Have you figured out the second head fake?

To teach is to touch a life

  Head-fake learning is a form of learning that is not obvious at first sight. The simplest way of explaining it is when students think they are learning something about Subject A, but are in fact, learning something about Subject B. This is not a new method but was popularised by author and Professor Randy Pausch.

Personally, head faking is how my mother taught me about Cape Town. She would take us kids on Sunday afternoon drives around the peninsula, teaching us about the city’s history and exposing us to its natural beauties. What we didn’t realise was that my mom was actually instilling in us a sense of geographic awareness, teaching us how to navigate using the mountain as a landmark. It may sound trivial but the long term effect and value is priceless.

One can deduce that the first head fake takes place at home (by the parents, guardians or the community) where fundamental teachings happen. The second head fake would therefore take place at school. For this to happen it is imperative that our Department of Basic Education firstly get their house in order because in some cases little learning takes place at home, making school a child’s ONLY hope. Were kids to have ANY chance at a future, our government must acknowledge that our education system is in crisis and stem the tide of its youth becoming illiterate and innumerate = unemployable.

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