Background: The South African national school curriculum for the foundation phase (6- to 9-year-olds) does not have a unique subject called ‘science’, but ‘hidden’ away in the subject ‘life skills’, one detects a great deal of science, but not all of it overtly presented. This presents a challenge to teachers who might be limited in their science content knowledge and lack understanding of the processes of science, both of which might contribute to low levels of science teaching self-efficacy.Aim: This article explores an evolutionary module development process designed to promote science teaching self-efficacy.Setting: Pre-service foundation phase student teachers taking a single method module in science.Methods: The study is anchored within the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). On completion of the module, student teachers complete anonymous module-evaluation questionnaires. An interpretive, qualitative approach is used to support discussion of the module’s principles, content and delivery within the context of module development.Results: Data originate from two cohorts of student teachers (2011 and 2014). These data inform lecturers’ decisions on the re-development of the module for the following year. The intervening years (2012–2013) saw the module being firmly anchored on three pillars, namely teacher identity, science teaching self-efficacy and the nature of science.Conclusion: This article outlines the evolution of a pre-service foundation phase science module, from a science-content-only module (2006) through to a module whose underpinning principles and content attempt to address the hopes, fears and challenges faced by prospective foundation phase teachers.

The South African technical and vocational education and training (TVET) college sector faces amyriad development needs, including the academic, professional and motivational preparednessof college lecturers.1 While attention is being paid to dealing with challenges at colleges at themacro-level or systemic level, there appears to be less focus on the micro- level, that is, on lecturersor teachers and their day-to-day classroom challenges. This article reflects on a case study involvingTVET college lecturers who participated in a professional development programme that attemptedto incorporate principles of a humanising pedagogy in its design and delivery. Feedback wasobtained about the influence of the course on classroom practice shortly after the programme,and, again, two years later, it was elicited through a small-scale study of participant self-reflections.Qualitative data revealed that the participants had perceived a positive and potentiallytransformative influence on their practice, which they related to their exposure to the principles ofhumanising pedagogy. By revisiting and sharing what was learned in a study that preceded a newlecturer development policy and bringing into focus the principles of humanising pedagogy, wehope to inspire those in our university faculties who are currently designing qualifications forcollege lecturers. Our contention is that infusing these principles into new curricula could possiblycontribute to transforming this sector – one lecturer at a time.