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Prof Jonathan Jansen

PROF JONATHAN JANSEN was Vice Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State and President of the South African Institute of Race Relations. He holds a PhD from Stanford University, the MS degree from Cornell University, and honorary doctorates of education from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), Cleveland State University (USA), and the University of Vermont (USA, 2014). He is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association and a Fellow of the Academy of Science of the Developing World. His book Knowledge in the Blood: Confronting Race and the Apartheid Past (Stanford 2009) was listed as one of the best books of that year by the American Libraries Association. His new book, Schools that Work, uses video-documentaries to capture what happens inside disadvantaged schools which nevertheless produce the best results in physical science and mathematics in South Africa. He also writes popular books like Great South African Teachers (with two students), We need to talk, and We need to act (2013); and is a columnist for The Times and Die Burger. In 2013 he was awarded the Education Africa Lifetime Achiever Award in New York and the Spendlove Award from the University of California for his contributions to tolerance, democracy and human rights. In May 2014 he received an honorary doctor of letters degree at the University of Vermont and recently Knowledge in the Blood also won the Nayef Al Rodhan Prize, the largest award from the British Academy for the Social Science and Humanities, for its contribution to scholarly excellence and transcultural understanding.

Prof Jansen: Why Do Things Never Fall Apart in South Africa?
By Prof Jonathan Jansen 21-09-21 20:07

Why does South Africa not fall off the precipice? Economists are clear that if this economy does not grow soon, the prospects of new jobs are dismal and rising unemployment will be our fate… writes Prof Jonathan Jansen. Educationists are clear that if the decline in education quality and the high drop-out rates continue, schools […]

There is a Terrifying Silence in the Storm over Statues
By Prof Jonathan Jansen 10-04-15 06:11

This is not the time for hyperbole. No, there is not a race war coming. No, there will not be wholesale changes to memorials on or off university campuses. No, the country is not about to implode because some UCT students tackled the Rhodes statue. This turmoil will pass. The reason is simple: the overwhelming […]

Erase Rhodes? That Offends Me as a Teacher
By Prof Jonathan Jansen 22-04-15 23:09

Professor Jonathan Jansen, President of the South African Institute of Race Relations, has described the  #RhodesMustFall movement as “anti-educational and anti-progressive” and questions the justifications given by those who have benefited from Rhodes Scholarships to now “spit” in the face of British colonialist Cecil John Rhodes. With the kind permission of Professor Jonathan Jansen, who is […]