About the webinar
What does it mean to truly know your subject in the twenty-first century particularly when teaching through technology in under-resourced, multilingual classrooms? This session challenges the notion that subject knowledge is a fixed, transferable body of content, arguing instead that it is continuously constructed, negotiated and deepened through practice, collaboration and contextual responsiveness. Drawing on three case studies featured in the British Council’s Teaching and Learning with Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa report, the session maps the terrain where subject expertise, digital competence and professional identity intersect in ways that are both urgent and instructive for global teacher education.
This session reflects on the design and delivery of an eight-week WhatsApp-based professional development programme that reached English language teachers across all nine South African provinces. The programme, developed in collaboration with the British Council and the Department of Basic Education, supported teachers in building practical strategies for vocabulary instruction, reading comprehension and reading for pleasure demonstrating how familiar, low-bandwidth platforms can carry pedagogically rich content at scale. We also share Victor Kibaba’s (Kenya) insights from establishing an after-school ICT club in a rural community, revealing how sustained, student-centred technology integration reshapes the teacher’s role as a subject expert. Further, we unpack Kadondi Sofia (Uganda) as she draws on her experience leading a one-week intensive digital skills workshop for teacher educators, illustrating how professional learning communities can catalyse systemic shifts in how subject knowledge is enacted and shared.
Together, these cases reveal a compelling pattern of knowing your subject in resource-constrained contexts requires knowing how to adapt it, teach it with available tools, and remain a learner yourself. The session invites participants to interrogate the relationship between subject knowledge, digital competence and professional identity, and to reflect on implications for teacher education policy and practice particularly in contexts where connectivity, infrastructure and access cannot be assumed.
Participants will leave with a contextually grounded framework for rethinking subject knowledge in technology-enhanced environments, as well as practical examples of low-resource, high-impact professional development that can be adapted across diverse educational settings.
About the speaker
Sikhumbuzo Sibanda is a teacher developer and a Lecturer in English Language Education at North-West University (Potchefstroom, South Africa). He brings more than 25 years of experience spanning higher education, secondary schooling and community development, a breadth of practice that informs his commitment to contextually grounded, transformative teacher education.
He is the founding National President of the National Association for English Teachers of South Africa (NAETSA). His work sits at the intersection of language policy, language pedagogy, educational technology and teacher professional development. A sought-after conference speaker and workshop facilitator, Sibanda has presented at national and international platforms including the SAERA Conference, LITASA, the SPU International Language Conference, and the English Connects Teacher Network Conference in Dakar, Senegal.
Date recorded
Saturday 18 July 2026