ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION This unit considers the primary teacher’s role and how this has been affected by recent changes to legislation and policy. It should be read in the light of Hayes’s earlier unit, Unit 1.2, ‘Professionalism and trainee teachers’, as such changes are based on, and create, new views of what professionalism involves. The first half of this unit considers how the primary school teacher’s role has evolved and different views of professionalism, including those in the Teachers’ Standards, to highlight both continuities and changes. The second half discusses how three aspects of government policy – on the curriculum, inspection and school structures – affect, or might affect, teachers in primary schools; and then the wider role of the class teacher, including working with other professionals and with parents/carers. The tasks are designed to encourage you to relate general principles to your own experience, given the importance of reflection, professional judgement and continuing professional development.
