The National Curriculum Statement for Grades R-9 (NCS) (Department of Education, 2002) asks that Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) be valued in South African schools and classrooms. Teachers are urged to use context-specific and context-relevant forms of IK to teach content; and to incorporate IK methodologies into their teaching methods. Little formal guidance has thus far been offered to teachers on best practices in this regard. Nevertheless, teachers have been innovating and adapting to their classrooms and contexts and using IKS in their classrooms. The discussion in this paper is based on interviews and group discussions with foundation phase (FP) teachers in the Nciba district in Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa as well as key informant interviews with two FP teachers in KwaZulu-Natal. In the first section of the paper, we outline the evolution of the curriculum in South Africa post 1994. We then examine the role played by IKS in the South African context. In the second section we critically discuss pre- and in-service teacher training in South Africa particularly in relation to the use of IKS in the classroom. The third section is a presentation of data collected during interviews and group discussions with FP teachers in Cofimvaba regarding the teaching of mathematics. We conclude by reflecting on the relationship between curriculum-reform, teacher training and the lived experiences of foundation phase teachers in Cofimvaba. [For the complete Volume 12 proceedings, see ED597979.]