Postgraduate Module Descriptor


EARM002: Primary Art

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

The module introduces students to current thinking in the teaching of art and develops students’ pedagogic and academic subject knowledge in the wider field of art education. 

The course will include practical experience of a variety of classroom activities, which will aid you in developing confidence in teaching art and identifying links to other curriculum areas.  Collaborative projects will also help you to understand art education in informal learning contexts, such as galleries.  The role of the Primary art coordinator will be explored, as this is likely to be a position that you might aspire to in the future. 

Key elements of the module are likely to include:

A particular focus on the National Curriculum requirements for teaching art to children aged 7 to 11, as your school placements will be in Key Stage 2 classes. Additionally, art in the early years (Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One) and Key Stage 3 will be considered. As Primary education is in a period of flux, the course also aims to enable you to interpret any new curriculum policies that the government introduces in 2013/14.

Lectures and workshops with a significant element of group work and self-study. Peer teaching and tutoring will also be encouraged. The formal assessment of the art specialism will give you the opportunity to relate theory and research to your professional practice.

Seminar Days: three seminar days when students return to the university to share school-based work experiences and develop the links between theoretical and practical aspects of teaching art.

Specialist Week: for students to gain an understanding the role of formal and informal learning environments in children’s educational development within art.

On the Primary PGCE, you will learn and reflect on the skills and knowledge required by the programme’s credit-bearing and non-credit bearing modules throughout the year. You will need to think about the modules in relation to each other. To facilitate this, the learning and teaching activities and guided independent study described below are scheduled to occur across all three terms both in the context of your university taught course and in the context of your 24 weeks of applied professional experience in schools.

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
512490

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities27Practical classes and workshops: Art Pedagogy & Theory workshops, Peer Teaching
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities8Seminar Days
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities15Specialist week: fieldwork/visits
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities1Tutorials with academic tutor
Guided independent study249Independent study

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).