Introduction: Primary Education—At a Hinge of History?

This book provides perspectives on the developing culture and context of primary education since the publication of the Plowden Report in 1967. It analyses and comments on a wide range of issues, many of which are current concerns and remain perennial to the pursuit of primary education. It provides a constructive critique of the development of the National Curriculum and of OFSTED; comments on developments in primary teacher education from the viewpoint of a concerned ‘returner’ to higher education; and contributes to contemporary debates about primary teaching methodology and the future of primary education from the perspective of someone who, very immodestly, wants his views heard.