The arts in education are currently the subject of considerable controversy. Some people argue that fostering creativity in schools is important; that the arts can provide a substantial contribution to the development of the capacity for creative thought and action; and that therefore the arts should be well represented at all levels of the school curriculum. Some argue that the education system, in fact, leaves pupils incomplete, stultified and uncreative. Others argue that it is the processes of teaching and learning in the arts which are at fault because they are too passive. This book...

This volume describes and analyses exceptional educational events periods of particularly effective teaching representing ultimates in teacher and pupil educational experience. The events themselves are reconstructed in the book through teacher and pupil voices and through documentation. A model of critical event is derived from the study, which might serve as a possible framework for understanding other such occurrences in schools.

Firmly based on the authors personal experience, this book tackles a wide range of issues relating to the teaching of the arts in the primary school. The authors illustrate how primary children of all ages can be educated to both know about and to practice all the major art forms, and how a school staff can effectively accommodate and practice them all, even within the constraints of the National Curriculum. This book is unique in primary school education terms, as its primary focus is specific and it embraces every major art form dance, drama, literature, music, visual arts and film.

This book, by closely recording and reflecting upon the work and play of a group of 9 to 11 year-old children in a primary classroom, develops an approach to teaching and learning which is based upon the ways in which children are able to exercise a controlling influence over their own learning activity. It also suggests the sharing and analysis of classroom experience should be part of a teacher 's day-to-day life. The material for the book was gathered during a year of classroom enquiry in which the author combined the roles of teacher and researcher, working alongside the normal class...

Doing Science is unique in seeking to make explicit the links between science education and science studies. These fields of study and their respective academic communities, whilst appearing to have many potential points of contact, remain surprisingly separate, with little apparent recognition of the relevance to the interests of each of the work done within the other tradition. Presenting detailed accounts of current research, the book highlights the significance of modern science studies for classroom practice and, conversely, the importance of the classroom and teaching laboratory as a...

Focusing on pupils moving from primary to middle or secondary school, it describes and evaluates the schools programmes to ease transfer, and includes material provided by the pupils themselves. The main body of the book is a rich and detailed account of the first months of life in new secondary schools, where the pleasures and perils of new friends, new teachers and new subjects, and a new approach to teaching are encountered. The book conveys vividly how pupils experience a new environment, and meet its dangers, rules and regulations, timetable, complex groupings and ideology.

Inside...