Chart Your Course,
Fuel Your Future

Continuous Professional Development is a journey to excellence. A commitment to growth is about creating a fulfilling career that meets the evolving demands of modern education and impacts the lives of students. Whether you’re a teacher, employer, or manager, Upskill by Instill Education has the tools you need to develop your skills and knowledge, and to build a career that you love.

National Standards Meet Strategic Synergy: The Upskill Promise

We’re proud to have partnered with the Ministries of Education in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. For teachers, Upskill is the key to staying ahead of the curve and making a bigger impact in your classroom. For schools, education managers, and education departments, Upskill stands as one of the most powerful tools for professionalizing your teacher workforce and improving the quality of education in your networks and communities. Upskill offers a variety of nationally aligned learning programmes as well as features to help you track your progress, set goals and get the most out of the professional development journey.

Over 120 modules
endorsed and counting

ENDORSED IN GHANA, KENYA, AND SOUTH AFRICA; SOON TO BE LAUNCHED IN NIGERIA

EACH 20-30 MINUTE MODULE FOLLOWS AN EVIDENCE-INFORMED PATTERN TO LEARNING AND APPLYING SKILLS

Welcome/Hook: Motivate participants to engage in learning and by connecting the purpose of the module to an emotion.
Purpose of Step: I want to learn how to do this!
See it: Provide participants with an opportunity to see a model or an exemplar in action and its impact on learners.
Purpose of Step: I see what great looks like and how it impacts learners
Name it: Provide participants a breakdown of steps, reflections required to execute the skills.
Purpose of Step: I know what it takes to do this
Do it: Provide the immediate opportunity to put the skill in practice and reflect on that application through a rubric or a checklist.
Purpose of Step: I am applying what I learned!
Feedback and Reflect: Users engage in an exit ticket and check for understanding.
Purpose of Step: How did that feel to me? What did I Iearn?

Upskill Modules and Programmes

Using Play to Foster Executive Function

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health suggest that “programs with active play components may be more successful in eliciting improved executive function”. This is because children are not born with skills but learn them through modelling and relationships with others. Play gives learners an opportunity to practice and refine executive functioning skills in supportive, non‑threatening settings. This module aims to equip teachers with strategies to incorporate play in a way that will help learners develop executive functioning skills.

Using ICT in the classrooom

Many governments and schools are investing in Information Communication Technology ( ICT). To make effective use of ICT in the classroom, teachers need to adopt active approaches to teaching and integrating it in their lessons. By the end of this module teachers will make effective use of ICT and how to use ICT in their own teaching by identifying and planning appropriate ICT resources to enhance teaching.

Unpacking Learning Outcomes

Unpacking Learning Outcomes is an essential first step in teaching is to identify key learning outcomes and what form of assessment aligns with those outcomes. This will give teachers clarity on exactly what students should know, be able to do and understand. When a teacher is able to know what a student already knows, they are able to guide them to what they need to learn. This way, the student is the one making meaning of understanding for themselves. This module will introduce teachers to a Understanding by Design planning approach that will focus on how to teach for understanding.

Understanding My Teaching Philosophy

Understanding My Teaching Philosophy supports teachers with understanding and defining their Teaching Philosophy. They will learn to understand and apply a growth mindset as well as commit to building equity in their classrooms. The goal is to develop a Teaching Philosophy that teachers can be held accountable to in order to become more effective teachers.

Understanding Learner Milestones

Understanding Learner Milestones supports teachers with understanding various stages of child development. They will learn to identify milestones so that they are better able to generate appropriate teaching strategies to address students’ cognitive, emotional and physical needs. The goal is to develop teaching practices that address the “whole child” and to consider ways to support learners who may be struggling.

Time Saving Tools for Teachers

Being organized is an invaluable skill to possess for teachers. Teachers must rely on solid organization and planning skills to meet the needs of their students. This module will help teachers prioritize and protect their time by prioritizing, planning and using systems to ensure efficiency. Teachers should be able to manage their time efficiently and develop habits that will help them become more organized professionals by creating a detailed planning tool to prepare for the week ahead.

Teaching Writing as a Process

This module will help teachers plan and facilitate a brainstorming activity as part of the writing process. This module will walk the teachers through brainstorming, organising, writing, and editing.

Teaching Unfamiliar Content: Self Directed Learning

Educators are often faced with the daunting task of teaching subjects or topics that they do not have expertise in based on decisions made by district and school leaders. Educators, however, must be continuous learners and should develop the ability to find their own gaps in understanding and practice self directed learning to empower them with content knowledge to teach unfamiliar content with confidence. In this module we will empower teachers with the skills they need to efficiently plan and prepare to learn how to study and teach new content. We will do this by setting a clear plan with objectives to identify what learners need to know, self assessing to continuously check for their own understanding and finally evaluating how effective their teaching has been. These skills will build confidence in the teacher and positively impact instruction and learning.

Supporting Teacher Wellbeing

With the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a lot of disruption to the education of many around the world. Teachers have been put under so much pressure to adapt to new ways of teaching to ensure that learners catch up on all the work they missed. Additionally, teachers have also experienced uncertainty and pain of losing their families and loved ones. This module acknowledges that teachers cannot pour from an empty cup and will therefore assist school leaders and teacher mentors/coaches to support teacher wellbeing by encouraging self-reflection, offering tangible ways to support, and assisting in relationship building.

Supporting Student Wellbeing During Uncertainity

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought uncertainty and hardship to many students across the globe. The aspect of uncertainty surrounding their lives has taken a toll on many, causing mental-stability issues and anxiety. As schools push towards normalcy, this module will support classroom teachers and school leaders to think through ways to motivate and engage students in learning by acknowledging the looming uncertainty and nurturing relationship-building, communication, mindfulness and reflection.

Supporting Learners Struggling with Reading Comprehension

One of the goals of reading is to comprehend text. In doing so there are many skills that learners need to build in order to comprehend text. In order for learners to make meaning from text, which is the ultimate goal of reading, learners must have command over the foundational reading skills. When learners struggle to grasp these foundational reading skills, they will find that it is not easy to comprehend what they read. In this module, teachers will explore how to support learners who are struggling with reading comprehension through guided reading, close reading and prompting learners, and finally designing and recording a guided reading or close reading lesson.

Supporting Learners Experiencing Grief

This module will help teachers to support learners experiencing grief. This could be learners who have lost a loved one or classmates who might have lost a fellow classmate. This module is especially important in these times of Covid when a lot of us have lost and continue to lose our loved ones. In such instances families and the school need to come together to assist learners in their healing. To evaluate if participants have gained knowledge, teachers will be able to provide school-based support to learners experiencing grief by writing a letter checking on a family and communicating the progress of the learner experiencing grief.

Setting Clear Expectations With Learners

Setting Clear Expectations with Learners forms part of a series of modules called Ready, Set, Reinforce and Respond. In this module teachers will learn how to plan and script setting clear directions and expectations using SOCS (specific, observable, clear, and sequential), as well as techniques they can sue to check for understading of the set expectations.

Reviewing School Practices for Equity and Inclusion

White Paper 6, Special Education Needs: Building an Inclusive Education System (WP6) is a national policy document introduced in 2001 to establish a system where learners with disabilities are able to learn alongside their peers with appropriate support. This policy describes the way we meet the needs of children who experience barriers to their learning, which may relate to sensory or physical impairment, learning difficulties or emotional or social development, or may relate to factors in their environment, including the learning environment they experience in school. South Africa has adopted an inclusive education policy in order to address barriers to learning in the education system. In this module leaders and teachers will review school practices for equity and inclusion. An inclusive school culture welcomes and values diversity and practices habits of inclusion and belonging. School leaders and teachers need to be values-driven and genuinely committed to every child being welcome and fully included in their school, regardless of their background and ability.

Responding To Learners Who Do Not Meet Expectations

Responding to students who do not meet expectations is simply an effective way of using redirections. Respectful redirection is a quick, in-the-moment strategy for providing students with corrective feedback. With respectful redirection, you get your students’ attention without making a big deal by using a calm tone, neutral body language, and clear, concise wording. In cases of emergencies, we may use a more strict tone, for example, when a student is hurting themselves or another student. We use the least invasive redirection or the one that minimally disrupts learning and still maintains a positive and or meaningful learning environment.

Testimonial Heading

Upskill has expanded our horizons, introducing us to global teaching methodologies and strategies, thereby elevating our teaching skills to international standards.

Upskill has been an eye-opener, providing a wealth of resources for engaged and successful teaching, including comprehensive strategies for curriculum delivery and student well-being.

Upskill modules impart invaluable knowledge beyond standard classroom teaching, offering practical solutions for diverse classroom challenges and enhancing our approach to student engagement.

The 'Using ICT in the Classroom' module enlightened me, revolutionizing how I teach computing. It fostered greater student engagement and enthusiasm for assignments, making learning with ICT tools a rewarding experience.

The 'Planning for Observation' module on Upskill transformed our classroom observation approach. It's spurred creativity, communication, and a growth mindset, markedly enhancing our teaching methods and educational impact.

Enrolling in the 'Cold Calling' module refined my teaching techniques. It's made my students more attentive and responsive, fostering a more inclusive and engaging classroom environment.

The 'Over-the-Shoulder Monitoring' module has been a game-changer, enhancing my instructional strategies and classroom management, and promoting a collaborative, problem-solving classroom culture.

Defining Learning Goals for Units and Lessons' has sharpened my lesson planning skills, helping me create more engaging and effective learning experiences and address misconceptions proactively.

Learning 'Setting Clear Expectations with Learners' dramatically improved classroom management and student behavior, fostering a more collaborative and focused learning environment.

Implementing 'Building Classroom Routines for Learning' has transformed my classroom into an orderly, engaging space, where students are more cooperative and focused.

Engaging All Learners Through Cold Calling' revolutionized my approach to teaching, ensuring every student is actively involved and attentive during lessons.

The 'Building Classroom Routines for Learning' module has positively influenced my teaching style, leading to more disciplined, timely, and engaged students.

Invest in Africa's future

Africa's future is rooted in its educators. Upskill by Instill Education is empowering African educators to grow and thrive, so they can nurture the next generation of builders and leaders.

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time to plant a tree is today.”
African Proverb

UPSKILL TODAY