English 7-11

Developing Primary Teaching Skills

David Wray

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• Print ISBN: 9780367087593
• eBook ISBN: 9781134848430
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book focuses on approaches to the teaching of primary English at Key Stage 2 in the context of the National Curriculum. Through a series of guided activities, teachers are encouraged to reflect upon particular teaching strategies and activities such as: an analysis of language and literacy, the processes of language and literacy, the use of topic work, a critical look at classroom environments, and examination of the texts which children read and write, and a discussion of the role of the teacher.

Unit 1
What counts as English language teaching in the primary school?

INTRODUCTION

According to the National Curriculum, English is one of the three core subjects of the curriculum. The vast majority of primary teachers would probably not want to argue with this classification, feeling that the skills and concepts involved in English language were, indeed, among the most important areas of their work. Neither would there be much dispute among the general public about the importance of English language work. Even though people not connected with schools (apart from having attended one at some stage of their lives) might not agree with teachers about just what were the most crucial aspects of English, virtually everybody would rate this area as deserving a great deal of attention in schooling. This is only sensible: after all, learning to read, write and talk fluently and cogently are essential aspects of what we refer to as ‘being educated’. They are also vital skills to possess when it comes to finding a job in post-industrial society.

Accordingly, it might be expected that activities which were explicitly labelled as English language work should account for a very large proportion of the teaching time in primary schools in particular. This is undoubtedly the case, and research studies of the allocation of curriculum time in primary schools suggest that between 25 and 50 per cent of classroom time tends to be devoted to activities which count as English (reading, writing, talking and listening). It is also true, however, that, especially in junior schools, there is a great deal of ‘double counting’ in parcelling up the curriculum between its constituent subjects. Units of work labelled chiefly as, say, History, may also be expected to account for a good deal of English language teaching as well. Almost invariably, when primary school work is organised around the ubiquitous ‘project’, it will be expected that the teaching of English language will play a major role by being embedded in the teaching of other subjects.

In this Unit, I shall try to open up this idea of embedding English language work into projects and examine to what extent it might be possible to do justice to the English elements of integrated work. One of the major points I shall make is that it is essential, if English language work is to receive the level of attention it deserves and needs, that schools and teachers take a deliberate approach to planning it into their project work, in whatever area of the curriculum this is located.

LOOKING CLOSELY AT A PROJECT: A CASE STUDY

The first step to take is to look fairly searchingly at what actually happens in the planning and implementation of project work and to examine just how salient English language activities are in this. To do this we will analyse the unit of work planned and executed by one teacher of Year 5 children (9–10 year olds).

The unit of work was ‘The Ancient Greeks’ and the teacher began her planning by using the familiar tool of the topic web. Figure 1.1 is a representation of the topic web she produced for this topic.

The teacher’s next step was to go through each of her identified sub-topics and to list the learning activities she wanted her children to undertake as part of their study of each area of content. Under Greek life, for example, she identified the following activities:

Greek food

• Finding out what Greek food was and is like (reference books)
• Watching video and writing accounts of Greek meals
• Planning a Greek meal
• Tasting Greek food, pitta bread, taramasalata, olives etc.

Greek customs

• Watching video about Greek home life
• Reference book work on Greek home life
• The roles of men and women
• Designing and producing posters to show clothes worn
• The role of the slave

Greek education

• Video on Greek schooling
• Different experiences of boys and girls
• Reading children’s accounts of schooling

The teacher then planned the ways the class would progress through the project and made a rough schedule of when she hoped to focus on the various sub-topics she had identified.

Figure 1.1 The Ancient Greeks

To most she planned to devote a defined period of time, usually one or two weeks, before moving on to the next sub-topic. In the case of myths and legends, however, she planned to read these to her class and use them as focal points for discussion, writing and some drama work over the whole period of the project.

ANALYSING THE CASE STUDY

It is certainly not my intention here to criticise this teacher on account of her planning, which, in many ways, was thorough and allowed for a wide range of child activity. Clearly the dominant influence on this planning was the constraint of National Curriculum demands, especially in the History area. The question I want to focus on here is the place and status in this project of activities which can be labelled English language work. You might like, before you read further, to give some thought yourself to this issue.

ACTIVITY 1.1

Write some brief notes here in answer to these questions.

1. What English activities do you think these children were engaged in during this project?
2. Can you think of other English activities which you might have planned in for them?
3. How systematic an approach to English work do you feel this project planning method represents?

COMMENTS 1.1

On the face of it it seems that these children will have experienced a fair range of activities which could be counted as English language. They will have:

• Read for enjoyment (myths and legends) Read for information (about Alexander the Great etc.)
• Practised reference and library skills (finding out...)
• Discussed their reading and used it in various ways (Drama, Writing, Art etc.)
• Listened to stories and discussed these afterwards
• Listened to and viewed video material and responded to it
• Engaged in collaborative discussion about their work and the topic
• Wrote creatively (retelling myths)
• Wrote informatively (producing accounts of what they had learnt)
• Wrote for publication (e.g. class books) and, thus, drafted and proof-read their writing

You may, of course, have identified other opportunities for English language work in this project which the teacher appears not to have developed, but this list of activities represents a substantial English component to the work on this project. To suggest that English as a subject was not being well-served by such an approach to project work might, therefore, appear simply as carping.

Yet I feel it is legitimate to ask about the status of English language work when it is, as in this example, essentially an afterthought to the main work of the project. These English language activities arise because they happen to fit in with activities which are planned to cover the demands of a History unit of work. In other words, the English language component in this project is incidental rather than an influence on project planning from the beginning.

The problem with activities which are incidental is threefold:

• Incidental can easily mean accidental, that is, not really planned at all. The accidental occurrence of activities aimed at developing a crucial, arguably the most crucial, area of the curriculum, seems to do rather less than proper justice to this area.
• Activities which are incidental tend to be perceived as such by the children engaged in them. From the children’s points of view in a project such as that described here what they are actually doing is History. The fact that it may, incidentally, involve them in English language work, may well be lost on them. Children’s perceptions of what they are doing have a very important influence on their effort and, ultimately, their learning and, if we wish children to give English language work the same priority as teachers and society at large, we have to make sure they are aware of when they are engaged in it.
• One of the constant features of the role of the teacher is the monitoring and assessment of children’s progress. This is an essential component of well planned and targeted teaching. If the English language activities which feature in a project are incidental and planned as afterthoughts, then the teacher’s assessment of children’s performance in them is likely to be the same. This is simply not adequate. It is surely more important for teachers to make accurate assessments of children’s progress in reading and writing, for example, than of the development of their historical knowledge.

For these reasons it seems that a very beneficial approach to project work might be to consider the place within it of English language activities at a much earlier stage in planning. If the project can be constructed around the children’s needs in English language work, rather than vice versa, it seems more likely that the English language components will get the priority they need. Ways of approaching this will be discussed in the next section of this Unit.

PROJECT WORK AND THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

In planning the way in which English teaching might be linked in with project work, there seem to be three basic approaches which can be taken. In the following description of the main features of each of these approaches, you might keep in mind the need already identified to maintain the status of English language work and ask whether any of these approaches meets this.

Approach 1: the sequential approach

In this approach project work is seen as an opportunity for children to put to purposeful use the English language skills they have already been taught. Project work, therefore, has to follow English language skills work and thus be separate from it. The approach, therefore, involves the systematic teaching of English language (and other) skills in the time leading up to the involvement of children in a piece of project work in which they are expected to use and practise the skills they have just learned.

Approach 2: the integrated approach

In this approach the teacher uses the project as a vehicle for the teaching of English language skills. This is done because it is felt that such skills can only be really learnt if the children see for themselves that they are useful, and if they are set in a practical, purposeful context from the very beginning. The Ancient Greek project described above is an example of this approach in action, although it can be carried out in a way which allows for more systematic planning of English language skills.

Approach 3: the concurrent approach

In this approach an attempt is made to teach English language skills alongside their use in project work. Thus the work of the class will be planned so that they receive lessons covering various English language skills at times during the week and at other times they are expected to use these skills in their project sessions. This approach allows the skills to be taught systematically and in the structured way many teachers will be familiar with. It also allows children to have opportunities to use the skills in real contexts and for real purposes as they are being taught, thus hopefully avoiding the problems of children forgetting or being unable to transfer skills.

It is quite likely that one of these approaches is the one which you currently favour in your planning of project work – and they each have their strengths. Spend a little time now thinking about what the strengths and weaknesses of each approach might be.

ACTIVITY 1.2

Before reading further, try to answer the questions below with reference to each of these three approaches to project work and English language skills.

1. What is likely to be the status in this approach of English language work in comparison to work on other curriculum areas?
   
   • The sequential approach
   • The integrated approach
   • The concurrent approach
2. Is this approach likely to cause any problems in terms of the scope and nature of children’s learning of English language skills?
   
   • The sequential approach
   • The integrated approach
   • The concurrent approach
3. What possible strengths does th...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• INTRODUCTION
• UNIT 1: WHAT COUNTS AS ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL?
• UNIT 2: THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF LITERACY
• UNIT 3: THE READING PROCESS
• UNIT 4: THE WRITING PROCESS
• UNIT 5: THE PURPOSES AND PROCESSES OF TALK
• UNIT 6: LOOKING AT LITERACY IN CLASSROOMS
• UNIT 7: THE TEXTS CHILDREN READ
• UNIT 8: THE TEXTS CHILDREN WRITE
• UNIT 9: LANGUAGE AS TEXT STRUCTURES AND VARIETY
• UNIT 10: FROM LEARNING TO TEACHING
• REFERENCES