- Foreword
- Chapter 2 – Khwezi Mkhathini
- Chapter 3 – Kumarie Mohan
- Chapter 4 – Carry Paterson
- Chapter 5 – Jabu Mtheku
- Chapter 6 – Sue Bonney
- Chapter 7 – Phindile Khumalo
- Chapter 8 – Grace Khanyile
A lifetime daughter of Durban, Jill is a dynamic and inspirational woman of deep faith who has always passionately believed that an individual can make a difference within their own sphere and beyond. She truly represents Caversham Education Institute’s (CEI’s) value of inspiration in the individual and the individual as inspiration.
There are two objects which Jill believes encompass her as a person: her mother’s diamond engagement ring which connects her to her parents and their enduring love for each other and their children, and the Hourglass symbol and process which underpins her work. Like a diamond being formed, Jill endured enormous darkness and pressure at certain times of her life, but this led to her creating her vision of empowering others through the establishment of CEI. Thus, Jill treasures the ring and its connotations, believing the love it embodies and the care with which it was made allows the diamond to reflect the light of life.
The CEI Hourglass symbol and process is another pillar of Jill’s life, and she views it as a gift from her brother, Malcolm, whom she also sees as a human diamond who reflects light to others. Malcolm developed the Hourglass Process as part of a leadership course, and it continues to underpin all Jill’s work through its stages of Reflection, Dialogue, CreACTion™, and Ownership. Through these four steps, individuals move from reflection, through engagement, to action, and then ownership, turning the hourglass over from acquiring to giving, allowing transformation to take place within individuals and within groups.
In brief:
Reflection allows individuals to stop, to pause, to ask questions of themselves: Who am I as an individual? What do I bring? Where is the meaning and relevance of what I do?
Dialogue moves the process from reflection to interaction with others through active listening, allowing individuals to see themselves as others see them.
CreACTion™ combines Intention & action, the spirit of creativity, resulting in holistic action led by insights from the reflection and dialogue processes, moving from the theory to application.
Ownership is the fourth step in the process where participants take responsibility for themselves and go beyond their past to their empowered future. Ownership allows the individual to see themselves in both aspects: first, as passive victims of circumstance and then as transformed individuals engaging their innate leadership potential allowing for a unique and meaningful contribution to others (container becoming conduit). Together, these 4 steps allow for replenishment of the self as well as the ability to replenish others. The resulting transformation in individuals is deeply inspiring.
Jill trained as a high school art teacher, but a malignant melanoma left her looking for new options, and she became very involved with her children’s preschool to the point where she was offered a job in 1979. She spent the next 5 years teaching Grade R, an invaluable experience considering what the future held.
After 5 years as HOD at Westville Pre-primary she transfered to Woodlands Pre-Primary, where she was to remain for 5 years as principal, and keeping in mind this was during the Apartheid years so this was an all-white school, Jill felt the need to bring together women of different ethnicities to share their stories and support each other. This empathy and willingness to help others is a trait that Jill’s mother had modelled, and it came naturally to Jill from an early age.
The women gathered once a month, and in 1990, Jill visited Umlazi where she met several talented women who had qualification certificates that had no value in the job market. Jill was determined to change this, and she began studying with the American High Scope Foundation so she could offer the course as further training to enable these women.
Circumstances placed obstacles in her way, but the women would not allow Jill to stop the course. Their encouragement led Jill to rewrite the basic High Scope course to suit ECD. Twenty-four women completed this two-year qualification, and Jill remains in touch with some of them, one of whom is Sandra de Sissing who went on to open a highly successful preschool section for an affluent international school in Turkiye. We were complemented by the higher grades as to just how independent and ready for school our little preschoolers were, so thank you, Jill, for everything!
Having been seconded to the KZN Department of Education as responsibility manager for the development of policy, structures, and systems for the phasing in of Grade R into the KZN education system, as well as being the KZN DoE representative at National level, Jill spent the next years working hard within the structures of officialdom, and in 2001 she was forced to ‘mothball’ her Scope program.
When Jill took early retirement from the DoE in 2006, she returned to her passion for transformation and training ECD teachers, and she started CEI. At first, she was on her own, but now there are 32 people on the payroll, with seven of them being in Head Office, and Jill sees huge potential for the future with the Institute continuing to provide good teachers for young children. Although many people regard ECD as the lowest level of education and ECD teachers as no more than nannies/childminders, it is the first vital step in the educational process when maximum brain development takes place. This belief, coupled with Jill’s passion for growing women in their own right, underpins Jill’s commitment to ECD and her belief that the individual can transform a child’s life with the ripples of this impacting the family and community in which each child lives.
CEI provides not only a documented and accredited qualification that allows women to earn a living or start their own business/ECD school, but it is also the vehicle for personal growth as demonstrated by the 1600 graduates of the Institute which has branches in KZN and the Cape. The students are encouraged to value themselves, and this self-esteem influences their own families as well as the lives and families of the children they teach.
As part of the course, students are required to journal every fortnight, an activity that makes the individual dig deep while developing journaling skills that continually ask ‘Who am I and what do I do? What do I bring to the situation?’ This takes the Caversham course far beyond teaching kids in a classroom, moving it into the realm of self-growth as well as the development of professional skills.
She has been surrounded by people who have inspired and supported her. Her mother, Nora, her brother, Malcolm, her friend and colleague of 26 years, Jabu Mtheku, her family and husband Ian and the amazing management team. Each of the facilitators and mentors, have enriched and encouraged, many of whom simply seem to ‘arrive at the gate’ when needed: something that Jill believes is a manifestation of her own deeply held Christian faith. Finally, Jill is inspired by the many students who come as women questioning their right to be in the world and who learn to value themselves as they step into their futures with self-confidence and pride. To Jill, this transformation is the golden ripple of Caversham and supports her passion for her work.