On learning

Primary school teaching differs from teaching in many walks of life and circumstances because, among other things, the teacher cannot assume that her pupils are on the same mental wavelength as herself. One of the reasons why teachers in higher education and those who teach in the professions and industry may find teaching relatively straightforward and not requiring much special training is that they can take it as read that the members of their audience have mastered the basic skills and competencies required for learning and that they know and understand in ways which are similar to their own. What Jackson refers to as the ‘presumption of shared identity’1 means that teachers of adults may not need to inquire into the nature of their learners’ minds as a necessary preliminary before engaging in pedagogical practices. In short, setting aside the question of whether or not they ought to, teachers of adults can assume that their audience is like themselves in terms of the ways in which its members think, know, and comprehend. The teacher can proceed to teach almost with ‘eyes closed’, to use Jackson’s terminology, upon the belief that the significant difference between her and her learners is that they are ignorant about what she is to teach them and then proceed to convey knowledge to her audience in the belief that members will assimilate her lessons as she intends and as she herself understands the material. The primary teacher cannot make such an assumption since young children are still at the stage of acquiring the basic skills, of literacy, numeracy, and oracy and may appear to interpret and understand their world in different ways from adults. It is during the formative years in primary school that children’s mental capacities ‘develop’. The presumption that there is something special and distinctive about the ways in which primary children learn and that they thereby need treating in special ways is typically regarded as an important consideration which must inform the primary teacher’s training and expertise. In this chapter I consider the issue of what the primary teacher needs to know about her pupils’ abilities and capacities to learn and how they learn so as to better understand them and thereby aid her teaching. Given the nature of this

theme it is hardly surprising that educationists have turned to the social sciences for theories, models, and evidence which it is hoped will enhance our understanding of children’s learning. Primary school teachers need to know something of how children learn and the social factors which affect their learning and at first sight educational psychology and sociology would seem to offer appropriate information and advice. It is necessary to attend carefully to psychology’s and sociology’s claims and ask whether the endeavour is necessary or worthwhile.