1 Primary education

Primary education is the first stage of compulsory education. It is preceded by pre-school

of nursery education and followed by secondary education. In North America this stage
of education is usually known as elementary education.

In most countries, it is compulsory for children to receive primary education, though in

many jurisdictions it is permissible for parents to provide it at home. The transition to
secondary school or high school is somewhat arbitrary, but it generally occurs at about
eleven or twelve years of age. In countries such as the United States and Canada, primary
education generally covers the first six or seven years of school life. Some educational
systems have separate middle schools with the transition to the final stage of education
taking place at around the age of fourteen.

The major goals of primary education are achieving basic literacy and numeracy amongst
all pupils, as well as establishing foundations in science, geography, history and other
social sciences. The relative priority of various areas, and the methods used to teach
them, are an area of considerable political debate.

Typically, primary education is provided in schools, where the child will stay in steadily
advancing classes until they complete it and move on to high school/secondary school.
Children are usually placed in classes with one teacher who will be primarily responsible
for their education and welfare for that year. This teacher may be assisted to varying
degrees by specialist teachers in certain subject areas, often music or physical education.
The continuity with a single teacher and the opportunity to build up a close relationship
with the class is a notable feature of the primary education system.

Traditionally, various forms of corporal punishment have been an integral part of early
education. Recently this practice has come under attack, and in many cases been
outlawed, especially in Western countries.

2 Working with adults

I once saw a photo that illustrated the old-fashioned approach to parents. In a school
playground a white line was painted at the entrance along with the words ‘Parents, do not
cross the line’. Children were seen as ‘empty vessels’ ready to be filled with knowledge,
and parents were seen as a hindrance to the process. Things are very different these days:
there is recognition that parents know important things about their children and can be

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partners in their child’s learning. Some people would argue that parents and the home
environment are the decisive factor in terms of learning.

It is important for you to develop positive relationship with everyone in the school
community. Parents have a special significance as part of this community and have a
wide range of influences on schools. Some are members of the school governors and
have responsibility – in partnership with the headteachers – for the smooth running of the
school. Teachers tend not to meet governors very often (unless they are a teacher
governor themselves) but they are important people in the life of a school. Governors are
mainly parents of children at the school who volunteer to work in their spare time to
support the work of the school. Their role is so important that they will influence the
recruitment of new teacher and, in unfortunate circumstances, may be involved in making
people redundant. Parents also get involved in social activities through the Parent
Teacher Association (PTAs) which raise extra money for schools and develop links with
the community at large.

When children first come to school in the terms of their fifth birthday, early years
teachers share information with parents and ask for their opinions about their child. The
early teacher completes ‘baseline’ assessments which assess the child’s achievements so
far. However, school communication with parents can be rather one sided. For example,
most parents’ evening result in the teacher simply telling the parents how their child is
doing. It is much better if there can be dialogue on such occasions, with teachers
sometimes asking for parents’ opinions about their child’s learning and interests.

Task 1.

Answer the following questions

1. What did the 1992 Constitution of the socialist Republic of Vietnam state?

2. According to the Education Law how long does primary education last?

3. What must primary education provide children?

Task 2.

Answer the questions:

1. What do you have to do to become a good primary?

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 2. Why does a primary school teacher have to make an effort to get to know each
student by name and to know something about him as quickly as possible?

3. How does a primary school teacher manage the stress of dealing with educating
a classroom full of student?

Task 3.

Complete the passage with suitable words

1.If 5.sessions 9.leadership 13.forward

2.Getting 6.shown 10.memorable 14.mutual

3.Anyone 7.initially 11.teamwork 15.helping

4.Flag 8.attending 12.important 16.activity

Making friend

(1)…to know new people in primary school plays a big part in (2)… children adapt to
the new environment. For example, Nurul Iman Puteri Md Johari is looking forward
to primary school because her sister, brother and three cousins are already (3)… the
same school. Nonetheless, for children who do not already know (4)… in primary
school, the friendly and warm older children they met during the immersion
programme went a long way towards putting them at ease.

Mrs Daisy, principal of PCF at Blk 385 Tampines Street 32, noted fondly: ‘At the
canteen, some of our children treated their primary school guides to drinks!’. The
feeling must have been (5)…, as some of the primary school pupils did the same for
their young charges. Both primary schools also felt that the (6)… were beneficial to
their pupils, giving them opportunities to hone their (7)… skills, and show care and
concern for others.

While the half-day immersion programs may not dispel all the fears that the children
may have about primary school, it has certainly (8)… them what they can look (9)…
to. The ‘big’ spaces in primary school may be (10)… overwhelming, but as Brassen
pointed out, ‘the school hall is very big! Very fun exercising together in there’. Syed
Mohib Baza Naqvi also recounted a (11)… experience in the ‘big’ space: ‘We raised
the Singapore (12)… and celebrated National Day’.

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Task 4.

Complete the passage with suitable words

1.chalk 5.outdoor 9.appropriate

2.determined 6.nursery 10.board

3.practice 7.convincingly 11.include

4.located 8.finding 12.interested

Seating

The decisions you make about where children sit are (a)… by the kind of teaching you
are doing and what you aim to achieve. Some teachers have (b)… argued that the
layout of the furniture needs to change depending on the aims of the learning.
Children can be taught to safely move tables and chairs in different arrangements
when (c)… . However, in reality classroom layouts often remain fairly static. In the
past, strong arguments were put forward for the (d)… of dividing classroom into
activity/curriculum area bays. This has the advantage of ensuring that the resources
related to a particular curriculum area are (e)… conveniently for the children. In the
early years this practice is still used, and examples of areas (f)… : carpet area for
story, snacks, discussion, signing and so on; art/design and general ‘messy’ activities:
listening stations, sand, water, (g)… play, role play, reading, mark making, etc. In (h)
…, and reception, children are rarely required to be involved in (i)… and talk.