A Thematic Approach To Teaching Education Essay

A Thematic Approach To T separatelying Education EssayFor this exit I am passing play to explore the history of the matter circle and the thematic onslaught to appriseing. Looking at these argonas I am press release to create themes inwardly the home material body and fundamental item 2 to use as an example of a thematic onset to t to distributively oneing. guinea pig CurriculumThe National Curriculum has been policy in civilises for many maturate, it originates sand to 1970 when the government pointed on fosterage with a desire to naturalize babyren to create a better hunt d cause force. Teaching consisted of no watch deep down the schoolroom and the instructors could teach whatever they precious as a result of there not creation a specific computer programme to follow, or at least subsume back to.In 1976 jam C alto removeheraghan transposed the teaching profession. His idea was every superstar should be taught the same topics, this led to an introdu ction of to a greater extent core bulge outcomes. Within a few grades, Marg atomic number 18t Thatcher became Prime minister and discrete she didnt like the stratagem of teaching at heart the National Curriculum, so, in 1979 she dogged that every Council would write their own policies. These policies had to intromit maths, English and science which were deemed to be core subjects. The Prime Minister wanted to chance a megabucks more testing of the teaching process so that teaching was furthermost more measur fitted and what progress and standard the children where achieving.In the 1987, Kenneth Baker, the Education Minister took the concept a stage further. He divided the class into 3 core subjects maths, English and science, and 7 institution subjects including the subjects of history, geographics, foreign language, art, music, P.E and design and technology. He had a syllabus for each subject composed so that every last(predicate) teachers knew what content to cove r when teaching each subject. In 1988 the Educational repair Act became legislation. It was tolerantly regarded as the most important single human organisms of education legislation in England and Wales in humourrn clips.The Educational repair Act changed education. After its introduction in 1988, the National Primary School Curriculum had to be presented to the government to ensure standards of teaching were the same for every child. chance upon confronts were introduced in schools that benched marked milest unmatchables in a childs education. At each primordial stage a number of educational objectives had to be achieved, the doctor of this was the course of instruction evolved into educational overload. Each teacher had 345 targets to meet The get a line Stages introduced were Key Stage 1 (5 7 year old children), Key Stage 2(7 11 year old children), Key Stage 3 (11 14 year old pupils) and Key Stage 4 (15 16 year old pupils). Statutory tests were progressively intro duced for each Key Stage. The Key Stage 1 statutory tests were introduced in 1991, Key Stage 2 in 1995 and Key Stage 3 in 1993.Sir Ron Dearing reviewed education in 1995, he removed some topics out and reduced the burden of 345 targets to 14 targets that teachers needed to meet. Marg art Thatcher soundless wanted to change elements of the course of study whilst Sir Ron Dearing was doing his review. She wanted to physical body and shame every school that wasnt performing and to rank exclusively schools, therefore the birth of school tables to publicly inform pargonnts how individual schools were performing. Sir Ron Dearing wanted a structured numeracy and literacy hour which was structured and dictated what had to be done and was use by all schools crossways the Country. This enabled visibility to monitor and evaluate what was being done at any one time.An other(a) huge change arrived 30 days later when Sir Jim Rose looked at the National Curriculum. He led an independent re view in 2008-2009 and came to the conclusion that there was tranquillize too much pass on in the course of study. He wanted focus on essential life and run crosswaysedness skills and on literacy, numeracy, I.C.T, schooling and thinking skills and social and emotional well being. Sir Jim Rose wanted to induce a curriculum for the 21st century that met the needs of individual learners whilst taking account for the broader needs of Wales. The internal curriculum changed once a assume in 2008. The stages of the curriculum Key Stages were and remain divided into sections, Year 3- Year 6 Key Stage 2 (7 11 year olds) and previous(predicate) years which became the Foundation Phase Year 1 Year 2 (3 7 year olds).The curriculum content consists of core subjects (Mathematics, English and Science) and welsh diction, broader curriculum subjects ( I.C.T, History, Geography, Music, invention and instauration, Physical recreation, envision and Technology, Welsh second Language) an d basic curriculum (R.E and P.S.E). This ensures subjects are taught via a cross curriculum coming and introduce key skills that includes thinking, number, I.C.T and communication. Assessments move over been introduced to enable teachers to monitor childrens knowledge and base course of study assess acquisition at the end of the Foundation Phase. At Key Stage 2, pupils are tested on their English and Mathematics and core subjects. thence in Year 6 they are assessed in preparation for transition to year 7 in Secondary education.The introduction to the Foundation Phase was embed out in Wales and further amplified and explained in the Foundation Phase reference paper published in 2003. The proposals contained in this paper was supported by 96 per cent of respondents. The Welsh prevarication organization then piloted the Foundation Phase from September 2004. The Foundation Phase provides young children with a curriculum that is more appropriate to their stage of break outment and that caters for their individual needs.From interpret Welsh aggregation governing body, March 2009, Foundation Phase Child Development pen Guidance, Welsh Assembly Government I keep back discover the septette areas of nurture indoors the Foundation Phase (3 7 year olds). The septet areas of learning are-Personal and social uprisement, well-being and cultural renewingLanguage, literacy and communication skillsMathematical developmentWelsh language development experience and intellect of the worldPhysical developmentCreative developmentThis cuddleing allows teachers to monitor the association of individual childrens development in the key areas of a childs learning and to follow onto the areas of learning to observe and evaluate childrens progress end-to-end their learning.In the National Curriculum for Key Stage 2, each subject has two sections (skills and endure) for a childs programme of study in each variant national curriculum subject. This includes levels of understanding, investigating and reservation. There are in addition national curriculum skills that are the same for all non-core and core subjects deep down the National Curriculum. Children develop thinking skills by supply, ontogenesis and reflecting on their work in all subjects. Another requirement within the National Curriculum is to develop communication skills. The children learn to communicate crossways the curriculum by utilize skills such as oracy, breeding, writing and wider communicating in all subjects crossways the National Curriculum. A further requirement is to develop ICT skills. The children must develop their ICT skills across the curriculum by finding, developing, creating and presenting information and ideas employ a wide range of software and equipment. Finally children must develop their number skills across the curriculum by exploitation mathematical information, calculating, interpreting and presenting their findings across the completely ran ge of national curriculum subjects.Thematic ApproachThe cross-curricular thematic start has been get of education in schools for many years and slowly began to gain popularity in primary schools during the 60s. This was due to recommendations from the Plowden Report (1967) emphasising that children learn better finding out information for themselves rather than being taught take aimly and supplied with information direct from a teacher. A thematic approach to teaching involves integrating all subject areas together under one theme. The cross curriculum approach helps children preserve basic academic skills to the rattling world. Thematic units are park in the Foundation Phase where children learn with inter combat- allegey, compound activities. These themed units constitute class period, mathematics, science and social studies. To create thematic approaches in teaching a theme is selected for a inciteicular topic which would be applied for a period of a week or a month. T he time line would depend on the broadness of the theme and how many subjects are going to be included in the cross curriculum approach. From knowing the themes the teacher develops proposals of work, activities and writing lesson plans. The children are then attached aims and objectives within the thematic approach lessons. The activities may consist of being hands-on or physical learning, games on the internet and reading certain discs for the skill level the children are reading at. For example, art skills send away be essential by straying exercises link up to the theme. There is no end to what national curriculum subjects depose be developed within the thematic approach.The benefits of a thematic approach have been checkd. Teaching thematically helps children build self esteem and allows the children to understand what they are being taught. Content and subject areas are integrated and not make obvious to the children what subjects they are being taught. The pupils are able to learn and oblige more information through a thematic approach, it encourages the involvement of all abilities of children through topics relevant to them and their learning needs, from the learning aspect the children are able to relate to touchable-world experiences and build upon their prior friendship learned from previous lessons taught at that particular moment in time. The thematic approach similarly helps teachers teach to the incompatible learning capabilities of their children. boilersuit the thematic approach keeps children engaged by making learning activities fun by creating a variety of unlike experiences within unalike thematic approaches. The teacher and children are able to be yeasty, authentic and original, it also allows the teacher to integrate all subjects and use literacy within those subjects. The children can share the same learning goals, is children centred and utilises collaborative and cooperative learning. The curriculum is also compact an d saves time teaching multiple subjects at once.The negatives of a thematic approach need to be considered. Some children may hurt interest in the theme/subject being addressed. Using one theme for a month may hold out boring, repetitive and the childrens motive to learn depart decrease and become uninterested and distracted. The children may also not like the choice of the theme elect by the teacher and may cause arguments between children making them un forgeting to participate in the activities created by the teacher. It can be inviolable for the teacher to find copious resources/information to cover every aspect of the topic and intertwining the benchmarks within that one topic may be difficult, it can also be diffuse to miss out on some content that could be covered in the theme. Within the thematic approach it may be unattackable for the lower level children to engage and consequently have a hard time with concepts within that theme, they impart then struggle with th e work. This child is still expected to connect within the focuse tasks causing possible examine for the child knowing their level of capabilities are lower than someone else in the class, so it is difficult for the teacher to provide tasks that suits everyones needs and learning styles.From reading a document Using thematic approach, Bristol, Victoria Clarke and Virginia Braun (Page 2) stock a mixed view of the thematic approach. They quote Thematic depth psychology is a poorly demarcated, rarely-acknowledged, yet widely-used qualitative analytic method. They believe that the thematic approach is rarely acknowledged but is used widely across teaching. Theorists have a mixed view near the statement because they tone that the thematic approach can prove to be successful as long as the theme and subjects used are taught at a level that suits all the childrens needs using an integrated and balanced scheme of work for all abilities . Others also think that the quote is wrong in sayin g the thematic approach is rarely acknowledged. It is clear from experiences within the classroom that teachers successfully use the thematic approach a lot.My view on the foundation phase and what it has to offer.Within the Foundation Phase, children as individuals are wedded opportunities to learn well-nigh themselves, improve their own knowledge and understanding of the real world and gain better knowledge of individualised hygiene and safety. The children become independent and achieve goals that teachers cannot pass on to the children through use of full the direct teaching method. This is why the Foundation Phase is so unique, it allows the children to learn from their own personal experiences and take their learning into their own hands. The children become more confident and assertive and learn values for themselves and from their peers. With all of the above guidance on skills, children can develop in the Foundation Phase. The main contrive of developing skills is by l etting children play, it is an essential feature within the curriculum which must be fun and stimulating for the children to enjoy learning. This approach helps children to be pro active and physically interact with objects they wouldnt necessarily encounter mean solar day to day.From reading the Rumbold Report (1990) on play, there is a very substantive view about using play within the Foundation Phase, it is believed that active educational play supports childrens learning across all areas of learning. I whole agree with this statement as it does create activity for the development of a wide range of skills and also allows the children to develop their own personal skills. overall I think the Foundation Phase is an all round confirmative curriculum that appears to work very well in developing children from an early age of 3.My lesson ideas for teaching within the Foundation PhaseThe subjects I examine as an example for my teaching in a thematic approach in the Foundation Phas e incorporates two non-core subjects Geography, Art and Design and also look at the basic curriculum area of R.E.The theme I have chosen is the amazon rainforest. The class I have chosen to deliver this task to is Year 2.R.EIn the R.E lesson, I leave foot read the read the book of Noahs Ark. Maisy, 2007, Noahs Ark, Lucy Cousins I will identify the type of savages and relate them to the amazon Rainforest. From reading the book I will have a section of play where I will divide the class into groups. The children will have samples of all of the animate beings referred to in the book along with a boat. They will then have to memorise the tip of the living creatures which relate back to the book and fit them into the boat. This will develop their thinking skills and also their communication skills piece on the job(p) in groups to do the activity. This will be a lovesome up activity for the children so they are getting their brain into working mode. This relates back to the na tional curriculum skills for R.E in the Guidance for local education authorities and agreed syllabus conferences, January 2008, National exemplar framework for unearthly education for 3 to 19-year-olds in Wales, Welsh Assembly Government by using the section listed as developing thinking.For the main activity the children have to create their own story where they save a number of animals onto a certain object, the object can be specific to our day and age so it could range from a boat or train to an aeroplane. To get the children started in their story one can brain storm and list their examples of some animals and objects on a board / interactive whiteboard and show what mode of transport animals can be rescued onto. From the main activity they are developing their communication skills, theyre using their writing skills and oracy by discussing what they are going to include in their story.From the content of the activities created one can monitor the eagre and style of childrens writing. I will select three or quartet pieces of work to be read out by the children and evaluate everyones work by having everyone on each table to swap and evaluate each others work.Geography (Knowledge and understanding of the world)To teach knowledge and understanding of the world I will focus on the wider world section of the curriculum, illustrating to the children what lives in the virago Rainforest, and type of habitats they live in. I would create discussions around particular questions I would continually ask. Questions would raise awareness and explore what is the rainforest. Childrens knowledge and understanding of the Amazon Rainforest will be developed through the handing out of a quiz that can be completed in groups. A class competition can be created to see who has the most questions correct about the Amazon Rainforest. After the quiz, to develop continuity through this subject of geographics the children can create pieces of work to put up on the Amazon Rainfores t board on the classroom walls. The children can bring their knowledge from R.E and use their drawings they developed in art to put onto the classroom board, this will create a sense of achievement and ownership as the children would be able to look at their own work when in their own classroom and is a clear display of their own work for others to see what they have done.A number of skills will have been developed from using this approach that are taken from the national curriculum book of knowledge and understanding of the world for Foundation Phase. The skills developed consist of enquiring, exploring, describing, asking/ answer questions, investigating, thinking, solving problems and recording their research. All of these are required and used within the theme and tasks set during lessons.ArtFrom reading the book Noahs Ark, children can draw an animal of their choice that relates to the story, a list and a picture of each animal mentioned in the story would be given as a resour ce for the children to relate back to. A directed task would then be set to use different materials to create a 2D image of the animal from the Noahs Ark story. Materials to be used would includeColoured pencils blusherColoured pensCrayonsCraft materials to create different textures etc.From creating their animal drawing, the children can try and link them to a habitat within the rainforest. To research the animals habitat the children can use the internet to find an image of the habitat for their animal to be stuck onto. The final outcome will then consist of a hand do piece of artwork of an animal from the rainforest make by every individual child and primed(p) on a background of the habitat the animal would live in within the rainforest.Overall the children would have explored colour using different materials and creatively making an animal by exploring and forming different textures. This relates back to the national curriculum within the foundation phase due to reading the cr eative development Welsh Assembly Government book. Welsh Assembly Government, June 2008, Creative Development, Welsh Assembly Government The children will have used ICT skills to research on the internet for a habitat picture of the rainforest.From creating the animal design that relates back to the Amazon rainforest, focus can be made upon literacy skills by asking each child to describe what animal they have created and what their habitat looks like. Overall, the children would have used planning and thinking skills by developing and creating the art work. The children can reflect on their work and see if their animal relates to the rainforest to give it a real life effect. Oracy and writing skills are also developed by describing their animal and habitat, so they are expressing their ideas and emotions about their work.The structure of the childs learning will be as it is presented in the essay, I will start off with R.E, and then include Geography and follow integrate Art and De sign. When the children take part in these activities the children themselves do not imbibe they are learning these skills. This is an brilliant outcome, as, when they grow up, the children will reflect and hopefully remember what they have done and recognise the skills they had used.My lesson ideas for teaching within Key Stage 2The subjects I examine for teaching a thematic approach in Key Stage 2 will consist of two non-core subjects of Geography, Art and Design and also look at the basic curriculum which is R.E.The theme chosen is Judaism. The year group chosen for this is Year 5.R.EThe children will be made aware what Judaism, different clothing and their names worn at this time would be examined. A group activity for children would be used later on explaining the variety of clothes using dolls clothing, some relevant to Judaism and some not relevant. A women and man doll would be introduced for the children to dress and they learn to relate the same back to Judaism culture. From dressing the dolls the children move on to examine a house of a Jewish person. The children will look at dietetical make up of Jews and what type of ornaments they have in their houses that are an integrated part of their culture. A group session can be delivered where children can trial some Jewish food and if possible have a Jewish person to come in and talk to the children about their lifestyle. A useful website for a teacher resource would be- http//www.waupun.k12.wi.us/Policy/other/dickhut/religions/14%20Jewish%20Symbols.htmlThis website describes the clothing and certain items that are found in a Jewish home. This theme will have continuity and appear through other lessons. In other lessons different festivals within the Jewish familiarity would be explored and have a look at videos to demonstrate how they hold on their festivals.The skills developed throughout these lessons would be communication through talking in groups to discuss issues about the culture and ornam ents the children have discovered. The children are also developing thinking skills to execute dressing the men and women dolls into suitable clothing for a Jewish person.ArtFrom the previous lesson on R.E about Judaism children are given a directed task using a hand out sheet with four cutes to draw in. The children are asked to use each box to draw from real life, objects such as Shofar or a type of clothing like a Kippah and use a range of art materials to colour in their drawings. The materials used could include -Coloured pencils tonalityColoured pensCrayonsCharcoalWater paintMark making noiseCraft materialsEach box I will ask The children will be told to use each box to illustrate a different art material so they are experimenting and testing different materials and are using a range of art media. After finishing the drawings the next activity would develop literacy where children have to describe the content and process used in creating each box, stating what material they have used, what the object is and how it is used within the religion of Judaism. Overall children have explored different art materials and creatively making examples relating to Judaism using the clothes they wear or the different items used within the culture. This links to the national curriculum within the Key Stage 2 Art and Design as found through reading the Art and Design national curriculum for Wales book. Welsh Assembly Government, January 2008, Art and Design in the National Curriculum for Wales, Welsh Assembly GovernmentFrom reading the book listed above I am able to see what part of the curriculum I have taught. The activities demonstrate that the children have planned, developed and reflected on their work which uses the developing thinking skill and that all of the children have developed their oracy and writing skills that links to the developing communication aspect.GeographyIn geography focus is on where the Jewish community was founded and where Judaism is sited in different countries. A presentation using PowerPoint for both tasks and the children can do small tasks from worksheets. We will then look at the Star of David flag and what the meaning is behind it. Two follow on from this children will be asked to develop a double summon in their book about Judaism. This double pageboy will involve information about the Jewish community, where Jewish stack are distributed around the world, some ornaments, clothes and the Star of David flag.The children are being tested on a number of skills across the curriculum in geography. The children are developing thinking skills, they have to plan the double page on Judaism and develop the work on Jews and also to ensure they include Judaism. The childrens communication skills are being developed through them writing about what they have learned about the Jewish community and Judaism. The children are using selected language to describe where the Jewish people live within different countries, and so a re discussing geographical issues. The children are conducting their own personal investigating into Judaism and Jewish religion. From developing the double page they are developing creative and presentation of information and ideas from their investigation.Observing childrenTo see the childrens improvement throughout their learning teachers need to pay attention to observant the children in their care. In the discover children book Welsh Assembly Government, January 2008, Observing children, Welsh Assembly Government it is quoted It is important that practitioners listen to children as well as watch them when observing, as they can learn a great deal about childrens learning and understanding through listening to their speech I believe this is a vital quote for teachers observing children because you can definately gain more understanding of the childrens learning by talking to children as well as observing how they play and the standard of their work. The observation of children should be taken into consideration through using the seven areas of learning, this will provide evidence of their development and achievements across the national curriculum. Teachers can also observe different situations children are unfastened to through playing on their own or as part of agroup. The main headings mentioned in the Welsh Assembly Government, January 2008, Observing children, Welsh Assembly Government state that teachers need to observe-Personal development tender developmentWell-being/emotional developmentCognitive developmentLanguage development and communication skillsPhysical developmentGross motor skills elegant motor skillsThere much observation of childrens development of the child as a whole that has to be considered as an essential part of the piece of a teacher.From observing the children one can monitor their progress and continuity during lessons to ensure improvement and that children are gaining and benefiting from new learning experiences throughou t their years in primary school. This can be achieved by both feeling at the development of their work and also how they play alone and within groups.ConclusionTo conclude, the National Curriculum has gone through many changes in the past few years and evolved into what is delivered in primary schools today. From the many theorists I have researched and read about, there is a belief that where we are placed today is the better stage of the developed National Curriculum. The Foundation Phase is proving to be a success. The children are able to improve their personal learning without having a teacher to spoon feed them to gain experiences and skills. Key Stage 2 needs improving and attention due to the drop in standards and attainment in literacy and numeracy, this drop in standards has resulted in improvements being demanded by the Welsh Government all across Wales. Welsh Government are implementing literacy and numeracy strategies in every subject across the national curriculum. Th e thematic approach has been evaluated and is declared a success by many theorists, it allows teachers to choose a theme and teach joint subjects in one integrated scheme of work/ lessons, this is a definate advantage because the children do not specifically realise how they are being taught. This method of educating primary aged children develops what they know from personal experiences and their involvement develops them through the teachers integrated lessons.