Helena Wessels: Her “Life Story”

Abstract

The life of Dr. Helena Wessels – natural researcher, born teacher, and brilliant lecturer in mathematics education – tragically and prematurely ended when her and her husband’s family home in the Strand burnt down on the night of 24 February 2018. At the age of 62 years, she was reaching for several ideals in her academic life: A very important one for her was to improve her own teaching to the fullest. She worked diligently on this. After a presentation, or after a series of lessons, she studied and carefully considered all elements of feedback. She continually strove for excellence. Each aspect of criticism was critically and reflectively analyzed. Toward the end, she was keenly interested in comments about the use and integration of technology in her presentations and in her teaching of mathematics education. It came as no surprise that she received the highest award from Stellenbosch University for quality teaching. Her recommendation by SU was accepted by the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of South Africa – the HELTASA group awarded the Teaching Advancement at Universities (TAU) Fellowship to her for a 3-year period. This prestigious award was very special to her, and she enjoyed and thrived on the challenging level of collaborative project work and research with colleagues from other universities in South Africa.

Her appointment as lecturer in Foundation Phase Mathematics at Stellenbosch University in January 2009 was really the beginning of a successful, industrious second life for Helena. In her earlier career, she excelled as a music and mathematics primary school teacher. This privilege and opportunity meant a lot to her, and she dedicated her heart and life to it. Later, as an emerging scholar and researcher, all her research was done with her own learners and students. Research projects were often designed and chosen with national and international colleagues who shared her interest and passion – the teaching and learning of statistics education and mathematics education. Her love for music, statistics, and mathematics education were driven by the need to foster and develop an audiences’ enjoyment or students’ understanding. She was dedicated to her students, and her energy went into her preparation to teach in such a way that they would see and understand the close connection between theory and practice through the problem-centered teaching approach. She worked energetically and enthusiastically until they were able to implement this in their own classrooms. Her meticulous preparation for the lectures the day after student lesson presentations kept her up for hours, and sometimes she did with no sleep at all. She had an innate specific and special ability to elucidate how theory and practice were integrated – this became apparent in her theoretical analyses of the problem-centered teaching approach, but also in her foundational views about the social responsibility programs she coordinated in the Faculty of Education. She was also able to integrate these projects with her own teaching and her own research. Her husband Dirk, also a professor in mathematics education, was her biggest supporter and admirer. Helena, the person with her passion and energy, will be missed by friends, colleagues, and students.