There has been a tradition in the United Kingdom of viewing the ‘Early Years’ – up to the age of seven or eight – and the ‘Junior Years’ – from seven to eleven – as two distinctive stages of development each with its implications for classroom practice. Now the terminology has changed: the United Kingdom Government identifies a Foundation Stage from three to six years, a Key Stage 1 from five to seven (see ‘Early Years’ entry) and a Key Stage 2 from seven to eleven. Thus the stage once known as the ‘Junior Years’, and now as ‘Key Stage 2’, still refers to children aged between seven and eleven (Years 3–6). The introduction of a terminology referring to ‘key stages’ went alongside the decision in the late 1980s, when the National Curriculum was introduced, to organise teaching in the primary years around subjects – English, mathematics, science, history and so on. This led to an emphasis on children acquiring subject knowledge, on target setting and on summative kinds of assessment and to less concern with child development and its implications for the classroom. This is now very evident in initial teacher education: what children have to achieve in the primary curriculum subjects and the teacher’s own subject knowledge is at the centre of BA (Ed.) and Postgraduate Certificate in Education courses.
For many year dedicated Early Years practitioners and educationists have worked hard to maintain the long-established principles on which good practice in teaching the very young are based and they challenged innovations which, interpreted inflexibly, might threaten them (Hurst and Joseph, 1998). I believe teachers of children aged between seven and eleven should also proclaim and protect the principles at the heart of good practice. These principles draw on what we know about how children grow and develop physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally and it is important that they continue to inform practice within the prescribed frameworks. I have organised my thoughts about these principles under five headings, drawing out in particular some of the implications for English, language and literacy in the years seven to eleven. These headings are: learning is active; learning is social and collaborative; language, learning and literacy are cross curricular; society’s expectations can be met creatively; the adult’s role is crucial.
Learning is active
Children can learn and make meaning actively, flexibly and imaginatively if given a sympathetic environment (Bruner and Haste, 1987; Egan, 1992). Learning is not just about absorbing information but about individuals transforming it to fit with and to extend their existing understanding. (The entries on ‘constructivism’ and on ‘assimilation and accommodation’ expand on this and you would also find Wells, 1986, helpful). In supporting children’s learning we need to understand their intellectual progress alongside their physical, emotional and social development. For further discussion of cognitive development I recommend Wood (1998), Chapters 4, 5 and 6 and Chapter 1 in Riley and Prentice (1999) which discuss the theories of Piaget, Bruner and Vygotsky. English lessons – where we talk about fiction, improvise drama and write stories and poems – bring together actions, thoughts, feelings and collaborative effort in a particularly satisfying way. Drama and role play, now given welcome emphasis in the National Curriculum, at Key Stages 1 and 2, build on the play activities of the very young. Junior aged children still need to use language round practical and cooperative activities to remain absorbed and focused in their learning.
Learning is social and collaborative
Children learn best when they are working with others. It was Vygotsky and Bruner who drew our attention most powerfully to the impetus to learning provided by talk and cooperation. By seven children have settled into school and have some friends. They should be enjoying not just their growing competence in both physical and intellectual activities, but also their ability to relate to other children and to adults in school. Teachers of seven to nine year olds often remark on their sheer energy and enthusiasm for life. All this vitality can be channelled into learning together through joint activities, not least language activities in which children share ideas and information and listen and respond to the points of others. In English, sharing ideas round books, and particularly stories and poems, is particularly enjoyable. We also need to reach out to parents and families as they play an important role in children’s developing literacy – see the ‘parents and families’ and ‘siblings (and literacy)’ entries for the benefits of partnership with families.
Language, learning and literacy are cross curricular
Some of the most stimulating contexts for talking, reading and writing occur in lessons across the curriculum. Indeed speaking and listening, reading and writing are agents of learning in every lesson. Riley and Prentice (1999) argue strongly for a rich and flexible curriculum in the junior years and voice their concern that arts and humanities may be marginalised in an approach that privileges the three core subjects of the National Curriculum (see Riley and Prentice, 1999, Introduction).
Fiction – the stories and poems which are at the heart of English – can also bring a personal foothold to learning in other lessons. This is a major theme in the introduction to this encyclopedia and in the entries linking English to art, design and technology, drama, geography, history, mathematics, physical education (and movement, music and dance), religious studies and science. For case studies celebrating children as young researchers, thinking deeply about their learning across the curriculum, see Mallett (1999, 2007).
Society’s expectations can be met creatively
Making progress involves meeting the expectations of the society in which a child is growing up. In her influential book Children’s Minds, Margaret Donaldson emphasises the demands that developing a capacity for abstract reasoning, valued now in so many societies, make on young learners (Donaldson, 1978, Chapter 11). As children move through the junior years, they are expected to deal with increasingly complex materials as readers and writers. More of their learning is based on secondary sources. Today the sheer range of information is overwhelming. As well as dealing with books and other print sources children grapple with computer software and the Internet. It is important that they are not pushed into a passive role by the sheer weight of information. We want them to approach their learning creatively and to achieve their own ‘voice’ in what they say and what they write. We hope that during the later primary years they move forward in becoming critical and reflective readers, and writers who are not over reliant on any one source. This stands them in good stead to avoid being manipulated by advertising and propaganda in the mass media. The realisation that language is socially situated and that some forms enjoy a higher status than others also puts them in control.
The adult’s role is crucial
The teacher’s careful intervention remains vital to children’s learning throughout the primary years. Careful planning, skill in interpreting the requirements of the official frameworks for a particular class, making lessons interesting and keeping careful records of progress are all the mark of a good practitioner. Selecting an exciting range of fiction is a particularly enjoyable responsibility. From about age seven or eight children are ready for longer, more complicated stories and poems. They can appreciate themes that reflect the complexity of many lives – to do with the disruption as well as the opportunities that change brings, coping with parents and families that are fallible and make mistakes and dealing with ambivalent feelings about friends and siblings. The texts themselves teach as Meek famously writes (Meek, 1988), but the teacher’s sensitive intervention can help more than anything else make enthusiastic readers. It is the teacher whose comments and observations can inspire children’s talk and thinking about literature whether in a class or a group context, in Literacy Time or outside it. Sometimes a question like – ‘what makes you think that?’ – encourages a child to find evidence for their view in the text. But I have noticed that good teachers, whether students or more experienced practitioners, often offer a pertinent anecdote to the discussion and this seems to be more encouraging to some children than a question. I remember a student joining a group of nine year olds talking about Betsy Byars’ The Midnight Fox and telling the children of her own confused feelings when her family moved from town to country and how writing letters to a friend helped. This led to involved talk by the children about their own experiences and those of others known to them. The student teacher skilfully led them into comparing how their experiences were similar to and different from those of the boy in the story. Talking about reading is one of the most important aspects of English teaching. Once again I recommend Aidan Chambers’ inspirational book Tell Me in which he so eloquently makes this point and shows how teachers intervene to promote more profound discussion. The work of Vygotsky and Bruner consistently shows the importance of the role of the adult in accelerating children’s progress in many learning contexts (Vygotsky, 1961; Bruner 1986; Bruner and Haste, 1987).
Teachers model and support children’s writing too. Guidance material like Grammar for Writing (DfEE, 2000) aims to help, but it is the class teacher who can use the material in a way that takes the children in a particular class forward. Becoming a confident writer is a lot to do with finding a ‘voice’ and finding your own way of making sense of experience and information. For a most stimulating account of how a class of ten year olds were helped over the course of a school year to link their writing in English lessons with the study of literature – leading to writing in role, poetry and first person accounts – it is well worth reading The Reader in the Writer by Barrs and Cork. A review copy arrived on my mat one morning and I read it through in one sitting feeling thoroughly nourished and excited by the insights about the power of literature. I can think of few more rewarding books for any teacher of children in the junior years. One conclusion which matched with all I have learnt myself was that emotionally powerful texts, read well aloud by the teacher, can inspire passionate discussions and satisfying written accounts (Barrs and Cork, 2001). Books which inspired this class included The Green Children by Kevin Crossley-Holland which explores cultural difference in an interesting way, The Lion and the Unicorn by Shirley Hughes about the loneliness of a child evacuee in the Second World War and Fire, Bed and Bone by Henrietta Branford which, through the device of a dog-narrator, explores social issues at the time of the Peasants’ Revolt. Literature in the junior years needs to support children’s expanding ability to think and feel. Teachers can keep up with new books by reading journals like Books for Keeps, English 4–11, The Times Educational Supplement and The School Librarian and by looking at reviews by teachers and children on the Internet.
Good practitioners must ensure that teaching and learning are rigorous in the junior years. There are interesting but complicated issues to discuss, worthwhile but difficult books to read and some challenging writing tasks. The good teacher is able to show children that all this is worthwhile. As Mallett remarks: ‘Above all, it is critically important to inspire, interest and foster that sense of wonder in the world and its phenomena that very young children bring naturally to their learning’ (Mallett, 1999, p. 126).
Barrs, Myra and Cork, Valerie (2001) The Reader in the Writer: The links between the study of literature and writing development at Key Stage 2 London: The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.
Bruner, J. (1986) Actual Minds, Possible Worlds Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Bruner, Jerome and Haste, Helen (1987) Making Sense: The Child’s Construction of the World. London: Methuen.
Chambers, Aidan (1993) Tell Me Stroud: The Thimble Press.
DfEE (2000) Grammar for Writing Guidance material London: DfEE.
DfEE/QCA (1999) National Curriculum for English London: DfEE and QCA.
DfES (2006) The Primary Framework for literacy and mathematics (electronic version at www.qca.co.uk).
Donaldson, Margaret (1978 edition) Children’s Minds London: Fontana/Collins.
Egan, Kieron (1992) Imagination in Teaching and Learning: The Middle School Years Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Fisher, Robert and Williams, Mary (2004) Unlocking Creativity London: David Fulton (see chapters on early years literacy, drama and writing).
Foot, Michael, Brown, Tony and Holt, Peter (2001) Let Our Children Learn Nottingham: Education Now Books.
Hurst, Victoria and Joseph, Jenny (1998) Supporting Early Learning Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Mallett, Margaret (1999) Young Researchers: Informational Reading and Writing in the Early and Primary Years. London: Routledge.
Mallett, M. (2007) Active Encounters: Inspiring Young Readers and Writers of Non-fiction 4–11 UKLA minibook.
Meek, Margaret (1988) How Texts Teach What Readers Learn Stroud: The Thimble Press
Riley, Jeni and Prentice, Roy (eds) (1999) The Curriculum for 7–11 Year Olds London: Paul Chapman.
Vygotsky, L. (1986) Thought and Language (ed. A. Kozulin) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wells, Gordon (1986) Learning Through Interaction: Children Learning Language and Using Language to Learn London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Wood, David (1988) How Children Think and Learn Oxford: Blackwell.
