ABSTRACT
This chapter is an edited version of a pamphlet published by the Campaign for Real Education-an organisation which, though claiming to be politically independent, is regarded by policy analysts such as Moon (see his chapter in this reader) as a ‘New Right’ Conservative pressure group. It provides an excellent contrast with the views of HMI in the previous chapter and with the professional educationalist views of Hutchinson in the chapter that follows. Note the use of anecdote, assertion, and evaluation, and the attribution of all sorts of social and economic problems to educational practices in primary schools. Such writing and arguments are often picked up by the media and some politicians. They form part of what has been called a ‘discourse of derision’ through which teachers’ professional standing has been undermined. Contrast this, too, with the principled commitments of a classroom teacher, Jane Needham, in Chapter 19. However, having done this, how justified are the criticisms which Ellen Yeo makes?
