Primary Education Studies - Top resources

Beginning to study for your degree can bring many different feelings into play, among these will, without doubt, be excitement. However, it can feel very intimidating at the same time, as you most likely will be starting a journey that you haven’t taken before. ARU provides access, through the library (both online and on campus), to a wide variety of texts which will help you along the way. In the meantime, here are some resources you can access before you begin your degree to help you get a head start!

1. Mathematics Explained for Primary Teachers – Derek Haylock.

This text or one of the varying editions of it will most likely be addressed on your course at some point by your lecturers or indeed you may come across it when researching for your ‘Subject Knowledge for teaching Mathematics’ module. This text goes through mathematic concepts and effective methods for teaching these concepts. This may provide you with more confidence surrounding the area of mathematics, which is often a subject students and teachers can find difficult.

2. TED Talks

If you haven’t heard of TED Talks before, they are essentially a presentation of thoughts, concepts, or ideas in the format of an onstage presentation that has been recorded in front of a live audience. There are many TED talks available for free online, many include topics around Education and Teaching. One of my personal favourites that I watched in my early days of University studies is “The Teachers we Remember”. In this TED Talk, Julie Hasson (the speaker) discusses teachers of her past who made an impact on her life.

3. The Primary National Curriculum

Throughout your degree and future career, a document you will become very familiar with is the National Curriculum. Familiarising yourself with the Curriculum, its structure, and the surrounding documentation before you begin the course will help you feel more confident when it is addressed within lectures and learning. My advice would be to read the National Curriculum in sections, as the document is very long, and it can be intimidating to try to tackle it all at once!

4. Teaching the Primary Curriculum – Colin Forster and Rachel Eperjesi.

• This text may help you when accessing the Primary National Curriculum, providing advice and context on using and accessing the National Curriculum.

5. TES Magazine and Education Guardian.

• TES Magazine and the Education Guardian provide regular news updates in the world of Education, this allows you to keep up to date with the day-to-day changes, stories, and occurrences in the education world. TES Magazine can be accessed online or, for delivery, as a physical copy.