Literacy news
Make-believe can make a difference
16 Jan 2004
Primary teachers in East Ayrshire are ditching the emphasis on basics and turning to more play and creativity in the first year of school. They say too many children are forced into formal learning far too early, a move that can accentuate division. Staff in four pilot schools, which serve disadvantaged communities, had become disenchanted by the rigidity of the formal curriculum in Primary 1 and are now putting the joy back into teaching.
The project runs against the grain of early intervention with its emphasis on mastering core skills as early as possible in an attempt to close the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged and ensure a flying start. But the emerging practice is not out of line with the Scottish Executive's partnership agreement, struck in May 2003, which pledged to introduce more flexibility for 3 to 6-year-olds.
East Ayrshire has pulled in senior researchers from Glasgow University to help raise attainment in a quite different fashion to recent early intervention strategies, many of which have failed to narrow the gap for many pupils. Louise Hayward of the university's education faculty said: "There is evidence that too formal learning at too early a stage is unlikely to result in success for all young learners." Nationally, primary heads report that play, activity learning and creativity have suffered because of the number of 5-14 subjects which have to be taught, even in the early years.
Kay Hall, president of the Association of Head Teachers in Scotland, said the major concern of early years teachers was that the curriculum was far too demanding and hampered their ability to address individual needs. "Does anyone remember 'reading readiness' and how quickly reading is promoted and learnt once the child is ready to learn. Maturity and motivation are key factors," Mrs Hall said. "PI teachers are in the business of developing confidence and security in the more formal learning process and require the time and flexibility to be able to do so. Surely some of the curriculum could be taught later in the child's life. Introducing skills, concepts and information too early can have a detrimental affect - children can become confused, lose confidence and develop ways of covering up."
The East Ayrshire initiative chimes with the approach of the Children in Scotland organisation, which has been pressing for Scotland to model other European countries by starting formal learning at six or seven.
(TES Scotland, 16 January 2004)
Most read
Related content
- Talk To Your Baby and National Childbirth Trust Research Review in Research reports
- New political group to focus on literacy in Blogs by Jonathan Douglas
- Removing Barriers to Literacy in Blogs by George Dugdale
- The Foundation Years: preventing poor children becoming poor adults in NLT policy
- Early Years and the Spending Review: “the when, what and how?” in NLT policy
