Developing your teaching

Good teaching makes a difference. Excellent teaching can transform lives. (Alexander, 2010: 279) Such a responsibility can be quite daunting to anyone contemplating the skills that might be needed for effective primary teaching. This unit will look at the skills and knowledge required for you to be able to create and support successful learning experiences that, ultimately, could transform lives. What you decide to do in the classroom can have a profound influence on the children you work with. In this unit, we unpack factors you need to consider when you plan for the children’s learning. By the end of this unit, you should be beginning to: understand that excellent teaching involves being aware of the underlying factors that underpin learning objectives (e.g.organisation of the curriculum; concepts of knowledge; a child’s background, prior learning, aptitude etc.); understand how knowledge is organized; develop strategies to help your own decision-making in the classroom (creativity and knowledge).