ABSTRACT

The trajectory of changes in early years education, though as radical as those affecting primary and secondary sectors, is different and more complicated. In 1992, the government commissioned a discussion paper, Curriculum Organisation and Classroom Practice in Primary Schools, which recommended among other things that the teacher should be an instructor rather than a facilitator and that there should be a more direct emphasis on subject teaching. Historically, the provision of nursery education has been patchy across the UK. The Effective Provision of Preschool Education (EPPE) study showed that highly qualified early years staff make a crucial difference to children's achievement. Early Childhood Forum (ECF) grew to a total membership of nearly 40 organisations with an interest in early years; observers from the Departments of Health and Education and from Ofsted attended meetings. The ECF worked on proposals for an approach to the early years curriculum for some time and published Quality in Diversity in Early Learning in 1998.