What you need to know about primary education in order to develop and improve it. Richards traces the history of primary education from the 1960s to the present day and raises key questions about its future.

Primary education is currently at the centre of political attention. Reform is constantly under consideration, though the leading proponents of reform are often far removed from the classroom and the world of hard-pressed, demoralised primary teachers. Colin Richards rectifies this by communicating the big picture of primary school culture. He takes the world of the primary school since Plowden (1967) and traces perennial and emergent issues - the issues that need to be understood in order to make a difference to the future of primary education. Through constructive criticism of the national curriculum, OFSTED, ITT and teaching methodology the book will influence and improve the understanding of policy makers, headteachers, governors and teachers and students.

'...a lucid, accessible and provoking examination of the past and present place of primary education which inevitably raises many more questions for professionals and policy makers.' - Educational Review