Originally published in 1994. One of the most neglected areas of research and thus writing is the world of the infant school child. Those who know it best are teachers who tend not to write. Those who write most are academics and even they venture rarely into this area. This book is based on research funded by the University of Wales. A number of teachers in a Welsh LEA were interviewed over time as the National Curriculum was being introduced up to Key Stage 1. The structured interviews covered a wide range of topics related to the anticipated and actual efforts of the National Curriculum at this key stage including curriculum planning, assessment, teaching methods, and organization. Teachers' attitudes to the curriculum were explored through a short attitude test. The resulting data provides in depth the first such examination and is a resource not only in itself but for all those researchers on change agents and restructuring.

Recipient of Nasen Academic Book Award

'... this book should provide an appropriate complementary text for those with an interest in the roots and destinies of youngsters experiencing disadvantage, in order that its contents might influence their practice.' - Philip Garner, British Journal of Educational Studies

`The Publishers and the editor John Cunningham Wood are to be congratulated by historians of economic thought for making handily available such a wide range of articles.' - Scottish Journal of Political Economy

Recipient of Nasen Academic Book Award

'... this book should provide an appropriate complementary text for those with an interest in the roots and destinies of youngsters experiencing disadvantage, in order that its contents might influence their practice.' - Philip Garner, British Journal of Educational Studies

Originally published in 1994. One of the most neglected areas of research and thus writing is the world of the infant school child. Those who know it best are teachers who tend not to write. Those who write most are academics and even they venture rarely into this area. This book is based on research funded by the University of Wales. A number of teachers in a Welsh LEA were interviewed over time as the National Curriculum was being introduced up to Key Stage 1. The structured interviews covered a wide range of topics related to the anticipated and actual efforts of the National Curriculum at this key stage including curriculum planning, assessment, teaching methods, and organization. Teachers' attitudes to the curriculum were explored through a short attitude test. The resulting data provides in depth the first such examination and is a resource not only in itself but for all those researchers on change agents and restructuring.

The child-centred principles of early years education - which emphasize play and holistic learning - are being challenged by the implementation of a subject-based National Curriculum. The contributors to this book explore this challenge and offer some ways of meeting it practically and productively. Issues covered include: pedagogical issues, such as the cross-curricular, topic-based teaching; teacher's attitudes to subject knowledge; assessment issues, including baseline assessment at the age of five; and parental attitudes to the National Curriculum and its content at Key Stage 1.