TEDxCapeTownED to stimulate conversation on education innovation

This event has already happened

Please visit the Events Page for current events!


The first TEDxCapeTownED event will take place at the Ratanga Junction MegaVu venue near Canal Walk on 16 June – on Youth Day.

TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a global non-profit organisation dedicated to the mission of ideas worth spreading. The x in TEDxCapeTownED means it is an independently organised event, licensed by TED, and ED means educators who each will be conveying ideas in less than 12 minutes.

A group of experienced professionals passionate about transforming South Africa through education have organised the event voluntarily and have put together a list of 19 educators to speak at the event. These are the educators who will share their ideas:

• Dr Mamphela Ramphele - Activist, Author, Academic, Businesswoman and Medical Doctor
• Prof. Tim Noakes - UCT Professor of Sports Science
• Soli Philander - Seasoned broadcaster, award-winning actor, television presenter, director, comedian, playwright, columnist and motivational speaker
• John Gilmour - Founder of six LEAP Science & Maths Schools & Principal of one them
• Leigh Meinert - TSiBA Education Founder & CEO
• Brent van Rensburg - Founder and CEO of the Zip Zap Circus School
• Phadiela Cooper - Principal of Centre of Science & Technology (COSAT) Khayelitsha – the first township school to be placed in the top ten in the province
• Jos Dirkx - Girls & Football SA Founder
• Laura Czerniewicz - Head of UCT’s Centre for Open Education
• Murray Gibbon - Claremont High School Principal
• Louise Van Rhyn - Symphonia Founder & CEO
• Malinga Nopote - Principal of Sinenjongo High School in Joe Slovo Park – one of the Western Cape’s top ten most improved schools in 2011
• Christoph Hagspihl - Maths Teacher at Mfuleni High School
• Rich Mulholland - Founder of Missing Link and 21tanks, guest lecturer at SA’s leading business schools and magazine columnist
• Steve Sherman - Founder and CEO of Living Maths
• Prof Ian Scott - UCT's Director of Academic Development
• Craig Charnock - Ubuntu Bridge Founder and CEO
• Xola Soliki - GOLD Peer Educator
• Sam Paddock - GetSmarter Founder & CEO

Terence Berry, convenor of TEDxCapeTownED and founder of the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA) Academy says,

I was an audience member at a previous TEDxCapeTown conference and realised the potential for TEDx as a platform to showcase educator innovation. This is how the idea for a TEDxCapeTownED conference came about.

Together with my team of dedicated professionals we’ve designed this event specifically for educators who want to be inspired, and create change.

Oxford University Press Southern Africa, headline sponsor of the conference believes in excellence in education and also the importance innovation plays in the development of education.

Sponsoring TEDxCapeTownED in 2012 is a natural extension of what we do. We are proud to be associated with educators who make a real difference to learners and students through their actions, innovation, commitment and excellence, Says Lieze Kotze, Managing Director at Oxford University Press Southern Africa.

TEDxCapeTownED gives educators a platform to address the current educational issues in South Africa and to share ideas on solutions for these issues.

All TEDx events are independently organised and free of political, commercial and religious agenda.

More Information

Talks can be viewed at www.youtube.com and some of the best talks are available for view or free download at www.ted.com.

Please visit http://tedxcapetowned.org/ for more information about the event.