1st Edition

Primary Education at a Hinge of History

By Colin Richards Copyright 1999

    Primary education is currently at the centre of political attention. Reform is constantly under consideration, though the leading proponents of reform are often far removed from the classroom and the world of hard-pressed, demoralised primary teachers. Colin Richards rectifies this by communicating the big picture of primary school culture. He takes the world of the primary school since Plowden (1967) and traces perennial and emergent issues - the issues that need to be understood in order to make a difference to the future of primary education. Through constructive criticism of the national curriculum, OFSTED, ITT and teaching methodology the book will influence and improve the understanding of policy makers, headteachers, governors and teachers and students.

    1 Introduction: Primary Education—At a Hinge of History? Part 1 Primary Education: Towards a Recent History 2 The Plowden Report: Reappraised 3 Primary Education 1974–80 4 The ‘Primary School Revolution’ Demythologized—An Appraisal of the HMI Primary Survey 5 Primary Education 1980–87: An Analysis of Changes and Trends 6 Primary Education: Issues in the Early 1990s Part 2 The Primary Curriculum 7 Changes to the English Primary Curriculum: 1862–1988 8 The Place of Subjects in the Primary Curriculum: A National Perspective 9 The Implementation of the National Curriculum in Primary Schools 1988–93 10 The Implementation of the National Curriculum in Small Primary Schools 1989–97 11 The Primary Curriculum 1988–99 Part 3 Primary Pedagogy 12 Teaching Methods: Some Distinctions 13 ‘The Three Wise Men’s Report’: A Critical Appraisal 14 Whole Class Teaching: A Reappraisal 15 Teachers’ ‘Subject’ Knowledge: Some Distinctions and Requirements 16 Subject Expertise and Its Deployment Part 4 Primary Teacher Education 17 The National Curriculum for Primary ITT: A Key Stage 6 Core Curriculum? 18 Primary Teacher Education: High Status? High Standards?—A Personal Response to Recent Initiatives Part 5 End-piece 19 The ‘Professionalization’ of Primary Teaching Under New Labour

    Biography

    Colin Richards

    '...a lucid, accessible and provoking examination of the past and present place of primary education which inevitably raises many more questions for professionals and policy makers.' - Educational Review