Mr Tewson, the art teacher at Bracken High School was filmed shouting at one of his students but… he was shouting words of encouragement.
Johannesburg, South Africa – We are all sick of seeing videos of teachers or school students doing horrendous things that’s why when we saw this video was trending, we scrolled passed thinking it was another bad video. Eventually, someone in the office pointed out that we should actually watch the video because it was so much more than we thought.
We watched it and realised if we made the assumption many others might have done so too.
Mr Tewson is the creative arts and design teacher. He started his career at the school 13 years ago as an assistant teacher. Now 34 years old, he says encouraging his learners is key.
He started his rant knowing that the students would whip out their phones to record it. Little did the class know, he was about to shout out in the best way possible.
He walks to one of his Grade 10 students and shouts “What is this?”. She responds, a little caught out by nerves, saying “It is my work, sir.” That is when Tewson shouts back “This is absolutely brilliant!”
He pages through her art book and then shouts, “This is incredible! Go to the front! Go to the front so we can clap!”
The student bounces to the front of the class while being cheered on by her classmates. In an interview with TimesLIVE, he confirmed that he really wanted to make a positive impact and inspire his students to do well in school and life.
“Lately, students across the world have been trying to catch teachers ranting or shouting in class at any moment. I just created a twist and made it positive. We had a good laugh after they put down their phones.
“Teaching techniques have to change and adapt. What worked yesterday might not work today, so I keep the kids on their toes. They never know what to expect. In that way I know they will be paying attention. And humour goes a long way, especially if you have to teach something less interesting.”
Marthie Kruger, the deputy principle of Bracken High School commented on the video, praising Tewson for his teaching method.
“It seems as if negative publicity regarding education is the norm nowadays. It is refreshing to see something positive getting so much attention,” said Kruger.
“We are proud that one of our staff members took this initiative and hope that this motivates other educators to remain positive in a negative press environment.”
Take a look at the video below.
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