ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to stimulate students' interest in educational research, enable them to critique policies claimed to have a research base, and encourage them to undertake their own research and enrich their own practice with the findings of research. It reports a collaborative research in newly opened nursery schools in Scotland in the 1970s. The book considers the continuing relevance of the major researches funded in England under the programme of research in the 1970s and 1980s. It focuses on the language of young children and how their apparent competence differs depending on the context. The book analyses the reception classes as contexts for learning and the views of the teachers and parents. It also considers the aspects of the early education of children from different ethnic minorities in five schools in the West Midlands.
