PHILIPSBURG:---Earlier this year, during the month of February & March the Cycle II teachers followed the module of the Project Approach during the Teacher Retraining & Upgrading Program. During the module the teachers were taught how to introduce the Project Approach in their classroom by having them actively participate in the execution of their own project. At the end the teachers displayed a Project that they had worked on together with their colleagues during the training.
According to book “The Approach” by S.C. Chard, “A project is an-depth study of a real world topic or theme. The study may be carried out by individual children, groups of children, or the whole class.”
The Project Approach is made up of three phases: Phase 1: Starting The Project
Phase 2: Developing The Project
Phase 3: Concluding The Project
The final assignment of the module was for the Cycle II teachers individually to do an extensive Project Approach in the classroom with their students. The teachers should emphasize and focus on the skills and strategies that were taught. The teacher success is determined by the students’ performance.
During the course of last week and also this week the instructors for the module the Project Approach are visiting the classrooms of the Cycle II teachers enrolled in the Teacher Retraining & Upgrading Program.
The mission is to view and evaluate the project that the teachers have developed with their students.
The classrooms visits have been very exiting to the see the displays and hear the students share their experiences about the projects. When the students were asked to give their views on the project, they responded that they had learnt so much by going out into the fields to do interviews and research on the project they were studying. The teachers were very proud and surprised with the end results prepared by their students under their supervision and guidance. They also stressed that the Project Approach provided the opportunity for all students to be involved in the development of the projects.
A few of the projects viewed to date include amongst others:
• The Simpson Bay Beach by Cycle II- group 8 with the English Subject Teacher of Sr. Regina School
• Communication by Cycle I- group 4 of Sr. Borgia School
• The Iguana by the Dutch Subject Teacher of St. Dominic School
• Nutrition by Cycle II- group 7 a & 7 b of Sr. Magda School
• The Juliana International Airport by Cycle II- group 7 a of Leonald Conner School
• The Fire Station by Cycle II- group 6 of the Oranje School
• The Methodist Church by Cycle II- group 6 of the Rev. John A. Gumbs Campus
• Edris Fashion by Cycle II- group 7 of the M.G. de Weever School
Parents are advised to visit the schools and see the projects their children worked on.
Presently the Cycle I teachers of the Seventh Day Adventist School and the Hillside Schools are following
the training for the Project Approach. The training has been adapted to the age level of the Cycle I students. During the new school year the Cycle I teachers from the other school boards will also be given the opportunity to follow the Project Approach Training.
DERPI look forward to all FBE schools including the Project Approach strategy, which is the new way of doing projects, in their school curriculum for the new school year.
The financing for this project comes from the USONA Funding of the Onderwijs & Jongeren Program 2008.
