ABSTRACT
An important assumption made in all education is that we expect children to transfer what they learn from one subject to another, and from what they learn in school to their activity out of school. Traditionally education developed in order to prepare a person for his or her role in later life and this is still important today. Teachers expect and hope that what they teach in their subject will prove of benefit to the child when studying another subject. To take a simple example, a mathematics teacher will hope that the mathematics acquired by the learner will be useful to him when studying a science, such as chemistry or physics. This is referred to as lateral transfer. Also a teacher in the infant school who teaches a child to read expects him to be to use this skill in all other subjects throughout his later school life. This is referred to as a vertical transfer. Children in secondary schools expect that much of what is taught them should be of value when they leave school. This naturally does not mean that they should be taught how to cope with each individual problem they might have to deal with in later life, as this would be an impossible task. Nevertheless they should be taught the basic principles from which they will be able to transfer their knowledge to the problems they are likely to meet.
