CapeTownED

Confirmed Speakers

• Prof Tim Noakes
  UCT Professor of Sports Science Idea worth spreading: Having the right mindset to learn and achieve Prof. Tim Noakes is a co-founder and executive director of the Sports Science Institute of SA, author, respected academic and A1 rated scientist. He has long been acknowledged as an expert in the field of sports and the science of physical exercise. Tim is a Director of UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine (ESSM), Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Science, University of Cape Town. He is also the Professor, Discovery Health Chair of Exercise and Sports Science, University of Cape Town.
• Dr Mamphela Ramphele
  Activist, Author, Academic, Businesswoman and Medical Doctor Idea worth spreading: How can you be an education activist? Dr Ramphele is a South African academic, businesswoman and medical doctor and was an anti-apartheid activist. She was one of the founders of the Black Consciousness Movement, along with Steve Biko. Mamphela Ramphele was voted 55th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004. She is currently chairperson of Circle Capital Ventures and serves as a Director of Medi-Clinic Corporation Limited and Business Partners.
• Soli Philander
  Seasoned broadcaster, award-winning actor, television presenter, director, comedian, playwright, columnist and motivational speaker. Idea worth spreading: Learning for Laughs Born and bred in Elsies River, Soli’s roots are firmly planted in the Cape. After matriculating from John Ramsay Secondary School in Bishop Lavis, he says he “fell into acting” after accompanying a friend to an audition. Since then he has performed around South Africa in all the key theatres. He has also performed internationally in Sweden, The Netherlands, America, the UK, Swaziland and Namibia. Over the course of his prestigious career Soli has hosted numerous radio shows and formed part of the original 567 CapeTalk line-up in 1997. To television viewers he is best known as the host of M-Net pay-channel’s local version of the popular game show “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” and the Afrikaans music quiz show “Liriekeraai.” He also hosted the first season of e.tv’s charity reality show “Let's Fix It.”
• John Gilmour
  Founder and Director of six LEAP Science & Maths Schools & Principal of one them Idea worth spreading: We are failing our kids by focusing on the cognitive and ignoring the emotional John Gilmour is the Founder of the LEAP Science and Maths Schools. He was Principal of Abbott’s College for five years before leaving to set up the LEAP Science and Maths School. The aim of the LEAP School is to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people, as well as the communities from which they come.
• Leigh Meinert
  TSiBA Education Founder & CEO Idea worth spreading: Developing the whole person - Setting up first generation university students to succeed. At 15 Leigh founded her first NGO called Ýouth With Vision and at 25 she co-founded TSiBA Education, a not for profit business school for SA’s young leaders and entrepreneurs. Based in Cape Town, TSiBA offers emerging leaders an opportunity to study towards an innovative and enriched business degree that focuses on entrepreneurship and leadership.
• Brent van Rensburg
  Founder of the Zip Zap Circus School Idea worth spreading: Your failures are my superstars Apparently, Brent hates education. He didn't consider himself an educator before the TEDxCapeTownED team convinced him otherwise. Born in 1961 in Cape Town, he started to learn daring aerial skills at the Circus school in Cape Town and for the next 15 years performed internationally. After an accident he decided to leave the performing side and became an acrobatic instructor and conducted circus workshops. At that time he met his future wife and Co-Founder of the Zip Zap circus school Laurence Esteve. In 1992 he and Laurence returned to South Africa and founded the Zip Zap circus school. Brent brings over 20 years of experience and passion for the circus to training young, aspiring Zip Zap performers from all walks of life.
• Phadiela Cooper
  Principal of Centre of Science & Technology (COSAT) Khayelitsha Idea worth spreading: The secrets of success for a township school. Phadiela Cooper is the principal of a Khayelitsha school, Centre of Science and Technology, the first to make it on to the province’s list of top 10 schools. One of their students achieved six distinctions. The school is one of three STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) facilities in the Western Cape where pupils with an aptitude for maths and science are accepted. The other two facilities are the Cape Academy in Tokai and the new Claremont High School.
• Jos Dirkx
  Girls & Football SA Founder Idea worth spreading: What do Girls, Football and Learning have in common? Jos Dirkx has lived on five continents and currently resides in South Africa. Her dedication to social justice and gender equality has propelled her participation in projects, debates, fund-raising and campaigning for increased public awareness of women’s rights, and her hands-on experience with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Sudan has furthered her dedication to making social justice and gender equality a worldwide priority. She is the Founder and Director of award-winning Girls & Football SA and passionate about girls' education.
• Laura Czerniewicz
  Head of UCT’s Centre for Open Education Idea worth spreading: Why education should be open in all sorts of ways and what to watch out for Laura has been leading the good people of the Centre for Educational Technology (CET) since it was formed in 2005. As director, Laura describes herself as a “deep generalist” overseeing all of CET’s work and operating at multiple interfaces. Presently, she is the research leader on an intriguing project on students’ technological habitus use in Higher Education Institutions within South Africa. She is also interested in the emergent knowledge domain of the field, mobile learning, the digital divide and ICTs and scholarly communication.
• Murray Gibbon
  Claremont High School Principal Idea worth spreading: Building successful school to school partnerships. Education runs deep in Murray's blood. He's passionate about people - young people in particular - and transforming our country. He has taught at various schools around Cape Town and overseas. Most recently he has pioneered the establishment of the new Maths & Science focus school, Claremont High, in Cape Town, in partnership with Westerford High.
• Louise Van Rhyn
  Symphonia Founder & CEO Idea worth spreading: Building successful school to business partnerships. Louise van Rhyn is an organization change practitioner with a focus on large-scale change in complex social systems. She has worked with diverse local and global organizations, across all sectors, in many countries. She is the founder of Symphonia for South Africa, a group of organizations committed to sustainable transformation in people, teams, companies, organizations and communities throughout the world. Through Symphonia, Louise works to mobilize citizens to become actively involved in addressing the education crisis facing South Africa. She has also initiated the innovative School @ the Centre of Community leadership development process that creates an opportunity for business leaders and school principals to develop their leadership skills in a co-learning partnership.
• Malinga Nopote
  Principal of Sinenjongo High School in Joe Slovo Park Idea worth spreading: Excellence requires commitment. Commitment requires trust. Malinga Nopote trained as a secondary school teacher at UWC and has been teaching in the Western Cape since 1995. She was appointed principal of Sinenjongo High School in Joe Slovo, Cape Town in July 2010. She and her team increased the matric pass rate at Sinenjongo from 44% in 2009, to 98% in 2010, and 88% in 2011. Her vision is to produce well-educated learners who can be independent thinkers. Malinga wants to see South Africa benefit ‘the best leaders’ - particularly leaders from disadvantaged backgrounds – appointed into governance positions.
• Christoph Hagspihl
  Maths Teacher at Mfuleni High School Idea worth spreading: Graduates in the township Christoph grew up in Joburg and went on to study mathematics at UCT. He is currently completing his masters in mathematical finance. Because of his passion for education and bridging the divide, he is also teaching full time at a township school called Mfuleni High School. His involvement with Mfuleni has opened the door to a number of further partnerships.
• Rich Mulholland
  Thinker, starter of things, passionate about education Idea worth spreading: Escaping educational legacide Richard kicked off his career as a rock n roll roadie, operating lights for bands such as Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. From there he started SA's largest presentation firm, Missing Link and co-founded 21Tanks, SA's first perspective lab. Richard is a highly regarded speaker. When not addressing many of South Africa's top corporations, he guest lectures on courses for The Cape Graduate School of Business (GSB), and the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). As well as blogging on richmulholland.com, Richard is a columnist for Longevity and Destiny Man magazines
• Steve Sherman
  Founder of Living Maths idea worth spreading: The global classroom, live from South Africa. Steve is the Managing Director of an Educational NGO called Living Maths. He teaches approximately 4500 students weekly in schools around Cape Town and now recently, the world. He is passionate about sharing knowledge and empowering young people. He is also a multi-award purchasing educator and was voted third best-looking educational innovator by his mother. He feels that it is his destiny to spread the joy of numbers to anyone who is willing to listen and even to those who are not. He knows Karate, Ju-jitsu and 2 other Japanese words.
• Prof Ian Scott
  UCT's Director of Academic Development Idea worth spreading: We desperately need more black graduates. Here is why they are failing. Here is what doesn't work. Here is what might. Prof. Ian Scott is the director of Academic Development and a professor and deputy dean at the University of Cape Town. He has been a member of the Ministry of Education's Reference Group on Academic Development since 2000. His research and development interests include higher education policy related to teaching-and-learning, curriculum and qualifications frameworks, and comparative models for widening participation in higher education. He is also involved in improving throughput in the Engineering Bachelors Degree.
• Craig Charnock
  Founder of Ubuntu Bridge - Xhosa and Zulu language teaching company.  idea worth spreading: Language learning - bridge to a better world Craig Makhosi Charnock studied Psychology, Philosophy and Film Studies, with a lifelong career in comedic and dramatic performance on the side. Following an 8 month rural stint as a trainee sangoma, Makhosi’s calling shifted into guiding people through the transformative process of learning to speak Xhosa through his company UBuntu Bridge (www.learnxhosa.co.za), which also facilitates intercultural immersion experiences in rural villages and townships. More recently Craig's musical persona has emerged as Quite a White Ou (www.quiteawhiteou.com), who sings in Xhosa and English, with the intention of breaking down racial stereotypes, inspiring language learning and as potential compensation for the sometimes non-existent salary of a self-employed teacher
• Xola Soliki
  GOLD Peer Educator Idea worth spreading: The power of peersXola is an 18 year old male who was selected as a GOLD Peer Educator when he was in grade 10 due to his leadership potential. He lives in Kraaifontein, a community riddled with poverty, gangsterism and crime. Xola grew up in a single parent household with four siblings. Before joining GOLD, he used to think it was “only his opinion that mattered”. He now sees himself as a positive role model for his generation and he has been able to influence the decisions of his peers in a measurable way. Xola has encouraged his peers to finish school like himself and to study further after matric despite the tough circumstances that young people in his school and community face. He plans to start a Theatre for youth in his community, to get them involved in something positive. Xola is passionate about spreading an idea to help others to “think out of the box” about the power of positive peer pressure to bring about real change at an individual, group and community level.
• Sam Paddock
  GetSmarter Founder & Executive Director Idea worth spreading: What if mothers taught the world? Sam is the Executive Director of GetSmarter - a high touch online education company that works with Universities to deliver online short courses. The company is 4 years old, and in 2012, now headed by Sam's brother Rob and his 70-person team, will educate over 5,000 students throughout South Africa. With a deep passion for disruption, Sam now heads up GetSmarter's Incubator which amongst other things has initiated projects in mobile maths education, worksheet and lesson plan sharing, a web-based teaching platform and delivery models for online education in township conditions.