Shannon A - Tutor in Grahamstown
I come from a ‘teaching family’. Most of my family members teach in some way or another, and I seem to have inherited this passion. I like to create an environment in which students feel passionate about learning and take their engagement in the material in their own hands. There is no greater reward for me than seeing a student enjoy learning and challenging themselves. I am an English home language speaker. I did a BA in English Literature cum laude, for which I also received Academic Honours. I have a BA Hons in Political Science and International Relations cum laude, for which I received an award for coming top of my Postgraduate class. I am currently working on my MPhil in African Studies at the University of the Free State. I have many years of experience in facilitating, lecturing and teaching. Often when I lecture or teach, it is my favorite part of the day. I am an outgoing person, I enjoy spending time with people. I also spend a lot of my time on community development projects; for example, I am a consultant on the government’s new Gender Based Violence policy. I love to be creative and engage with new ideas and I also really enjoy being active.
Tutor basics
Teaching places
My Home, Students Home, Public Place, and Online
Travelling distance
Shannon will travel 50km from Grahamstown, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Languages spoken
Shannon speaks English
Experience
Teaching Assistant
I was a TA for UFS101. This course is focused around orientating the first years and providing them with the skills necessary to become a successful student; for example, we teaching them financial skills such as budgeting, time management skills, and study skills. The course is also focused on preparing the students for the world of work and ensuring that they nurture their abilities to employ creative thinking and problem solving. My duties include teaching 7 classes/week of about 150 students, marking their assignments and keeping up to date with the students' attendance.
Research Assistant
I researched, organized, and categorized for the Dean’s most recent book. I was responsible for finding new and original material and for summer ozone said material for the Dean’s review.
Tutor
I tutored 2nd year politics undergraduate students. During this experience, I really discovered my love for teaching. In all the years that I tutored my students made up the top 3 academic performers in the module for the year.
Academic Facilitator
I am teaching the Introduction to Politics module at the UFS in 2020. So, I will be lecturing, setting assignments and exams, and grading my students.
Education
MPhil in African Studies - University of the Free State
My masters degree is awarded upon completion of my dissertation. As such, it is a research-based degree. My research is focused on the realm of security studies on the African continent. I am looking to contribute to the discussion of gendered security. I propose that by making conceptual loans from complexity theory in physical and biological sciences that our understanding of the complex nature of conflict on the continent will be enhanced. In this case, I am concerned with understanding how complex systems of violence and oppression not only come into being but also how those systems persist into and beyond the present. I do so through the use of discourse analysis.
BA Hons in Political and International Studies - Rhodes University
Grade: 81% Awarded top Honours Student in my graduating class. My BA Honours consisted of 5 courses that I carried across 2 semesters. In the first semester, I focused on International Relations on the African continent, African countries relationships with each other, and African countries relationships with the EU, China, the US, and other world powers. Furthermore, I focused on the changing nature of conflict and peace building on the continent. In the second semester, I focused on Politics. I took a course with Prof Steven Friedman based on contemporary South Africa politics, covering topics from HIV Aids to the nature of democracy in our country. I also took an African feminist course. This course provided a both an in-depth interrogation of the feminist canon in the West and that of feminist scholarship coming from the Global South - particularly the African continent.
BA in English Literature and Political and International Studies cum laude - Rhodes University
I graduated with Distinction. 82% and 83% respectively. My undergraduate degree, being a general BA, was quite broad. In my first year, I took many different subjects as I wanted to have a clear idea of what I would like to pursue as a career and because I have wide and varying interests and skills. As such, I took Economics, Economic History, Social Geography, Psychology, Philosophy, Politics, Governance, International Relations, English Literature, and Art History. I am grateful for taking this path as it meant I have a broad knowledge base from which I can now enter into my postgraduate studies. I majored in Political and International Studies because I connected with the subject and I felt that the subject connected with my passion to serve my community. Furthermore, I majored in English because of my passion for reading and creative thinking. I have found that having majored in English, I have become skilled at the both writing and summarizing.
Subjects taught
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English Literature
I have loved reading fiction from a young age. I not only got a distinction for the subject in matric, but continued on with it throughout my undergraduate degree. I graduated cum laude and I received a merit scholarship to pursue my Honours in the subject. I know how to share the knowledge of how to look at a text, what to look for, and how to be critical. I am the best tutor for this subject because I will help you access English in a way that will not only help you to understand it, but to also help you become passionate about what it can do for you.
Shannon teaches English Literature at High School, University/College, and Adult level(s)
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Government and Politics
I have a vast knowledge of the subject, I have taught it for a number of years, and excelled in it myself academically. I also am active within political spaces in SA, and so I not only have theoretical but also a practical understanding of how politics works.
Shannon teaches Government and Politics at High School and University/College level(s)
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Writing
I have excelled in writing my entire university career. I have also been published a number of times. As a lecturer, I have the ability to guide you in your journey of finding your writing voice and passion.
Shannon teaches Writing at High School, University/College, and Adult level(s)
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English skills
As a home language speaker I know English in a way that other tutors might not, I know the particularities of the language. However, as a teacher I also know how inaccessible the language can be. As such, I am the best tutor for this subject because I can help you access the language in a way you might not have been guided to before, in a way that English is moulded by you and not the other way around.
Shannon teaches English skills at High School and University/College level(s)