Teaching & Learning

"Inspire learning and build our better world."

Welcome to Teaching and Learning at the American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ).

AISJ is committed to providing students with a high-quality education that stimulates the development of academic as well as dispositional competencies. Our curriculum is framed and organized around standards and benchmarks that develop the understandings, knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary for all students to be successful. Engaging, relevant, and challenging units of study are continuously renewed so that we reach all of our students and cater to their diverse needs. Teachers at AISJ translate the written curriculum into a rigorous road map of inquiry-based learning, and differentiation strategies are used to further support students’ individual learning needs.

On this website, you can find out more about our philosophy of teaching and learning (including our definition of learning, our learning principles, and our assessment principles) and our curriculum (which comprises academic and dispositional competencies).

Dr. Roz Whaley
Director of Teaching of Learning

OUR PHILOSOPHY

LEARNING PRINCIPLES

Learning is the development of knowledge, skills and character through experience and reflection that changes who we are.

OUR CURRICULUM

The AISJ curriculum comprises two elements:

1. Academic competencies (which define the development of KNOWLEDGE and SKILLS)
2. Dispositional competencies (which define the development of CHARACTER)

Curriculum units are regularly revised and updated. Information about our current units can be viewed on our PowerSchool Curriculum and Instruction page.

ACADEMIC COMPETENCIES

Academic competencies are the essential skills and knowledge that students need to master in order to engage effectively in academic learning. They are derived from the standards that have been adopted by AISJ:

• Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Mathematics and English Language Arts
• Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
• College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies
• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiencies
• National Core Arts Standards
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards
• Shape America Standards for Physical Education and Health

Students are assessed on the following academic competencies throughout the year: 

DISPOSITIONAL COMPETENCIES

The AISJ Portrait of a Learner identifies six competencies, which are developed in all learning activities.

Each competency comprises three capacities. Students set goals each year based on these capacities and reflect on their progress and achievement at scheduled points during the year.