Seeing the Wood for the Trees: The National Literacy Strategy and Initial Teacher Education; pedagogical content knowledge and the structure of subjects

Abstract

'Really I was just concentrating on getting it done' (Anna Goldman, 1st block placement). 'That was to help them with verbs because that was next' (Andrew Burns, final block placement). 'I wanted them to think about story structures-that would help them with their prediction' (Martha O'Brien, final block placement). I will suggest in this article that these comments are typical illustrations of the different ways student teachers view their role in the primary classroom and that to an extent these comments mark the stages of progression that student teachers often go through as they learn to become effective teachers of primary English. In the beginning they concentrate on the activity, and getting through it, more than anything else. As they move towards the end of their training, the majority of student teachers have learned that good English teaching is about much more than getting the task done. However, as Andrew (during his final placement) demonstrates, there is a danger that even student teachers at the end of their training view the curriculum as an end in itself, without questioning, exploring or fully understanding the rationale underlying it. I will suggest in this paper that highly prescriptive curricula, such as the National Literacy Strategy and the ITT English National Curriculum, increase this danger, at least in the short term.