The Context of Training Teachers to Implement a Socially Relevant Science Education in Africa

The underlying assumption to this paper is that learners' ability to appreciate the relevance of school science and its importance to socio-economic development of their communities to a large extent depends on the quality of instruction they receive from their teachers. A popular conundrum is that no country is greater than the calibre of its teachers. However, a sort of Mathew's principle of the "haves" having more and the "have-nots" losing even what they do have tends to hold. Hence, learners of well-trained teachers tend to outperform those of poorly trained teachers on most tasks. A vivid example here in South Africa is the usual wide chasm between the matriculation results of learners from the former well-resourced Model C schools and those (with few exceptions due to massive support) from the previously disadvantaged schools. In pursuit of relevance many African political leaders and policy makers have called on teacher training institutions to produce teachers who are capable of making school science relevant to learners' home environment. This paper reports an attempt that has been made to equip teachers in such a way that makes science accessible, interesting and complementary to learners' indigenous knowledge and life worlds in general.