Round table discussion

Confidence conveyed through voice and body language Creative and engaging approach Content and structure of ideas Sensitivity to and dialogue with others in the group Knowledge and understanding of topics discussed Awareness of the social and cultural importance of education and current educational issues Reflection on personal experience Knowledge of, and potential to relate to primary age children

1. To what extent is education a socially transformative process and what are the implications of this for the primary teacher? Education has a huge influence on a Childs social progress. If a success the child can be empowered and continue to succeed in life, if the child has had a bad educational experience this can be extremely damaging. The school, peers and teachers influences the childs outlook on life, self esteem and personal development. Therefore teachers have a huge responsibility to nurture every child to have healthy life skills. Although the experiences a child has at school may stay with them for the rest of there life, shape their character and skills, I am sure everyone can think of a scenario from school, the whole emphasis is not on schools alone Home life and parental guidance have just as much influence if not more on a childs social development as the educational system does Therefore social transformation is collaboration between home life, school and peer interaction. It is the teachers responsibility to encourage parents to continue to teachings of school to provide the child with a consistent learning environment.

2. Discuss a particular element of your academic studies that will have a particular relevance to your primary practice. There were several parts of my degree which have particular relevance to primary school teaching, the biggest of which were probably developmental psychology, child language acquisition and learning difficulties. In developmental psychology I studied various theorists ideas on the stages of attachment and the implications these have on later development and life

For example Bowlbys learning theory states that if deprivation or separation is experienced early on in life, the infant will develop challenging behaviour and most likely have a lower IQ then those children who formed a secure attachment- In the teaching environment if I have a child from a foster family I can use this knowledge to give them extra behavioural support During the study of child language acquisition, I learnt the process by which children acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language as well as produce and use words to communicate I can use this knowledge of sentence structure and how children learn language to aid EAL children or those who are behind on language comprehension. Learning difficulties taught me the different types of special education needs and the problem areas these children may face in learning For example the cognitive learning difficulty dyspraxia affects gross and fine motor skills. Children with this learning difficulty may need more consideration and planning during PE and additional help with writing and using scissors

3. What role does play have in creating an effective learning environment? Piaget recognized that play is important in cognitive development, he suggested that as a child matures and plays with their environment, certain mental operations become possible Vygotsky also emphasized the importance of play for social development. He suggested that play prepares the child for adult life, for example a child who may want to ride a horse pretends or plays riding a horse on a broom. Play is important in creating an effective learning environment as it allows children to practice new skills, make mistakes, try new things and problem solve in a safe environment During the first few years of life there is no distinction between play and learning- the more a child plays with the objects and their surroundings the more they learn, As children grow play continues to have an important role in learning as teachers can use games as a form of subject reinforcement. Using games and play creates a fun and exciting learning environments, stimulating the childs interest in learning the subject In conclusion play creates a effective learning environment by allowing the child to practice new skills in a safe, fun surrounding giving them the confidence apply these skills in the real world.

4. What distinctive contribution can the creative arts make to the primary school experience? As I child I loved art and dance lessons, I still do! When I consider why I loved them so much it wasnt because it was considered a doss lesson but because I enjoyed expressing myself in imaginative ways not possible in maths or history. 2

The creative arts are extremely important in teaching children how to communicate and analyse what they see, feel and think. Very often if you observe a arts and crafts lesson, the children start with great excitement but soon settle down into a calm serene state as their imaginations run wild The creative arts is often a time when child can socalise, exchange ideas increasing their social skills and acceptance of others peoples opinions. The National Curriculum states that art and design should develop the creativity and imagination of a child by exploring the visual, tacile and sensory qualities of materials and processes I think in addition to this art in particular helps with childrens dexterity, providing them with practice of using tools and there hands to create things Can also be used for cross-curricular teaching in subtle ways for example painting portraits of king Henry the 8th.

5. Discuss a current topical educational issue and its likely impact on childrens learning The National Curriculum review 2013 The aim of the review: The aim of the review is to create a nation curriculum, which allows children to build their knowledge in a systematic and consistent way. The review also aims to slim down the NC concentrating its content on essential knowledge every student should learn To make it more manageable and free up teachers so that they can create lessons that really inspire and engage their pupils The National Curriculum we will work on will change in 2013

How are they going to do this? 1. All existing national curriculum subjects should remain statutory, but schools should be left to decide how to teach citizenship, design and technology and ICT. 2. NC levels will be scrapped in favour of a new structure that would lay down expectations of what all children should know as they get older year by yearthe current structure is not age related, the new structure will lay out what children should know by the time they react a certain age. All pupils should understand key elements of a body of knowledge before the move on to the next (this is the ready to progress model) 3. KS2 will be divided in half with new lower and upper stages eg. Lower year 3&4, higher year 5&6

Why are they doing it? 1. The NC has included material that is not essential and has specified teaching method rather than content. Slimming the NC down should give schools more time and flexibility to fit in what else they think is important to have on their own school curriculum The new curriculum should establish what teachers must teach, what children must learn and what parents can expect of their childrens learning. 2. There are concerns that the current multi-year key stage structure, the NC has had since 1988, if too difficult for parents to understand- Parents want to know whether their child is struggling with a particular area or on the other hand what their particular strengths are If parents are clear about what it is that is being covered every year they will be better placed to support their child at home. Most high-performing nations have curriculum outlined year by year.

What affect will this have on the childrens learning? If parents are clear about what it is that is being covered every year they will be better placed to support their child at home, The idea is that with the new slimmer NC teachers will have more time to teach students the essential subjects more thoroughly and thus will prepare them for the modern world better, The Government states that the new NC should not disrupt childrens learning if the curriculum is implemented smoothly

Questions to ask: Is it right to downgrade ICT, D&T and Citizenship to become part of the basic curriculum where they wont be tested? Will there be endless league tabled if the key stage is split? Is it really a national curriculum if free schools and academies opt out? Will the change improve or make worse the teach to test culture?

6. With the current emphasis on English and Maths, which is the next important area of the curriculum/learning? With the National Curriculum changing in 2013, PSHCE, design and technology and Citizenship could be axed from the statutory list. PSHCE: When I first thought about this question my immediate reaction was to say PSHCE as it teaches essential life skills vital for succeeding in society,

However when I thought back to my time in school I realized that a lot of what is taught in PSHCE is continuous throughout class life with constant behavioural management and teaching of social skills. For example in foundation one of the fist things children are taught is to sit quietly and listen to the teacher. This lead me to believe that as a curriculum subject I dont necessarily think it is the most important as it is a subject that is taught naturally throughout school life by teachers and parents. ICT: My thoughts then went onto ICT as in today society it is becoming increasingly important to have sufficient ICT skills to succeed. I then again thought about how ICT can quite easily be incorporated into every day lessons and so less time is needed dedicated to specific ICT curriculum. Pupils are more likely to use computers outside of the classroom on their own accord to play games, surf the Internet and talk to their friends. Science: When I think of the third most important curriculum area I think of a subject that specifically needs teaching and is harder to learn through self discovery, this thought lead me to the traditional view that science is the next most important area. I believe science is an extremely important subject area to teach, as it is part of our everyday lives, everything we do and deal with in life is science from cooking to growing plants. Understanding science helps children to appreciate and relate to the world around them. After all school is not about learning to pass exam it is a institution that is designed to set us up to succeed in the bigger scarier world.