ABSTRACT
After a number of years when important aspects of education policies seemed to follow on almost seamlessly from those of the previous government, in its third term New Labour began to acknowledge that the national curriculum and its attendant pedagogic practices did not seem to be serving all learners. The debate about whether and how a single curriculum pattern can serve the needs of all children is not new. Indeed, since the launch of a single, integrated education system for England and Wales under the Education Act 1944, it can be argued that this issue has seen four distinct and, to an extent, contradictory emphases in approach from government.
