Festival of Learning: highlighting ‘Education for Social Change’


Education, whether formal or informal learning, is the key driver of the social change we would all like to see in South Africa. SACAP (The South African College of Applied Psychology) has announced that this will be the dynamic theme of the 2019 Festival of Learning which will be held in in Cape Town 23rd and 24th of May and in Johannesburg on 30th and 31st of May 2019

A celebration of ongoing adult education, the 8th annual Festival of Learning offers an intimate space for festival-goers and presenters to engage in authentic conversations and meaningful dialogues. An inspiring programme, which includes, one hour interactive sessions and 15 minute, short, sharp talks, bringing together a spectrum of researchers, academics and experts; thought leaders, practitioners and authors to showcase a broad range of leading edge ideas, stories and initiatives; models, projects and programmes that are empowering individuals, families, schools, organisations and communities, to ignite social change.

Last year, the Festival of Learning successfully introduced The Human Library to festival-goers, and in 2019 a new selection of ‘human books’ will be presented in Cape Town and Johannesburg. This innovative concept involves volunteers who face real-life prejudice, stereotyping and stigma; or who have endured life-changing experiences that are hard to talk about. They courageously reveal their stories in the safe and interactive library space. As the ‘readers’ of their challenging narratives, the audience is encouraged to pose difficult questions and commentary so that authentic dialogues are unlocked about ‘the titles’, which may include racial, religious, gender or sexual discrimination; as well as the impacts of mental and physical health issues.

This year for the first time the Festival of Learning will include a selection of CPD (Continuing Professional Development) accredited talks. Professionals attending the Cape Town Festival could earn up to four CPD points and those attending Johannesburg could earn up to five CPD points.

In Cape Town the CPD accredited talks are:

  • Noa Belling - Mindfulness and Social Change
  • Melanie Godfrey & Kirsten McLeod - The importance and benefits of social and emotional wellbeing for children/adolescents and adults
  • Dr Ashley Smyth - Education for Social Transformation
  • Dr Jaclyn Lotter - Children’s stories of the power of education: a child-participatory study of children living in grandmother- headed households in the Eastern Cape

In Johannesburg the CPD accredited talks are:

  • Dr Marlena Kruger - The Neuroscientific Power of Clicks
  • Katlego Mashego - Translatability of psychometric assessments
  • Dr Diana de Sousa- The Comorbidity of Reading Disabilities and Attention-Deficity/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Itumeleng Masisi - Students as agents of social change in higher learning
  • Lauren Martin - Are we equipping graduates to create meaningful work for themselves?
For a more detailed description of the CPD talk topic, please download the Festival of Learning Talk Overviews PDF: Cape Town Programme and Johannesburg Programme.