ABSTRACT
Primary education has been subject to intense scrutiny and debate during recent years. The foundations in literacy and numeracy established in primary schools are regarded as necessary prerequisites for later success both within the educational system itself and beyond in the world of work. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that people hold strong views about how young children should be educated during the vital primary years. The debates about primary schooling are often couched in broad terms between, say, those who advocate ‘traditional’ or ‘formal’ approaches to education, and those who favour ‘progressive’ or ‘informal’ methods. All too easily the arguments take on a political flavour, as when ‘progressive’ educationists are cast as left wingers or wishy-washy liberals and ‘traditionalists’ are regarded as conservatives or reactionary bigots. All parties to the primary debate claim, of course, to have the child’s best interests at heart and to know how to teach children so as to foster their learning.
