Teaching Methodology for PPEModule Details

Rationale
Teaching methodology for Pre-Primary Education is a crucial element due to the nature of the students: curious, energetic, playful, and/or low attention levels. Briefly, the children are at a point where motor ability increases as well as language skills, fear separation, easily fall into a standard routine, may enjoy helping around and will identify themselves with the same sex. According to Nueman (2009), children at this level, seek to “build a base of understanding content and develop the skills in communication and language to share what they learn. They eagerly question the way things work, ‘And when provided with supportive and stimulating environments, they eagerly engage in language learning, literacy practise, math play, and science exploration’”. Such students require noble teachers with adequate skills, abilities, and knowledge of the students to be able to facilitate, stimulate and guide learning effectively. Further, the teachers should be in tune with the contemporary approaches and issues that relate to their profession by engaging in Continuous Professional Development (CPD) activities. That is the aim of this course. The foundational level of teaching and of the student, is crucial to future acquisition of content, skills and the person of the student in totality. This course introduces the student to the day - to - day operation of the Pre-Primary and to the constructing of activities, based on the curriculum, so that it leads to all-round and balanced development of preschool children. During this course students will be introduced to modern pedagogical methods, which should rule the activities in pre-primary with an emphasis on the cultivation of creative thinking, enforce free learning, basic and harmonious development of the student’s personality according to the student’s pace and needs.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course students will be expected to:

(i)  Design educational activities in a way that will ensure effectiveness and quality of teaching and learning in PPE.
(ii) Apply methodological skills gain through this course when organising the classroom.
(iii) Design activities that take advantage of the reflection process in the implementation of teaching methods and approaches in PPE.
(iv) Apply modern pedagogical methods of experiential-communicative teaching/project;
(v) Design activities based on creative expression of children pre-school age.
(vi) Apply the process of reflection on teaching methods and approaches which they will apply to PPE.