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Professor W A Landman


[Prof Landman]  

Academic history

Willem Adolf Landman was born on 27 June 1923 at Olifantsfontein in the district of Pretoria. His formal education started at a small farm school near Olifantsfontein and at the end of 1941 he matriculated at the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, Pretoria.

He commenced his studies at the University of Pretoria in 1942 and in 1944 he completed a BSc degree in biological sciences. In 1945 he obtained the Transvaal Teachers' Diploma with distinctions in Prinsciples of Education, Organisation and Administration, Child Psychology and Methodology of Biology.

Willem Landman's studies served as testimony of his special interest in the human sciences. He completed the following degrees at the University of Pretoria:

  • MEd degree (1954 with distinction)
  • DEd (1962 with distinction)
  • BA (Hons) (Philosophy) (1966 with distinction)
  • MA (Philosophy) (1967 with distinction), and
  • DPhil (Philosophy) (1970).

In recognition of his important contributions to education in South Africa, three universities conferred honorary doctor's degrees upon Prof Landman:

  • The Rand Afrikaans University (1995)
  • University of the Orange Free State (1995) and
  • University of Pretoria (1997).

Willem Landman served the Transvaal Education Department for 15 years: as assistant teacher, vice principal and later as senior lecturer at the Pretoria Teachers' Training College where he lectured Domestic Science students in the methodology of Natural and Applied Sciences.

In 1962 he assumed duties as lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology of the University of Pretoria and was promoted to senior lecturer in 1963. During 1966 and 1967 Prof Landman held a chair in Pedagogics (Assignment: Didactic Pedagogics and Research Methodology) at the University of Port Elizabeth.

On 1 January 1968 he succeeded Prof CK Oberholzer as professor and head of the Department of Philosophy of Education at the University of Pretoria. Under his leadership this department developed into the Department of Fundamental Pedagogics. He was promoted to Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Education - a position he occupied until his retirement in June 1988.

From June 1988 to June 1990 he filled a temporary full-time post as lecturer and researcher at the University of Pretoria. Between July 1990 and December 1993 he served as part-time senior researcher at the Institute of Educational Research at the University of South Africa.

Prof Landman acted as study leader for 28 doctorandi - of whom 11 eventually became professors.

His biographical details appear in "International Who's Who in Education" (Cambridge, England).


[Landman Familiewapen]