Johannesburg – Those who grew up and studied in the 90s will recognise the name William Smith, the legendary maths and science guru who helped many make sense of complex formulas.
The retired teacher, who is best known for his maths lessons on television, is still in awe after being honoured with an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, Rhodes University, last week.
Speaking from his Australian home, where he has lived for the last 10 years, Smith said this week that it was truly amazing to be recognised by the institution that contributed to his excellence.
“You always wonder if what you do is effective. “As an untrained teacher with a second-class matric, I wasn’t the brightest. I broke all the rules of the teaching book and that unconventional method of teaching is what I believe made a difference. Being dubbed the teacher of the nation is the highest honour for me,” he said.
Having grown up in Grahamstown (Makhanda), he said he was always savvy at arithmetic and scraped through his second year studying toward a bachelor of science degree in physics.
He followed with honours degree, passing cum laude.
“I’m not born mathematical. Physics and chemistry were more of my fields. I worked like a slave to get through university. I do believe that the more stupid you are as a teacher, the better, because you ask and take questions and learn.
“I get why some of us don’t understand certain concepts and tried to simplify them. In my second year, I discovered girls, one in particular with blonde hair, blue eyes and really tall. She sucked at chemistry and I helped her “Later, I was helping 120 of them, that was the start of the teaching journey.
“I bought myself a turquoise VW with the proceeds,” said the jovial Smith.
He worked at African Explosives and Chemical Industries and was a mechanical manager at the age of 29, but says teaching was his calling.
Now 81 years old, he also received the Order of the Baobab (silver) award from President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019, for contributing to the lives of millions and the demystifying mathematics and science.
The Learning Channel, which he started producing in 1990, was initially thought to be a crazy idea and his critics said it wouldn’t work, but it continued to be a success for more than 16 years.
And with the world celebrating International Mathematics Day last week, Smith said he still regarded South Africa’s curriculum as one of the best in the world.
“Certainly, better than Australia, but I wouldn’t want to be in the minister of education’s shoes,” he joked.
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