Justification for the inclusion of foundation subjects in the primary curriculum was highlighted by Robin Alexander (2004). He refers to the 2002 Ofsted report (pp18-19) which found “a link between breadth, balance and standards” and it was “the breadth and richness of the curriculum which helped secure the quality of teaching and learning in literacy and numeracy”
Ofsted (2002, p11) found the most successful primary schools, scoring highly in English, mathematics and science, offered a rich curriculum, including “the humanities, physical education and the arts”. This contributed greatly to developing pupils’ imagination, creativity, self-confidence and “a positive attitude towards school”.
Barnes (2011) argues that a rich, broad curriculum will allow each child to find their particular strengths, so they can gain a sense of personal achievement. To make learning enjoyable, Barnes suggests teachers should encourage children to discuss their different viewpoints to boost motivation. The curriculum needs to be designed so that the child’s experiences at school give rise to positive feelings.
The implication is that the school curriculum can offer richness and the opportunity for each child to excel, only through the inclusion of a wide range of foundation subjects. Their inclusion, however, places considerable time pressure on teachers in covering the curriculum. The dilemma demands inventiveness on the part of teachers in devising ways to make best use of teaching time.
The Principles of effective teaching and learning in foundation subjects:
Ofsted (2002) noted the teachers in the most effective primary schools were skilled in making links between different subjects so that pupils could build upon knowledge o...
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...ings, the teacher-led group discussion helped the children to express positive feelings.
Conclusion:
The principles of effective teaching in foundation subjects include careful, detailed lesson planning, where there is also scope for flexibility; clear learning objectives based on the National Curriculum; confident subject knowledge; and efficient use of available time and resources. The inclusion of foundation subjects in the National Curriculum greatly enhances opportunities for creative thinking both on the part of the teacher in selecting, designing, planning and conducting sometimes cross-curricular lessons, as well as the development of creative, imaginative thinking amongst pupils. Effective teaching of foundation subjects can include teaching strategies that tap into a child’s previously unrecognised talents and provide opportunities for them to shine.
Creativity in was defined by National Advisory Committee for Creativity and Culture in Education (NACCC 1999) by 4 main characteristics. The first is the use of imagination thinking or behaviour concerned with original or unusual ideas or actions. Second is using imagination to pursue a purpose relating to using imagination for purpose and having resilience to keep reinventing this. Third is originality; this is not only in reference to historic originality of anything gone before, but It can be personal originality or peer originality. Forth is judging value; explained as evaluating an imaginative activities worth in relation to a task. Wilson (2009) notes the increase of creativities stature in education and pedagogy from beyond the foundation subjects and arts during the last century. Robinson (2013) argues that modern education is still based around conformity and does not foster children’s natural inquisitiveness or creativity. My view is that education has progressed from the Victorian didactic ways of teaching, heavily influenced by the behaviourist theorist Skinner (Moore & Quintrel 2000). We are now concerned with developing the whole child as appose to simply imparting knowledge, repeating and demanding a correct response. This notion of developing the whole child, concerned with social and emotional qualities as well as academia, was central to the highly influential Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda (DfES 2004). ECM’s outcomes and aims, with respect to children’s enjoyment and achievement, highlight the importance of personal and social development.
In this assignment I will justify the place of the following subjects within the primary national curriculum: Geography, History, Physical Education, Religious Education, Drama and Music. The reason I have chosen these subjects is because I have had an experience of them within my teaching placements and within seminars at university. In addition to this, I will analyse the use of cross-curricular learning in primary education and I will aim to explore the benefits and challenges of the approach.
Any school curriculum should aim at enabling children to be able to think in broader terms, motivate them to want to be more knowledgeable and above all, allow them to come up with new approaches to problem solving. However, more too often teachers tend to limit the students to only the known facts in text books, something which prompts them to remain in their comfort zones. Additionally, the purpose of any formal education is not only to gain formal knowledge but also to gain social knowledge. Different teachers will have different approaches to achieve this. Despite the approach used, in the end of the day, they are expected to have involved and impacted positively on the different characters of children in their classrooms that is, the shy,
Palaiologou, I., 2013. The Early Years Foundation Stage: Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. London: Sage.
Moyles, J (2007) Beginning Teaching Beginning Learning in Primary Education, 3rd ed. London: Open University Press
Veale, F. (2013). Early years for Level 4 & 5 and the Foundation Degree. London: Hodder Education.
Children are our inspiration. They are the reason that educators today need to be more than sufficient in teaching, but remarkable at teaching. Children are little sponges that absorb knowledge quickly and abundantly and with guidance, can achieve great goals in their academic life. Children are the future. As teachers, we need to educate ourselves as much as possible so that we can better educate the future generations. “Piaget, working with children, found that the growth of their ideas is a process spread over years,” (Sawyer, 2003, p.6). Teachers, families and communities must support one another in learning and educating our young children. If we don’t spend the time necessary to learn and broaden our knowledge, our children suffer, our future suffers.
Nunan , S. (2009). Creativity and the arts in the primary school. Irish National Teachers’
The creation of art, music, dance, sporting activity and literature should be made a fundamental part of every school 's pre-K to 12th grade curriculum. The creation art it’s very important for children from their early age, a lot of benefits children can do and learn through art. A lot of benefits they can receive:
Herein lies the problem. The children that we are educated are and will be faced with new challenges that current education systems all over the world have been failing to meet. It would seem that structures of mass domain education suppress the innately imprinted creativity found in every living person and widely known specialist on the subject, Sir Ken Robinson, goes as far as saying that we are, “educating people out of their creativity” (Giang, 2013). But if the school system is to make adjustments to explore and cultivate creativity more how are they to do so without losing total structure? Robinson acknowledges this by saying that, “in every creative approach some of the things we’re looking for are hard, if not impossible to quantify. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t matter.”
For an effective education creativity needs to be present within all aspects of a primary classroom. So what does it mean to be ‘creative’? According to Sir Ken Robinson “creativity is the process of having original ideas which have value”. Creativity can be demonstrated through the use of technology, problem solving experiments and allowing children the freedom to explore and express new ideas. It is very important to ensure a child can get the best creative education; this is because creativity will give the necessary skills needed for our future. Children must become creative problem solvers if they are in leadership positions as this will help them within society, even though all children may not be in a leadership position it is beneficial for them to have a creative mind-set. Because the world we live in is constantly developing new ideas, concepts and technology, creativity is definitely the most important quality a child can have. Sir Ken Robinson’s, (an international advisor on education) views on creativity in education will be discussed along with New Labour views which includes the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE). The 1977 white paper, the open plan for schools, and the 2003 excellence and enjoyment strategy concepts will also be drawn on.
Fischman, Wendy, Jennifer A Dibara and Howard Gardner. "Creating good education against the odds."Cambridge Journal of Education, 36. 3 (2006): 383--398. Print.
Along these two weeks we have been prompt to make a recall to our own way of learning and why we became a teacher: Was it because coincidence, due to life circumstances, maybe because family tradition, was it a conscious decision or because someone influenced us? Whatever the answer is, we have to face reality and be conscious that being a teacher does not only means to teach a lesson and asses students learning. It requires playing the different roles a teacher must perform whenever is needed and required by our learners, identify our pupils needs and preferences, respecting their integrity and individuality but influencing and motivating them to improve themselves and become independent.
Learning initially begins with one's attitude toward themselves, others, and the world we live in. It is our attitudes that play a major role in shaping our experiences, which in turn affects the way in which we learn. We must first be able to interpret the world using information we already know, in order to understand something entirely new. As a teacher, I could only hope that I can provide children with a positive educational experience, one that will broaden the scope in which they view themselves, others, and the world on a larger scale. Children already acquire a desire to learn, however, it is up to us to sti...
In early childhood, teachers guide children’s artistic learning, which is then supported by peers (Wright, 2003). This is known as the guided approach. In this approach, teachers reflect, explore and plan together possible way to extend children’s artistic knowledge and skills. Furthermore, activities are deliberately open-ended to foster divergent thinking and support the process instead of the product (Mills, 2014). Teaching creative arts provides children a mode of communication and a medium for representing the world (Wright, 2003). Since children learn through play, creative arts is a platform for children to interact socially, explore emotions and develop motor skills (Mills,