Part one: ‘A critical analysis of the purpose and value of the Foundation Subjects and RE in the primary curriculum with reference to pupils’ learning and development’.
Foundation subjects offer the opportunity to deepen children’s understanding of themselves, people around them and the world which they live in. They allow children to be creative and to express their interests and views. Foundation subjects also allow children to use their imagination and encourage a child’s self-esteem and confidence.
Most of the foundation subjects are more practically based lessons, for example P.E, Art and Design and Technology etc, however all the foundation subjects can be taught theoretically.
Demonstrations and modelling are often used to teach foundation subjects, they are very good in the classroom environment as they clarify any misunderstandings, stimulate the brain and get children motivated to learn, demonstrate with the use of ITP’s and visual aids and structure the work. When possible, the visual aids and models can be used as tools. Children can use them to generate examples of problems and they can rearrange and try different techniques using them.
Practical demonstrations often engage minds as children are able to watch the lesson rather than listen to the class teacher talk at the pupils. Teachers often use models to demonstrate the lesson and again encourage class participation.
These models and images enhance peer interaction and group learning as they often lead to active learning.
Active learning occurs when children are keen to learn and are interested in finding things out independently. Children are mentally or physically engaged in learning when they feel at ease, secure and confident in the work set and they gain a sense of fulfilment from their explorations and investigations. When children engage with people, materials, objects, ideas or events they test things out and solve problems. Once they have developed as much as possible...