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- Samkelo Mhlophe, a Life Sciences and Physics teacher at Makhumbuza High School, uses TikTok to share lessons with pupils and parents.
- Views for two of his videos have surpassed 1.6 million.
- Mhlophe, a Grade 12 teacher, says diversifying his teaching method to suit the needs of pupils helps them understand the subject better.
- GOOD NEWS DAY IS BACK! News24 celebrates the people restoring pride in our country. Read their stories here
A Life Sciences and Physics teacher at Makhumbuza High School in Umlazi, Durban, has captured the hearts of pupils, parents and scores of social media users with his unique teaching style.
Samkelo Mhlophe, 28, has garnered more than 1.6 million views for each of the two Life Sciences videos he has on TikTok.
In one video, he explains the development of an embryo and ovulation. The pupils can then be heard breaking into song as part of the lesson.
He told News24 his teaching style involved fusing education and entertainment.
Mhlophe, who has more than 3.4 million likes and more than 281 000 followers on the video-sharing app, is aware of his influence and uses it to benefit pupils.
"Posting videos on social media is about helping learners. TikTok is a huge platform, and learners can download videos. I didn't expect to have 1.6 million views. Thousands worldwide and in neighbouring countries have downloaded my videos. Some have asked for more videos and for me to upload more on YouTube. The more it trends, the more it helps people," he said.
Mhlophe has been a teacher since January 2020. He said his teaching style was effective because "it removed the boring element of teaching" and made lessons fun and easy to memorise.
"I find trending songs and change them into a lesson. If learners can have songbooks, they can memorise. What if I change a song into a lesson? Surely, they will remember it.
"Any teacher can stand in front of the learners and recite a book, but it takes a great teacher to develop strategies and make learners understand the information [in the book]. Information is everywhere, but we teachers are simplifiers of that information," he added.
According to Mhlophe, being a Grade 12 teacher is challenging. He said diversifying his teaching approach to accommodate the needs of all his pupils helped to achieve the quality of passes he wanted.
He said:
KwaZulu-Natal education department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said the department welcomed creative teaching methods that benefit pupils.
"We appreciate the creativity of educators in imparting knowledge to our learners in a manner that will assist them and [make them remember] forever."
