Strengthening Teachers’ Knowledge and Practices Through a Biodiversity Education Professional Development Programme

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.