Limbrick Wood Emotional Literacy

A scheme of work for the Primary Phase

Andrew Moffat

“A child cannot write until he has learned to speak.
 A child cannot speak until he has learned to understand his emotions”

This is not my quote, though I wish it was. It was given to me at a workshop I attended recently and I have been using it liberally ever since. Who is teaching our children to understand their emotions? We have been trained to teach children how to use decimal points and apostrophes, but if a child experiences jealousy, feels excluded or proud, they are on their own. We expect children to be able to deal with the complex emerging emotions they all experience and are exasperated when they have a tantrum! What is a tantrum? It is the result of a child being unable to express how they are feeling. Maybe Emotional Literacy should be seen as an antidote to tantrums. We are giving children the skills to understand why they feel the way they do, and strategies to deal with those feelings. To quote “Every Child matters” (DfES 2005), we are supporting children’s “wider well being”.

The DfES “Learning behaviour” report (2005) highlights

 “Programmes on social, emotional and behavioural skills” (p32)

as a key initiative to promoting improved pupil behaviour. The report argues;

“Pupils do not necessarily know how to behave well. Some will not have had the opportunity to learn good behaviour at home; others may be learning it, but their skills need reinforcing. We see the development of pupils’ social, emotional and behavioural skills as integral to good learning and teaching. It is also integral to making classrooms orderly places for learning. This means teaching all pupils, from the beginning of education, to manage strong feelings, resolve conflict effectively and fairly, solve problems, work and play co-operatively, and be respectful, calm, optimistic and resilient” (p34)

This Emotional Literacy scheme of work supports the Social and Emotional Behavioural skills programmes being promoted by the Primary National Strategy (SEAL), and should be run alongside a whole school approach to PSHE and citizenship.

The DfES document “Every child matters” (2005) highlights five outcomes for children and young people, and within the outcomes a number of specific aims. There are themes running through the core of this scheme of work, which match those specific aims I have highlighted in the report, as set out below. The five outcomes are highlighted in bold:

• Be healthy-

Mentally healthy
Healthy lifestyles
Choose not to take illegal drugs.

• Stay safe-

Safe from maltreatment, neglect, violence and sexual exploitation
Safe from bullying and discrimination.

• Enjoy and achieve-

Attend and enjoy school
Achieve personal and social development and enjoy recreation

• Make a positive contribution-

Engage in decision making and support the community and the environment

Engage in law abiding and positive behaviour in and out of school
Develop positive relations and choose not to bully and discriminate
Develop self confidence and successfully deal with significant life changes and challenges

Develop enterprising behaviour

• Achieve economic well being-

Engage in further education, employment or training on leaving school
Ready for employment
(p9)

Each lesson provided in the scheme of work has its roots planted firmly in understanding the emotion it supports, but there are issues explored far beyond the confines of one emotion and text, particularly as the children reach Years five and six, and are visiting the emotion for the third time.

As a general rule in Year one and two, the role-plays and discussions for each lesson concentrate on the experience of the characters in the text. In Years three and four, as the child revisits the emotion for the first time, their own experience provides the base of the role-play. As the child visits the emotion for the third time, in years five and six, the role-plays and discussions move away from the text and personal experience, to wider issues and themes surrounding the text and the emotion. There are therefore many opportunities to meet the specific aims listed above as the child considers how their future may take shape, and the impact and consequence of choices made today. The lesson plans cover issues as wide ranging as dealing with racism and homophobia, choosing to take illegal drugs, dealing with the death of loved ones, contributing to the community and the consequence of different behaviour choices, life opportunities and the impact of teenage pregnancy.

The DfES “Excellence and Enjoyment- a strategy for Primary Schools” publication (2005) states good learning and teaching should;

• “Make learning vivid and real: develop understanding through enquiry, creativity, e-learning and group problem solving.
• Make learning an enjoyable and challenging experience: stimulate learning through matching teaching techniques and strategies to a range of learning styles” (p29)

Furthermore, the report gives as an immediate priority for literacy;

• “securing the place of speaking and listening both as a key foundation for literacy and also as an essential component of all effective learning” (p28)

The scheme of work published here directly supports the above principles. The children are asked to reflect on the characters in each book, and make links to their own experience throughout the sessions. We are effectively giving the child a script to recall the next time the emotion is encountered. Emphasis is given to group work and partner talk as the children contribute.

In conclusion, the introduction to  “Excellence and Enjoyment” (DfES 2005) highlights characteristics of outstanding primary schools, and notes;

“In these schools, children are engaged by learning that that develops and stretches them and excites their imagination. They enjoy the richness of their learning – not just learning different things, but learning in many different ways…. by listening, watching and by doing. They develop socially and emotionally.” (p9)

This Emotional Literacy scheme of work aims to develop children socially and emotionally as they move through the primary phase. Indeed each session begins with the child ‘listening’ to a story, then ‘watching’ as peers negotiate the role-play, before ‘doing’ the role play activity themselves. The children experience the identified emotion and as a group work on strategies to deal with it. The aim is to create an emotionally literate school, building an ethos of mutual support, and respect for each other.

References

Every child matters DfES 2005
 
Excellence and Enjoyment- a strategy for Primary Schools  DfES 2005

Learning behaviour: principles and practice DfES 2006

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