ABSTRACT
Introduction THE ORIGINS OF EARLY childhood education in Britain go back nearly 200 years to the time of the social reformer Robert Owen. As part of his model village in New Lanark, Scotland, he established a nursery, reputedly the first in the world, for young children whose parents worked in the local woollen mills. The emphasis was on a stimulating child-centred curriculum based on play, exploration, singing and dancing. Unfortunately, after Owen left in 1825 to establish New Harmony in America, the nursery was discontinued, largely as a result of the greed for profit generated by the industrialisation of Britain in the nineteenth century.
