Practical Applications of Contextualised Teaching
Project aims
The Practical Applications of Contextualised Learning (PACT) project involved primary practitioners in a number of schools in Angus. The aims of the project team were to develop practical, contextualised learning and teaching opportunities for the delivery of key mathematical concepts within Curriculum for Excellence and to engage all pupils through the delivery of high quality, interactive lessons which promote discussion and challenge thinking.
The project team began by asking themselves if they were really teaching the concepts - or simply how to answer the textbook/workbook question. They asked themselves ‘Does the emphasis on recording impede the learning?’
Aims for children:
- to find learning engaging, stimulating, challenging and fun
- to see relevance and meaning in what they are learning
- to spend more time discussing, thinking and evaluating and less time writing
- to learn from each other by working co-operatively.
Aims for practitioners:
- to find teaching engaging, stimulating, challenging and fun
- to see relevance and meaning in what they are teaching
- to spend more time discussing, thinking and evaluating and less time marking
- to learn from each other by working co-operatively.
Two examples
In this case study we show you two examples of current work in Angus.
- Read about Lorraine Smith's work on purposeful play with P1-P3 pupils.
- Find out how Sylvia Beisok and Jill Duncan set learning within real contexts and focused on oral and practical work with P1 pupils.
Find out more about the PACT project and read more examples of contextualised learning in Angus Council primary schools.