Primary teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on primary teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning and in particular about their preferred ways of teaching; how they integrate National Curriculum requirements into their teaching programmes and their views about stereotyped ‘models’ of pedagogy. The authors conclude that learning and teaching are understood as highly complex and cannot be subsumed under one particular model. They suggest that most primary school teachers adopt an eclectic approach, but that frequently they are confused about the content of the mix or which approach might be most appropriately used in any particular context.

KEY WORDS:

• primary education
• pedagogy
• transmission models of teaching and learning
• assessment and feedback strategies