Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is concerned with specific issues that Project No. 8 singled out for consideration. It focuses on the three subject areas - language, mathematics and science/technology - which have come to be widely regarded as the core of the primary curriculum. The book explores the obvious centrality of teachers and teaching, and of the professional education of teachers. The Council of Europe's Council for Cultural Co-operation has maintained, as a part of its regular activities, a series of projects in different spheres including education. In the member states of the Council of Europe and their historical forerunners, and of course elsewhere too, various combinations of these perspectives have been salient at different times. The educational consequences of the 1992 changes in the EEC will provide an additional justification for the extension of a European dimension in primary education.