The Arcelor Mittal Science Centre in Saldanha hosted the first of three professional development training programs for natural sciences teachers from schools in the West Coast Education District. The training sessions targeted intermediate phase (grades 4-7) and senior phase (grades 8 and 9) teachers of natural sciences and were conducted by Advancing Knowledge Non-Profit Company (AK NPC), supported by its partnership with the Garden Cities Archway Foundation and the Western Cape Education Department.
The training for intermediate phase teachers took place on Friday, 6 February, while senior phase teachers attended the training on Saturday, 7 February 2026. The curriculum content for natural sciences in the first term for both phases falls under the knowledge area called Life and Living, commonly referred to as Life Sciences.
The sessions were organized around the inquiry-based practical application of natural sciences content required for each term, assisting teachers in their preparation for that term’s work. The training sessions aimed to address the inquiry-based approach to teaching natural sciences and were structured to provide teachers with a facilitated hands-on experience with the practical elements of Life Sciences required in both phases.
According to the Director of AK NPC, Prof. Shaheed Hartley, at the opening of the program, the inquiry-based approach to teaching natural sciences offers teachers a pedagogical strategy to maintain and sustain learners’ interest in participating in lesson content. Therefore, it is imperative that teachers engage in the inquiry-based sessions, which can be directly translated into their lessons. The facilitators for the life sciences sessions were Ms. Dawn Faroe (intermediate phase) and Mr. Fadli Wagiet (senior phase), assisted by AK NPC staff Somila Dlakavu and Yusra Joubert (science interns) and Melissa Petersen (projects coordinator).
LIFE SCIENCES FOR INTERMEDIATE PHASE (GRADES 4-7) TEACHERS
A total of 18 intermediate phase natural sciences teachers participated in the training sessions on Friday, 6 February 2026. The sessions focused on the practical aspects of life sciences within natural science, utilizing an inquiry-based pedagogy. AK NPC facilitator Ms. Dawn Faroe introduced teachers to the inquiry-based approach, encouraging them to discuss, debate, and reflect on its relevance in their own classrooms.
Teachers engaged in the preparation of practical content and were provided with the equipment, apparatus, and chemicals for carefully selected activities that illustrated key concepts in life sciences. Once initial apprehensions were overcome, teachers participated eagerly, their growing confidence evident in the constructive discussions as they interacted with the practical content and with each other.
Overall, teachers expressed enjoyment and appreciation for the practical and inquiry-based activities in life sciences and their direct hands-on involvement in all the activities. They highlighted experiences such as connecting food chains from various samples, modelling the human skeleton, extracting DNA from different fruit sources, viewing cellular activities under the microscope, making slides from plant specimens, boiling leaves in alcohol to extract chlorophyll, and testing for the products of photosynthesis. Here are some comments from teachers after the intermediate phase session:
- “I enjoyed the session as it’s important that our learners learn things practically. Thank you. Besides participating, I recorded everything on my phone. I will definitely employ this approach, and there are several activities that I will implement directly in my lessons.” [Teacher]
- “I didn’t even mind how hot it was in the class. I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. It was one of the best I’ve attended in a long time. I look forward to the next session on chemistry in April.” [Teacher]
- “This session provided me with a different perspective on how practical work can be conducted. It’s not always an add-on to your lessons but an integral part of the lesson conducted in class or in the lab.” [Teacher]
- “I like the approach used in the sessions as it makes practical work easy, straightforward, and does not have to take up a lot of time. It is done in conjunction with theory and actually used to reinforce theory.” [Teacher]
- “Learners often do not consider the life sciences element of natural science as exciting and interesting. You have just shown us how we can involve learners more in our lessons. Many of the practical activities are familiar to us, but the way they are set up and how to approach them was an important lesson I learned from this session.” [Teacher]
LIFE SCIENCES FOR SENIOR PHASE (GRADES 8 & 9) TEACHERS
The life sciences training for senior phase natural sciences teachers was conducted on Saturday, 7 February 2026, in one of the science laboratories at the Arcelor Mittal Science Centre. Despite the high temperatures that day, 18 natural sciences teachers attended the training. AK NPC facilitator Mr. Fadli Wagiet led the session.
Teachers engaged in various interactive life sciences activities that required hands-on involvement and participation. They responded enthusiastically, taking the time to video-record the practical content required by the curriculum while receiving individual attention and support from AK NPC staff. The life sciences activities included testing several food products, DNA extraction from fruit, preparing slides for microscopes, viewing plant cells and microorganisms under the microscope, conducting experiments to demonstrate, test, and review important processes such as photosynthesis and respiration, and modeling various human body processes. An intense discussion and debate on human body processes and how learners in grades 8 and 9 respond to changes in their bodies also took place.
Initially, teachers were apprehensive when presented with real sheep organs (oesophagus, lungs, heart, and liver) and asked to touch and work with them. However, they later participated actively when asked to blow into the oesophagus to demonstrate inflation and movement of the lungs. Teachers expressed appreciation for the session in their reflections:
- “This was a good workshop, and I enjoyed the practical inquiry approach to the content. I loved using real sheep organs to demonstrate the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the lungs. I’m glad I attended despite the hot weather.” [Teacher]
- “I enjoyed the interactive nature of the workshop; we were participants, not just listeners in another talk-and-chalk session. The group was small enough for everyone to participate in the practical work.” [Teacher]
- “The inquiry-based approach to the practical content provided better insight into how to integrate this work into my everyday lessons. Thank you for a worthwhile experience. I really appreciate the simplicity with which the practical work was presented, making it easier to replicate in our life science lessons.” [Teacher]
- “I recorded most of the activities and will definitely incorporate them into my life sciences lessons for the first term. This workshop was very helpful for the content we are currently teaching.” [Teacher]
- “Unfortunately, I could not attend this session, but I will definitely be there for the chemistry session in April. The feedback from teachers was overwhelmingly positive, and many were excited about their interaction with the AK NPC facilitating staff. We need to ensure that their experiences in this workshop are translated into the science classes.” [Science subject advisor]