Social Education & Personal Development (Studies in Primary Education Series)

The National Curriculum has placed personal and social education on the agenda of every primary school. As a recent National Curriculum Council circular states, personal and social education is the responsibility of all teachers; and in primary schools it can no longer be left to chance but needs to be co-ordinated as an explicit part of a school's whole curriculum policy, both inside and outside the formal timetable. At the informal level this book examines the quality and nature of relationships which contribute to a child's personal development and social awareness, and discusses how schools organize pupil experiences and the complex interactions in classrooms. At the formal level it looks at how PSE may be taught through a cross-curricular, thematic approach to all age groups. The book is planned as a course textbook for initial and in-service training courses, and also as a textbook for headteachers and teachers on how to integrate PSE into a whole-school curriculum. Each chapter contains recommended readings, topics for discussion, practical exercises and curricular themes.