ABSTRACT
New challenges to schools can be seen as attempts to stretch schools in opposite and even contradictory directions. The National Curriculum over the past decade has expanded the areas of formal knowledge which children have to learn, and the abilities they have to demonstrate during assessments. Schools are expected to achieve the best possible average results in tests and exams (DfEE 1997a). This can seem to conflict with policies to include every child, of any ability, in mainstream schools (DfEE 1997b). The school day must be highly organised if the curriculum is to be covered. Each primary school teacher must have a breadth and depth of knowledge of many topics. Here, the flow of knowledge is mainly seen as from adults to children. Yet teachers also have to encourage the children’s original and questioning thinking, their creativity and social, moral and spiritual awareness. All these flourish in less formal settings, with time to reflect and explore, drawing on children’s own ideas rather than ‘delivering’ education to them. Schools are expected to encourage a strong sense of corporate identity and loyalty yet also to welcome outsiders and newcomers. There are tensions in many school prospectuses between their stated aims that pupils must conform to strict rules and behaviour codes, but also expectations that children will become responsible and independent, able to think critically and to take initiatives (Griffith 1998).
