In a first for Gqeberha, Harvest Christian School has adopted a stimulative method of teaching to improve pupils’ learning experiences while equipping them with skills relevant to their future.
The school on Wednesday celebrated the completion of its successful pilot Profound Learning experience with grade 4 pupils.
The pilot started at the beginning of the third term, with grade 4 pupils given a scenario and limited tools to learn the CAPS syllabus through adventurous physical participation.
For the duration of the term, the pupils were stranded on an imaginary island where they were required to rely on their problem-solving abilities to create shelter and search for food to sustain themselves.
They used tools from waste to encourage recycling, in line with their “Waste Away” adventure theme.
This, primary school head Sally Bezuidenhout said encouraged the pupils to think independently and creatively while having fun.
“Collaboration is encouraged.
“The students will tell you how tough it’s been because we don’t always have great team members but that’s how we work and live in the world outside school.
“We’re teaching them skills and making them future-ready,” Bezuidenhout said.
Through the exercise, pupils were unconventionally taught mathematics, arts, technology and English.
“Conditions and environments are intentionally designed to create new connections with the content via different options.
“It’s the same content, our curriculum is still aligned in accordance with the CAPS curriculum but the way we do it is different,” Bezuidenhout said.
Harvest Christian School executive head Ian Vermooten said the method was adopted from Canada’s Master’s Academy where it has yielded positive results.
Vermooten said the idea was to reinvent learning to suit the present and future state of the world.
“Education as we know it now was kind of put together in terms of the Second Industrial Revolution and we now live in the fourth revolution.
“My question was how do we change education and bring it up to speed?”
He said when, in 2018, he learnt of how the Master’s Academy conducted teaching and learning, he was intrigued and inspired to explore it.
After travelling to Canada for training with two other staff members, including Bezuidenhout, in 2019, the idea started seeming attainable for the Gqeberha school.
Due to the success of the pilot, the school will introduce Profound Learning to grades 1 to 7 in 2022.
“For the rest of this year, I’ve said to all teachers to come up with various adventure ideas that we can implement,” Bezuidenhout said.
The grade 4 pupils presented their structures and various crafts they created during the experiment.
These were displayed at the Harvest Christian Church hall for parents to view while the pupils spoke of their experience and learning outcomes from the experiment.
One of the pupils, Likhanye Njamela, said the adventure got off to an exciting start though he and his team faced some tough challenges.
“As we were building our structure, Mrs Bez said we couldn’t build it against a wall and I was quite disappointed because our structure kept collapsing, so I learnt that you always have to plan before building.
“Another thing I enjoyed was making newspaper plant pots and, closer to the end of our adventure, we learnt about ocean pollution and the Great Pacific garbage patch.
“In geography, we also got to design a map,” Njamela said.
He said the adventure taught him the importance of planning and that he enjoyed working in a team.
Njamela’s mother, Xoliswa, said Profound Learning had ignited a new excitement in her son.
“I’ve noticed that he’s become more excited about learning and looks forward to going to school.
“He is constantly talking about school [and how] learning involves this fun adventure.”
Another parent, Andrew Archibald, said his daughter, Rebekah, had become a recycling ambassador at their home since the adventure.
“In my family we haven’t been big on recycling but since this adventure, we get scolded now if we don’t recycle.
“My daughter has brought recycling into our home and she’s very excited about it,” Archibald said.
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