Eminent professor, prolific writer and well-known public speaker Professor Jonathan Jansen is set to speak at the much-anticipated School Leadership Forum.
The virtual forum is organised by top-ranked, non-profit Symphonia for South Africa (SSA) and will take place on Thursday, March 1, 2022.
School Leadership Forums are designed to offer tangible knowledge and skills on education and leadership related matters to principals, school management teams, school governing bodies and teachers.
This instalment will see the distinguished professor of education at Stellenbosch University explore the topic of School Leaders as Citizen Leaders: Why is Citizen Leadership important in the school context.
This session will take place under the banner of SSA’s nationwide #TheFutureWeWant campaign. Encapsulating the hopes and dreams every citizen has for South Africa, the campaign acknowledges that the future begins with quality education for every child – and the way to achieve this is through the empowerment of the school principals who drive quality education.
Regional Manager for SSA, Selwyn Page, said: “We are individuals connected in communities small and large. The success of our schools in these communities rests on our active, daily participation as citizen leaders.
“Professor Jansen is a long-standing supporter of Symphonia for South Africa and its flagship programme Partners for Possibility, who no doubt embodies the qualities required to advance even the most marginalised of South African communities.
“His commitment to learning, critical thinking, compassion, personal integrity and respect for the law, ethics, justice and equality are admirable. We encourage our school leaders and educators to join us for the invaluable pearls of wisdom Professor Jansen has to offer.’’
Professor Jansen was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS) in 2009 and served in this role until mid-2017 when he took-up a Professorship at the University of Stellenbosch.
Educated at the University of the Western Cape, Unisa and Cornell, he obtained a PhD at Stanford in 1991 and holds Honorary Doctor of Education degrees from the University of Edinburgh and Cleveland State University.
Prior to taking up the post of V-C of UFS, he served as Professor of Education at the University of Durban-Westville and the University of Pretoria.
Professor Jansen recently received Education Africa’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his work towards the transformation of education in South Africa.