Foundations of Primary Teaching

Denis Hayes

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781136675157
• Edition: 5
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Didattica generale

Now in its fifth edition, Foundations of Primary Teaching will be an essential resource for any trainee or practicing primary teacher. Written in a friendly and accessible manner, this book has been updated in line with the new curriculum and provides a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of teaching within the primary school. It blends theory and practice to foster and develop effective pedagogy and, in so doing, to stimulate your thinking, expand your horizons and motivate you to relish one of the most thrilling, frustrating, exhausting, exciting and important jobs in the world.

Written specifically for student teachers on BA, BEd and PGCE courses, as well as students taking Education Studies, this text will encourage you to develop a fuller understanding and appreciation of teaching as professional practice through an emphasis on:

• Reflective thinking and action

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• Relationships and motivation in the classroom

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• A full range of tried and tested teaching and assessment strategies

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• Creativity and transferable teaching skills

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• Personalised learning.

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Also incorporating new material on changes and innovations that have taken place in education; childhood; the process of, and context for, learning; and issues teachers face, as well as updated further reading lists, this wholly revised fifth edition should be on the bookshelf of all student teachers on initial teacher training courses at the primary level, newly qualified teachers and more experienced teachers wishing to enhance their practice.

Part 1

Background to Primary
Education

1 Education, Teachers and Teaching

2 Change and Innovation in Primary Education

CHAPTER

1

Education, Teachers
and Teaching

Introduction

Most people see a quality education as essential for leading a fulfilled and happy life. Parents make considerable sacrifices to give their children the best opportunities to attend the right schools, gain valuable experiences, benefit from intellectual challenges, learn skills and mix with their peers. People train to become teachers and persevere with the job when qualified because they recognise the significance of their role in helping to provide a good education and becoming a positive influence in the lives of their pupils. This chapter opens up a number of these themes and issues, which are pursued in greater depth throughout the rest of the book.

The teacher's role

Teaching and learning is first and foremost the process by which young lives are influenced in a positive, enriching way, such that children can enjoy happy relationships, find fulfilment and success in their work and play a useful role in the community. The best teachers are systematic but not slavish; they are well informed but also eager to learn; they absorb and implement colleagues’ ideas but are also willing to risk creative and innovative practice as a stimulus to liberate and enhance children's learning.

The role of the teacher is complex and demanding – intellectually, physically and emotionally. The challenging enterprise that we refer to by the casual use of the word ‘teaching’ is associated with confidence, self-assurance, sensitivity and empathy. There are many practical and pragmatic elements with which every teacher needs to be familiar, which are represented by the curriculum, lesson planning, guiding pupils in their learning and assessing their work, but teachers also have a responsibility to carry out these practical elements with a keen awareness of the people involved (pupils and colleagues) and great sensitivity to their personal as well as academic needs.

Care, compassion, understanding, informed tolerance and a deep appreciation of the beauty in the world around us are just as much part of the educative process as the formal curriculum. The barren philosophy of ‘anything goes’ and ‘me first’ has been exposed as a dangerous illusion. Sensitivity, creativity and liberation to fulfil our potential and help others to do the same are back on the agenda as the hallmark of a truly educated human being.

Cross-reference: Guided Reader Extract 34

Education that transforms

Children benefit from having opportunities to think and talk about ways in which acts of loving kindness bring joy to the carer as well as the cared for; adults can and should be a role model in demonstrating compassion and consideration in what they say and do. Paley (2000) describes how very young children can transform themselves and one another by memorising, narrating and acting out tales of kindness and other good deeds.

The significance of being caring is given impetus by studies of teacher motivation, which show that a desire to help children and work as part of a supportive team are major professional driving forces and provide a source of considerable personal satisfaction. As children attach great importance to playing with and learning alongside their friends, teachers also have a responsibility to identify and promote harmonious and secure relationships: child-to-child, adult-to-adult and adult-to-child.

Education that transforms is only possible in a school climate where everyone's rights are respected, responsibility for oneself and others is encouraged, and the promotion of positive images of self-worth, potential and belonging are central to the education process. Children are not born with a particular view of themselves and their worth; it is gradually shaped through their experiences at home and their relationships with a wider circle of friends and associates inside and outside school. Some children seem to be naturally anxious and tentative; others express confidence from an early age and develop a higher level of self-esteem than their timid contemporaries. Inexperienced teachers often assume that children with a bright and breezy personality have high self-belief and that quiet, passive children struggle with feelings of self-worth – in fact, there is no simple correlation between personality and confidence. Your job is to bring out the best in every individual. From their study of teachers’ and pupils’ views of self-worth, Cushman and Cowan (2010) stress the importance of teachers gaining understanding of the inherent uniqueness of their own classrooms and how the dynamics of relationships between themselves and their pupils, and between pupil and pupil, influence self-worth and, thereby, motivation to learn.

Cross-reference: Guided Reader Extract 60

A complete education

Fully educated children are not necessarily the ones who pass examinations and gain top marks, but rather those who develop the skills, knowledge and abilities to foster their physical, social, mental and emotional wellbeing in all aspects of life and help others to do the same. Such pupils have a desire to achieve their full academic potential but also an awareness of their capabilities and limitations. Well-educated children exude a positive attitude not only to themselves and their own learning but also to those around them through (1) building effective relationships, (2) behaving with integrity and (3) demonstrating kindness.

The real world of teaching and learning is far messier and less predictable than a policy or action plan implies. Structure in teaching and learning is preferable to chaos, of course, but account must also be taken of the school context, the personalities of those involved and the need for emotional safeguards, especially for vulnerable children and busy teachers (whose welfare is also important). No amount of strategy or cleverly designed managerial system will be effective if people's emotional wellbeing is neglected. Frightened, insecure or disillusioned children have little hope of achieving their potential, fulfilling their goals or responding enthusiastically to the opportunities presented to them. Whether pupil, teacher, teaching assistant, parent or head teacher, everyone needs encouragement, affirmation and the belief that not only what he or she does is valued but also the person that he or she is. See White (2011) for a detailed exploration of conflicting perspectives relating to the issue of wellbeing in schools.

In many ways, learning resides as much in the heart as it does in the head. It is not uniform in character but, like the waves of the sea creeping up a beach, it ebbs and flows in unexpected ways with times of calm and moments of unexpected and thrilling progress. And you are now a contributor to this exciting world.

Motivation for teaching

Many teachers of younger children claim that their desire to teach was present from a very early age. The following quotations are typical:

My mum is a teacher and I would often go into school to help her out whenever I was at home from college. I got on really well with the children. They were so lively and enthusiastic, made me laugh and were a source of joy. I've never felt the kind of exhaustion I felt after coming back from a day spent with 5-to 7-year-olds. It was quite alarming but also felt like a reward for a job well done. Then suddenly the penny dropped that I could be a teacher too if I wanted to be. And I did!

(Shima)

Initially I worked in advertising and worked my way up to the position of manager by opening up a lot of business with large organisations. However, I wasn't happy in the job and had to make the very hard decision of giving up this very well paid employment to pursue a career that would be more rewarding. At this point I started to think about the possibility of teaching. I decided to do three weeks as a voluntary classroom assistant in two schools with very different catchment areas. Nothing could have reinforced my decision to leave the advertising industry more! I loved my time in the schools and decided that teaching was the only job for me.

(Archie)

Studies of the dominant motivating factors that influence people to select primary teaching as a career point to the importance of altruistic (wanting to do good) and romantic notions of the job (‘I've always dreamed of being a teacher’) but with a stern realism threaded between. Factors such as salary, holidays, job security and status in society are also attractions, but the principal motivator is the opportunity to exercise a positive influence over children's lives through contributing to their education, including their social and moral development.

In a wide-ranging survey, Spear et al. (2000) found that those factors associated with job satisfaction were (in order of priority) the chance to work with children, relating to colleagues, and developing warm personal relationships with pupils. Smethern (2007) and Manuel and Hughes (2006) confirm that altruism and a desire to care for children provide the most powerful incentives for the vast majority of applicants to pursue teaching as a career. The authors conclude that many prospective teachers enter teaching ‘with a sense of mission to transform the lives of young people and open opportunities for growth through learning and connecting’ (p. 21).

People decide to train as teachers because they are passionate about doing the job (Day 2004). The publicity description offered by the Training and Development Agency (TDA) in England gives the same powerful message:

Teaching is like no other job. It is as inspiring, challenging and unique as each child you teach. It's a career that genuinely does make a difference.

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