Abstract
What constitutes adequate teacher professional development support that enables teachers to engage meaningfully with ESD learning processes? In an attempt to answer this question, this chapter focuses on how continuing teacher professional development programmes can support teachers of Life Sciences to teach biodiversity as a grounding concept to strengthen educational quality and relevance of Life Sciences education. It reflects on how continuing teacher professional development programmes may be designed and implemented to support South African teachers to work creatively with a content and assessment-referenced national school curriculum. The chapter focuses on what content knowledge, teaching and assessment approaches to include as well as teachers’ reflections on the impacts of such a programme.
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Notes
- 1.
Subject advisors are also called curriculum advisors or subject education specialists. They are officials in the Department of Basic Education who support subject teachers in schools in their districts.
- 2.
Department of Environmental Affairs, Department of Basic Education (DBE), Department of Water Affairs, Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA), South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), South African National Parks (SANParks), Delta Environmental Centre, Environment Learning and Teaching, GreenMatter, South African Council for Educators (SACE), German corporation (GIZ), Murray & Roberts, The Lewis Foundation, Rhodes University, University of Stellenbosch, University of South Africa (UNISA), University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Fort Hare, University of Cape Town, University of Zululand, North-West University and University of Witwatersrand (Wits). Other partners are joining as the programme grows; more universities have shown interest in the programme and are coming on board as the programme unfolds.
- 3.
Outcomes to be achieved:
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Subject knowledge and learning (theory): show improved understanding of environment and sustainability subject knowledge in the context of a specific subject and phase.
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Pedagogical knowledge and learning (practice): show ability to use appropriate teaching methods and assessment approaches for a specified subject knowledge, skills and values.
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Situated knowledge and learning (context): relate subject-specific environment and sustainability content knowledge with broader issues and contexts.
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Practical knowledge and experience (work experience): design, develop, implement and reflectively review a lesson plan/sequence of lesson plans relevant to an environmental and sustainability content focus in a particular subject and phase/grade.
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- 4.
Raw data in Songqwaru (2012), unpublished master’s thesis available from http://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/elrc/documents/historical/SONGQWARU-MEd-TR13-261.pdf
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Songqwaru, Z., Shava, S. (2017). Strengthening Teachers’ Knowledge and Practices Through a Biodiversity Education Professional Development Programme. In: Lotz-Sisitka, H., Shumba, O., Lupele, J., Wilmot, D. (eds) Schooling for Sustainable Development in Africa. Schooling for Sustainable Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_15
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