sense, I had to endure decades of ridicule, embarrassment, belittlement and being made to feel less than a human being for being different naturally. It was this specific aspect that would form the root inspiration for embarking on the type of research my doctoral study had embraced: “Trauma, injustice and identity: investigating an egalitarian and autoethnographic approach to analysing students’ personal narratives.” I have taught academic literacy and language related courses in the B.Ed. Foundation Phase programme at UWC. In addition, I have spent 15 years in the United States in various capacities. One of these is learning and teaching at middle school and college levels. In light of this, I have learned much about life in both the so-called “developing” and “first” worlds. During my time while teaching in California, I had encountered an experience that would forever change my approach towards learning and teaching in South Africa. I was facing an audience of about 200 4th and 5th grade
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DVC: RESEARCH & INNOVATION MAGAZINE
learners and was about to ask for volunteers to help with a skit. Before I was able to complete my request, almost every single learner had eagerly raised a hand with enthusiasm. This was very surprising to me. I had come from learning and teaching backgrounds where intimidation and a lack of self-confidence were commonplace. In this regard, I wanted to come to grips with the issues that gave rise to this apparent reticence. What were the motivations for carrying out this research? There were several issues that motivated me to continue and push forward towards the completion of my study. As the only member of my family of six children, I was the only one able to complete high school. In this regard, I wanted to honour them through the successful completion of this degree. Another key issue that motivated my study was my desire to share my findings with the rest of the learning and teaching community. I believe that the issues my study has investigated are critical in understanding the deep-rooted issues of affect that impact student performance and success. As my role in the solution, I have endeavoured to inspire, empower, enable and eventually ennoble those learners/students in my care. Research can be a long and tough journey, what kept you going during this process? When I started embarking on the study I was very anxious because I had doubted my ability to conduct the research at this level. It was my supervisor Professor Siva who constantly motivated me. He would send encouraging messages that inspired me and helped me to believe in myself and my ability to excel. Who is your biggest inspiration/What inspires you? My biggest inspiration is to honour my mother and late father, and make my two sons Blake and Luke and my siblings proud. Another motivating factor is that I am solutions-driven. When I see something that is not right, I am motivated to try to get to the heart of the problem. I then subsequently endeavour to find possible solutions to the issues at hand. Motivating others who are enduring similar hardships to mine, are what inspires me push for excellence in myself and others.
