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Primary Education (1959) (page numbers in brackets) Notes on the text
Part 1 Historical
Part 2 The Primary Schools
Part 3 The Fields of Learning
Part 4 The Special Problems of Wales
Index (331-334) |
Primary Education (1959)
Suggestions for the consideration of teachers and others concerned with the work of primary schools London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1959
[page 130] 'What a child learns depends equally on itself and its opportunities, but it cannot possibly evade the process. The supreme question is, has it vitally nourished the child? Unless a minute "Barkis is willin", unless he finds what he receives acceptable, he will remain more or less ill-nourished or will learn by rote. The latter method has its convenience, but since to learn life by rote appears to entail a gradual desiccation of the mind, if not degeneration of the heart, it cannot be the best.'* Walter de la Mare Two books concerned with physical education at this stage have already been published by the Ministry and have a wide circulation in training colleges and schools. These two books - Moving and Growing and Planning the Programme** - cover this aspect of education far more fully than is possible here, and with the added clarification, so necessary where movement is concerned, of numerous illustrations. This chapter is therefore short and attempts no more than to suggest in general terms the kind of physical education which is likely to meet children's needs, their physical and mental make-up being what it is. Although individuals of the same age differ widely, and although five year olds are quite unlike seven year olds, yet it is possible and useful to compare, in a general way, the characteristics of children of primary school age with the general characteristics of adolescents or of adults; indeed, until we can answer the question 'What are they like?' it is impossible to know what kind of *(By permission of the Literary Trustees of Walter de la Mare and the Society of Authors as their representative.)
**Moving and Growing and Planning the Programme Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1952 and 1953 respectively. [page 131] opportunities are likely to provide the vital nourishment to which de la Mare refers. First of all, the children are still, anatomically speaking, extremely mobile - less mobile, of course, than during the first year of their life, when all babies find it easy, and apparently amusing, to put their toes in their mouths, but still able to assume attitudes and execute movements which astonish the adult. This mobility may be lost prematurely if children lead unduly sedate and sedentary lives, and if they are heavily encumbered by clothes. In mobility, the ten year olds may compare unfavourably with the five year olds, especially if their physical education has been of a stereotyped and limited kind. Secondly, physiologically speaking, they 'burn' more fiercely than adolescents or adults; their hearts beat faster, their blood circulates more swiftly, their wounds heal more quickly, they breathe more rapidly and their metabolic rate is higher. Compared with adults they have the quick intensity of birds rather than the steadiness of an old grey mare. One consequence of these characteristics is their habit of pouring out energy fiercely and fully; staying power is not great, though it increases steadily as they grow older. Thirdly, during the primary school stage, their proportions gradually change; legs become longer, bodies comparatively shorter; in consequence the power to run, and especially the power to leap, increases notably from five to eleven years. Children of five are usually good at climbing, but feeble at leaping; at eleven, if they have been lucky in their opportunities, they will climb well, but compared with what they were like at five they will also be able to leap high and far, and run fast. Fourthly, coordination of hand and eye improves steadily, so that while children of five often find difficulty in catching or hitting a ball (though they may throw surprisingly well), at ten they are much more dextrous. At five, boys and girls already move differently, and seem to have different interests and aptitudes in physical activities, but how far these are really dependent upon innate sex differences, and how far on the attitudes of parents and teachers, it is difficult to say; at eleven, differences in interest and aptitude are much more marked, but again much depends upon the family and the school; at eleven there are many girls who still enjoy boyish [page 132] activities, though there are some who, with the onset of puberty, are changing very rapidly. The characteristics described, especially mobility and 'quick burning', in conjunction with the intense interest in the immediate present which is typical of children at this stage, make for a mode of behaviour which, though sometimes exhausting to adults, is also delightful in its spontaneity. Motion and emotion are, unselfconsciously, at one, especially in the earlier years, and this lends to the movement of all young children a charm that the adult cannot but envy, and that he may be tempted to exploit by arranging for performances before a grown-up audience. At this stage, children pour all they have into the matter in hand, with no thought of conserving their energy and, because of this, together with their natural agility and lively imagination, they do 'impossible' things in 'impossible' ways. They invent feats unheard of by any adult, they perform antics, climb in ways peculiar to themselves, sit or crouch in outlandish attitudes, tell unlikely tales, act extraordinary characters, and give vent to astonishing noises. It is a time when children explore tirelessly - both their own powers and all that is of interest in their environment; it is also a stage at which they invent, or create, easily and confidently. It seems important that children should be allowed to enjoy this stage to the full. Too early an introduction to specific skills or techniques leads to stereotyping of movements; too early an introduction to too complex patterns (in, for example, games, plays, dances) and too much emphasis on long sustained effort kill the readiness to explore and deaden the imagination. It will always be difficult to judge when children are ripe for specific instruction in a specific skill because, especially at this stage, they have such facility, and this may be mistaken for ripeness. The judgement of infant teachers is more likely to be unfettered than is the judgement of those who teach juniors, who, especially if they teach at the top of the junior school, are likely to be hampered by the recollection of practices which once belonged to the top classes of 'all-standard' schools and which have been passed down to the much younger children at the top of the [page 133] junior schools. Moreover, teachers of infants are likely to have their errors of judgement corrected by the children themselves, who, if a suggestion is inappropriate, simply leave it alone, while juniors are so amenable and eager that it is difficult indeed to decide what their real needs are. The kind of physical education provided, while it depends partly upon the facilities available, rests in the main upon the teachers' discernment of the children's needs. In some schools physical education is thought of solely as an antidote to sedentary work - an opportunity to let off steam. Sometimes that is the only function it can fulfil, because the regime of the school day makes release an urgent need; but children need more than activity, they want to develop mastery, to do different things in different ways, to work out ideas. The programme of physical education needs to be planned, in general, for the school as a whole, taking into account the needs of children at different stages; within this framework the class teacher can then plan for his own class. Of course, the plan for the school, and the plans for each class, must always be under review, because, as different opportunities are provided for the children, so their needs will change. For example, when climbing apparatus is introduced into a school, the needs of all the classes will be fairly similar, but after a year or two the children at the top of the school will be well practised and their needs, compared with those of the beginners, will be quite different. Again, if dance or drama is introduced, the children's resources at first, throughout the school, are likely to be meagre; whereas, in time, the powers of the older children who have had several years' experience may be considerable, and plans which had been adequate in the past will have to be reconsidered and recast. It will be necessary to consider the way in which time is divided between movement which is intended to provide the basic training, activities which are, broadly speaking, of an athletic kind, and experiences which have an expressive purpose; of course, the younger the children the less hard and fast will these categories be. [page 134] In teaching there are times when the teacher directly sets the pace; in the past, when most movements were performed to command and in unison, the pace was set by the teacher nearly all the time; but exploration, invention and creation all take time, and if children are always bustled from one item of activity to another they become hasty, and cannot become absorbed. For exploration, children not only need time but they must also know, for certain, that they will have it; otherwise they cannot try out new ways of doing things, or work out an idea. For example, many teachers allow children time to climb freely, with astonishing results, but when it comes, for example, to leaping or playing with balls, they are too eager to show how 'it' should be done. But children have shown us, in connection with climbing, dancing and acting that 'it' does not necessarily exist, and that there are many more possibilities than we had dreamed of. To give children time does not mean to leave them in a vacuum. The process of learning is permeated by the exchange of ideas between teacher and children, and by experiences arising from materials, tunes, stories and games. Some teachers seem to be able to evoke development, some can only attempt to command it, some have exceptional personal skill (for example, in games) which may, if wisely used, be a source of delight and stimulation to the children. The education of children, in terms of movement, is becoming similar in process to their education in terms of language; and, as this comes about, teachers are having to develop new ways in which to observe the movement of children, and so assess their progress. Many new opportunities have been given to children in the past few years and, for the most part, they have seized them with enthusiasm; the next step is for us to learn how to look at, understand, and assess, what is being done. 
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