ABSTRACT
The four books are intended to be used by students taking BEd or PGCE courses and by teachers in service, taking diploma or higher degree courses in primary education. The material extracted can by used by tutors as a focus for seminars or as reading to back up lectures, and by students as a source for essays or as a starting point for further reading. The books are not intended to be read straight through from cover to cover but can be selectively and flexibly used at various stages in the course. For convenience, the extracts have been organized into a number of sections. Volume 1 comprises extracts which examine primary education from historical, ideological, philosophical, sociological and psychological perspectives. Volume 2 deals with curriculum studies, Volume 3 with school organization and management and Volume 4 with teaching and classroom studies. Because of limitations of space, primary education has been confined to the education of children aged 5 to 11, though the compilers acknowledge that in doing so they may offend those teachers in nursery or middle schools who regard themselves, justifiably, as primary practitioners.
