ABSTRACT
As long ago as 1835 concern was expressed about the practice of teaching, which adumbrated a very contemporary concern to equip student teachers with some general pedagogical principles upon which to base their classroom practice. The Quarterly Journal of Education commented at that time: ‘We press moral principles upon the young mind relying upon the efficiency of precept at a time when children are only affected by sensible objects.’ Shades of Piaget! Unfortunately, however, ‘charity school teachers possess no talent beyond the nursery maid’. The twin themes are with us today.
