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07 April 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied
Nadia read more_use
Nadia Smith aspires to become a music therapist and is grateful for the experience she has gained.

To engage in a service learning project is equal to “one hand washing the other”. This is how Nadia Smith, recipient of this year’s UFS Service Learning Award views the concept of service learning. 

Smith is a third-year BMus student in the Odeion School of Music (OSM) at the University of the Free State (UFS). “It is indeed a privilege to be rewarded as the best Service Learning student and receive the 2002 UFS Service Learning Award,” Smith says.

Service learning has been incorporated into the UFS curriculum as a module in 2020. Students have the opportunity to gain practical experience and apply and execute theory by teaching others in disadvantaged communities who benefit from the service provided by gaining new knowledge and skills. 
Smith’s service module required her to teach at the Brandwag Primary School in Bloemfontein. “On Friday afternoons we had the opportunity to teach music to learners who otherwise would not have been exposed to music education,” Smith says. The service learning module varies from programme to programme. “The Brandwag learners received us gracefully and participated with enthusiasm during lessons. I truly realised the value of these classes when the learners asked us to teach more frequently.” 

Agent of change in the making

Smith strives to be an active agent of change with her involvement in numerous community-based projects including the OSM Music Education Marimba project in Heidedal in Bloemfontein. “The project aims to teach marimba to children from the Heidedal community which culminates in a concert by the children at the end of the year,” she says. This project is in collaboration with the Reach Our Community foundation

Apart from her role in the Heidedal project she has also been teaching at the Lettie Fouche School in Bloemfontein. “It is very rewarding to experience the positive influence of music education on the children and to observe their development in various areas as a result of exposure to classroom music,” Smith says. 

“As a music student striving to eventually become a music therapist I am grateful for opportunities to gain exposure and experience in various fields.”

News Archive

Prof Steyn to receive Jan H Marais Prize in Stellenbosch
2017-05-09

Description: Prof Jaap Steyn  Tags: Prof Jaap Steyn

Prof Jaap Steyn, who started his career as
journalist at Volksblad, later entered the academy,
and was a professor at the University of the
Free State for many years.
Photo: Marthie Kemp

Although Prof Jaap Steyn will be honoured officially for his contribution to Afrikaans as an academic language at the end of this month, he only became aware of his nomination after he had won the award.

According to this research fellow in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State (UFS), he is grateful for the recognition. He has recently been awarded the Jan H Marais Prize for his outstanding contribution to Afrikaans.

Former Kovsie honoured together with Prof Jan van der Watt
According to a statement by the South African Academy for Science and Arts, the award was jointly made to Prof Steyn, who is probably the best-known South African language historian, and Prof Jan van der Watt van Nijmegen from the Netherlands. The prize money of R500 000, which they will share, will be presented in Stellenbosch on 30 May 2017.

Prof Steyn is a former Kovsie, who was a research professor at the UFS from 1985 to 1997, and at the age of 78 is still a research fellow. “After the announcement of the prize, I learnt that I was nominated by two of my colleagues,” he says.

His most difficult work was probably also his best

Over the past 50 years several of his publications, biographies, and books have seen the light. He believes that nothing one does is perfect. His most difficult work was the biography of NP van Wyk Louw. “It was probably also my best work,” he says. “The book I enjoyed working on most, was the biography of the author MER, or ME Rothmann.”

Prof Steyn has also received awards such as the Stals Prize, the Louis Hiemstra Prize, the NP van Wyk Louw medal, and honorary membership from the South African Academy for Science and Arts.

He says the staff in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French are very friendly and helpful to still render him assistance as a research fellow.


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