STAFF REPORTER
THE Department of Basic Education (DBE), in partnership with the French Embassy, has embarked on a mission to revolutionise the teaching of Science in South African schools through the Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) approach.
The approach is packaged through the La main à la pât (LAMAP) Project, a French acronym meaning stick your hands in the dough or to get involved in the thick of things.
The Project targets Grade 7 Natural Science teachers and advisors from 50 schools in five provinces, namely the Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Northern Cape.
The capacity-building session was attended by the French Embassy, represented by Mr Jerome Cosnard and the two French trainers, Messrs Fillipe and Gilles. Deputy Director-General for Basic Education, Mr Paddy Padayachee, opened the session. In addition, the Nkomazi Science Centre, Eskom Science Expo and the Cuban Specialists, led by Ms Yadeleidi Collot, made meaningful contributions to the quality of the week’s programme.
The Natural Science advisors and teachers were exposed to top-notch expertise in the hands-on approach to the teaching of Science. The group of 65 participants was divided into two equal sub-groups. One group was under the tutelage of science specialists from France who advanced the IBSE approach as an effective pedagogy for conceptual understanding of Science. Understanding the process of scientific investigations is one of the critical elements of this approach to science teaching. It calls upon several skills, such as asking questions, observing, predicting, creating experiments, analysing data and supporting conclusions with evidence. The process generally uses readily available resources and relatively inexpensive equipment, which augurs well for participation by a range of science educators anywhere in the country.
The Nkomazi Science Centre, the Cuban Specialists and the Eskom Science Expo handled the second group. This group focussed on Grades 6, 7 and 8 Natural Science experiments using the science kits that the DBE supplied to schools. Although, in the beginning, the participants seemed overwhelmed, they quickly acclimatised to the LAMAP approach and engaged in active participation during the hands-on activities.
Both groups handled the Senior Phase Natural Science curriculum using different approaches. The creation of the two groups was a strategic decision with subject advisors evenly spread across the two groups. The science advisors are the continuity and sustainability lifeblood of the project. Whilst the LAMAP Project is relatively small in reach, it is loaded with learnings that can be up-scaled in the system to improve the teaching and learning of science.
INSIDE EDUCATION
