Full Description
Originally published in 1994, the aim of the authors was to provide a comprehensive introduction to recent advances in research which had been made in learning and teaching in the early years of schooling at the time. Emphasis is placed on how subject knowledge is constructed or acquired, and the organization of teaching to promote the learner's active construction of meaning through the integration of new knowledge with existing understanding. The National Curriculum is founded in subject knowledge, though little examination appears to have been made of this in terms of how subject matter is transformed into the content of teaching that young children can understand. It this remains for the teacher to develop instruction through the creation of a curriculum content and sequence which both reflects and advances the structure of existing forms of representation, problem-solving and knowledge which the child brings to the school. The whole thrust of the book challenges the conventional early years ideology with its emphasis on child-centred, concrete and empirical approaches to learning, with a view of teaching which is concerned with making sense of children's understanding, and allowing their active construction of knowledge and information-processing to develop expertise in context.
Contents
Preface. Glossary. 1. Overview of Advances un Understanding of Learning and Teaching of Subject Knowledge Carol Aubrey 2. Subject Knowledge: The Case for English Linda Thompson 3. Knowledge About Drama Peter Millward 4. Can Teachers Use and Make More Explicit their Knowledge of How Writing Works to Help Children Become Writers? Deirdre Pettitt 5. Construction of Mathematics in the Early Years Carol Aubrey 6. The Challenge of Science Rosemary Feasey 7. Teaching History in the Infant Classroom Deirdre Pettitt 8. A Sense of Place: Geography/Environmental Education in the Early Years Joy Palmer 9. 'I Can't Teach Music - So We Just Sing' Coral Davies 10. Teachers' Understanding of Children's Drawing Jennifer Buckham 11. Physical Education as a Specialist Subject Pauline Wetton 12. Subject Knowledge in the Early Years: The Case of Religious Education David Day and Elizabeth Ashton 13. The Role of Subject Knowledge Carol Aubrey. Notes on Contributors. Index.
