This paper reports on findings from a larger study conducted in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham between 2003 and 2004 to examine in detail a case where foreign ideas influenced educational innovation and resulted in measurable improvement in primary mathematics achievement. During the late 1980s and 1990s, in conjunction with the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR), prominent educationists from the Borough began to investigate foreign practices in mathematics and vocational education in Switzerland, Germany, and The Netherlands. Over the last decade, some of these foreign practices have been implemented and internalised throughout Barking and Dagenham, and have been extended to other schools in England and abroad. Further investigations into literacy and early years education also took place. The LEA has been heralded as a ‘beacon’

*University of Oxford, Department of Educational Studies, 15 Norham Gardens, Oxford OX2 6PY, UK. Email: [email protected]

of achievement, particularly for its implementation of the ‘Improving Primary Mathematics’ (IPM) programme, rooted in practices observed in Swiss schools.