Education and schooling

About Topic 2

The Education and schooling topic includes teaching methods and resources, approaches to exams and testing, school management, pupil motivation, behaviour and discipline, school sport,extra-curricular activities, higher/further education and course funding.

Topic 2 example Task
‘The Internet will never replace traditional course books in schools.’
How far do you agree with this prediction?

Explanation of the Task
This is an Opinion>Personal viewpoint type essay (it asks how far you agree with an idea.)
You should introduce the topic and give your opinion in the introduction, then explain why you have this view. You should briefly consider the opposing view, then restate your opinion in the conclusion.

Notice how this essay type is different from the Opinion>Discussion type which we saw in
Topic 1, which asks you to discuss both sides of a debate.


Band 9 model essay

There is a huge range of resources available to the modern teacher, and the right selection is crucial in delivering effective lessons. I agree that there will always be a place for course books in the school curriculum, despite the many benefits of the Internet.

Firstly, course books (whether conventional or digital) have been developed by pedagogical experts and designed to be incorporated into a subject syllabus, leading to testing procedures such as formal examinations or continuous assessment. This means that they are proven to improve students’ academic achievement, enhancing their potential for progression to further or higher education. Furthermore, the use of modern course books allows pupils to coordinate their studies as part of group work, hopefully making their lessons less teacher-led and more about autonomouslearning. This in itself teaches study skills such as independent research and synthesising sources, rather than old-fashioned rote-learning. This is where the Internet, in fact, can play a useful part: to
supplement and add to knowledge which the students are assimilating via their course books.

However, it is the role of teachers and school management generally to ensure that use of the Internet remains a guided learning process, and not an exercise in data-gathering from Internet sources which may be unreliable or even misleading.

It is true that the Internet can be invaluable for adults (for example in distance learning or
self-study modules) who are able to discriminate between sources and sift information to marshal their facts. However, this is a mature skill and we should not assume that school age pupils are ready to do this.

Overall, it appears that course books, with their quality and depth of material, are set to
remain an integral part of the syllabus. The internet can be judged a useful supplement to this, if used carefully and under supervision.
(304 words)



Explanation of the topic vocabulary and examples in Speaking

curriculum = the full range of subjects offered by a school or group of schools
Example = The curriculum in private schools is sometimes wider than in state schools, because they have more resources.

pedagogical (experts) = (experts in) education and teaching
Example = I admire pedagogical pioneers such as the Victorian English thinkers who began free schools for all children.

syllabus = the content of elements taught in a specific subject
Example = The syllabus for geography at my school included volcanoes, earthquakes and tidal waves, which we found fascinating.

formal examinations = exams where students answer set written or spoken questions without assistance

continuous assessment = giving students marks for course work or projects, rather than
formal exams
Example = At my school, our grades were based 50/50 on formal examinations and continuous assessment, which we thought was very fair to all the children.

academic achievement = the measurable performance of a student in marks, exam results etc
Example =In my country, children enjoy school, but academic achievement is frankly quite low.

further education = education after leaving school at the minimum age
Example = Some governments encourage further education by allowing teenagers to claim benefits while they study.

higher education = education after age 18 at college or University, usually for a Degree
Example = When I pass IELTS, I plan to go on to higher education in Canada and do a degree in engineering.

group work = study where pupils discuss and agree a project together
Example = Personally, I think that group work enables lazy children to do less work than the eager ones.

teacher-led lessons = traditional lessons where the teacher delivers a long talk and the
students take notes
Example = In my country, lessons are still very teacher-led and interaction is rather limited.

autonomous learning = when a student learns through independent study and research
Example = At University, you are expected to be an autonomous learner far more than at High School, which is quite exciting for me.

study skills = the skills of organising, using and checking study work
Example = My study skills were rather weak until I read an excellent book by a Japanese pedagogical expert.

to synthesise sources = to use a variety of sources and combine them in one project
Example = I use the Internet to synthesise my sources, and I always cite the origin of the information. (to cite sources = to acknowledge publicly)

rote-learning = learning by repetition and memorising items
Example = I used to think that rote-learning was a negative approach, but my recent experiences teaching in a South African school have changed my view.

to supplement = to add extra content or material
Example = My supervisor said that I should supplement my essay with more examples of experiments.

to assimilate knowledge = to absorb and understand it
Example = I always use a dictionary when I study in English, to help me assimilate new phrases.

guided learning = learning under the supervision of a teacher
Example = Lessons in Primary Schools should always contain guided learning, otherwise the children will lose focus.

data-gathering = collecting information, usually in numerical form
Example = Mobile phone companies employ many people in data-gathering Tasks, to see how users are using the phones and Internet.

distance learning = learning by the Internet or email, rather than face-to-face
Example = My mother took an entire degree by distance learning over a period of five years.

self-study = studying using a course without a teacher’s involvement
Example = There are many self-study guides to improving your English, and some of them are actually quite good.

to discriminate between sources = to decide whether one source is better or more reliable than another source
Example = Children should not study using unsupervised Internet access, because they can’t discriminate between the sources of information they find.

to sift information = to remove unwanted or less useful information
Example = I had to sift hundreds of pages of data to arrive at my conclusions when I did my thesis.

to marshal facts = to organise facts in support of an idea
Example = In IELTS essays, you should marshal a few facts to support each idea in the argument.

an integral part of the syllabus = essential, central or indispensable
Nutrition is an integral part of food sciences these days

to work/study under supervision = under the direction of a responsible person
Example = At college, I discovered I did not have to work under supervision all the time, and I was freeto do independent research.