Would you like to volunteer or find work in your local primary school? Are you thinking about becoming a teaching assistant, or becoming a teacher in the future? In this free course, Primary education: listening and observing, you will have the chance to look inside primary schools, and watch and listen to children and teaching staff. You’ll also find out what head teachers look for in people who want to work or volunteer in a primary school.

Children are naturally curious and observant about the world around them. How can teachers support pupils in exploring and developing their ideas about the world? These short dramas invite comment on the teacher’s actions in a number of classroom and community incidents.

The clips in this album are designed to be used to support the development of teachers’ classroom practice in both formal and non formal learning situations. This material is from the TESSA (Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa) initiative.

Teachers are the largest professionally trained group in the world numbering over 59 million. But what does being a professional mean for teachers? These dramas explore how two teachers acted in different situations (a school prize giving and in discussion with parents) and ask what are teachers' responsibilities? and where does education take place?

The clips in this album are designed to be used to support the development of teachers' classroom practice in both formal and non formal learning situations. This material is from the TESSA ( Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa) initiative.

What can current theories about children’s learning and development contribute to the development of new teaching and learning methods in schools? And how are new digital technologies changing the ways children think and learn? This album introduces two elements of The Open University's presence in the virtual world Second Life™ and explores the way in which virtual worlds can offer new opportunities for teaching and learning. The album also explores some of the ways that the theories of Lev Vygotsky have influenced the use of dialogue and language in the classroom and the ways in which children and teachers interact with each other. The interviews and video tracks are introduced and contextualised by Dr Kieron Sheehy of The Open University. The material forms part of The Open University course ED841 Understanding children's development and learning.

Many classrooms across Africa have few items of specialist equipment or materials. But imaginative teachers are able to draw on local resources from their communities to enrich their pupils' learning experiences. These short dramas portray how different teachers are using local resources and invite discussion on the advantages and challenges of such approaches.

The clips in this album are designed to be used to support the development of teachers' classroom practice in both formal and non formal learning situations. This material is from the TESSA (Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa) initiative.