PSP’s Innovation Project develops primary teachers’ content knowledge, improves practical teaching skills and provides materials to support learning.
Each year an “Annual Mass Planning Forum” is held with teachers in the fourth term, where large numbers of teachers decide on their priority topics for Innovation courses for the following year. The programme of courses for the year is drawn up according to these requests from teachers. This ensures teacher participation and buy-in to the Innovation Project.
Each term, we offer a rich programme of courses for teacher development and classroom innovation in the areas of Natural Sciences & Technology, Mathematics & Numeracy, Language & Literacy, Social Sciences and the Environment, which address the professional training and development needs of Grade R to Grade 7 teachers from schools in disadvantaged communities around Cape Town.
At each course, teachers learn about a specific aspect of the curriculum, including innovative approaches and methods for teaching, and they engage with each other about practical teaching strategies and learner experiences.
The PSP draws on these engagements with teachers to develop new resources to encourage classroom innovation in line with National Curriculum requirements. All participating teachers and schools are provided with these PSP materials, and other schools and teachers purchase the materials on a cost recovery basis..
Innovation courses are presented from Monday to Thursday from 15:00 – 17:00 during the school term. Teachers attend the courses they need voluntarily and in their own time, at the same time accumulating relevant professional development points over the year.
Currently, the PSP works with an average of 800 teachers from more than 60 primary schools in the Innovation Project.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
The PSP is situated at the Edith Stephen’s Wetland Park, an urban conservation area in Cape Town. This is a biodiversity hotspot surrounded by urban sprawl near to the communities the PSP serves.
PSP runs environmental courses for teachers using the extensive outdoor resources available on this site.
After each course, teachers are invited to bring their classes for an environmental outing to the Park. The activities with the primary school learners are co-facilitated by the teacher and an environmental PSP facilitator. Additionally, the PSP uses every opportunity to integrate environmental principles into the Natural Sciences & Technology, Language and Mathematics development work with teachers.
What Teachers Say
“The whole course was fruitful, enjoyable and giving knowledge about things that I didn’t understand as a teacher.”
Ms. Fikiswa Grade 2 at Isiphiwo Primary School