Dr Moeketsi Letseka, Educational Specialist on Da Vinci Council obtains his Doctorate

With only a year and few months shy of my 60th birthday, I recently graduated with a Doctor of Education (D.Ed.) degree in Philosophy of Education at UNISA on Wednesday 11 May 2016. What makes this Doctorate special is that I published thirteen (13) articles from the thesis over a period of three years.

But there's more. I submitted a 16-chapter [300+ pages] book manuscript I'm editing at Nova Science Publishers in New York at the end of January. Five days later on 5 February 2016 I submitted my 315-page doctoral thesis for external examination.

As I write this short message to Da Vinci I'm busy polishing proofs of the above-mentioned book, my second volume in the trilogy on open distance learning (ODL) to which I'm contracted to Nova. This second volume is titled Open Distance Learning (ODL) through the Philosophy of Ubuntu (Nova Science Publishers: New York). The book is slated for publication during June-July 2016.

At the end of this month - May 2016 I'll be submitting the manuscript for the third and final volume of the trilogy on ODL - Assuring Institutional Quality in Open Distance Learning (ODL) in the Developing Contexts ( Nova Science Publishers: New York), which I'm editing with Prof Victor Pitsoe (UNSA) and Dr Ruth Aluko (University of Pretoria).

The book is scheduled to be out of the press in September 2016. The two books above are a sequel to the first volume, Open Distance Learning (ODL) in South Africa (Nova Science Publishers: New York, 2015), which was launched in June 2015 at UNISA. Prof Bennie Anderson and Mr Storm Thomas of Da Vinci were invited guests for the launch.

People around me are curious as to how I'm able to do all these things. They ask whether I'm married? On 8 May 2016 my wife and I celebrated our 35th anniversary. Others wonder whether I actually have a life? Whether I have time for family - my wife, our two sons, and grandchildren? My answer is a simple and unequivocal 'Yes'. I have a rich and rewarding life. I spend a lot of quality time with my wife, our two sons aged 34 and 31. But most importantly with our two grandchildren.

The difference is, I'm passionate about my scholarship - as a National Research Foundation (NRF) grant holder and Principal Investigator of the study on Ubuntu that spans Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and in six (6) provinces in South Africa (Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and North West).

I'm highly driven in my endeavors as a scholar who travels widely to present research papers at international conferences and publish my work in international peer reviewed scholarly journals; as a writer (author) of books; as a Director and Executive Manager of UNISA Press, and as a mentor of young, black, women and emergent scholars at UNISA and in Southern Africa.

I manage all these through detailed and meticulous planning and time management. But I also surround myself with teams of people who share my vision and aspire to be a part of the footprints, or legacy I want to leave behind - from my personal assistant (PA), my team of administrators, my team of scholars and researchers, and the most important person of all, my lovely wife, who is also my dearest friend and research fellow.

Dr Moeketsi Letseka, Prof RMH Moeketsi, Prof Benjamin Anderson

at the Unisa Graduation (11 May 2016)

Copy of Dr Moeketsi's book: Open Distance Learning (ODL) through the Philosophy of Ubuntu

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