Detailed accounts of two influential initiatives of the 1990s, whose educational and political lessons remain highly relevant: systemic and pedagogic reform in one of Britain’s largest cities, and the controversial ‘three wise men’ government enquiry into primary teaching to which it led. Alexander's controversial and widely-read report on primary education in Leeds has now been revised as a major study of policy initiatives in primary education and their impact on practice. The book examines an ambitious programme of local reform aimed at improving teaching and learning in the primary schools of one of Britain's largest cities. It addresses important questions about children's needs, the curriculum, classroom practice and school management. When first published, Robin Alexander's report was hailed as `seminal' and `the most important document since Plowden' but it was also quoted and misquoted in support of widely opposed political and media agendas. This new edition retains Part I from the first edition, detailing the impact of Leeds LEA's programme for educational reform. However, it also provides a totally new and greatly extended Part II, which gives an insider's account of the sequel to the Leeds report - the government's 1992 'three wise men' report. There is also a new introduction.

Teaching Human Rights in Primary Schools delves into the important issue of Human Rights Education (HRE) implementation, exploring the nature and extent of HRE in education policy and practice in English primary schooling, and seeking to understand the reasons for deficiencies in practice in this area. HRE enables people not only to identify rights violations in their own lives, but also equips them with the knowledge, values and skills required to accept, defend and promote human rights more broadly. An awareness of human rights is therefore crucial, no matter what a person’s age, and as such it is vital that information about human rights is included within formal education. Beginning with an overview of the relevant international obligations and agreements related to HRE, Struthers then demonstrates that these are ostensibly not currently being met in either policy or practice in England. The book then draws upon current literature and empirical research with teachers to explore and analyse the barriers to HRE implementation. While the book uses the specific context of English primary education, it makes broad interdisciplinary recommendations concerning how the provision of HRE could be improved, which will be relevant to other countries instituting programmes of HRE or values and citizenship education. Interdisciplinary in nature and addressing HRE at both the international and domestic levels, this book will be of great interest to scholars, researchers and postgraduate students in both education and law. It will be of particular interest to those engaged in the study of human rights, children’s rights and education law, as well as those interested in curriculum policy and development, teaching methodologies and the sociology of education. It should also be essential reading for teacher educators, teachers and policymakers.

The result of a research project, this work, an attempt to report on what has actually been happening in our schools, answers such questions as: what difference have education reforms made to pupils' experience in schools? and how has recent education policy impacted on children today?

Development education is a radical form of learning that addresses the structural causes of poverty and injustice in the global North and South. This volume debates development education practice and the policy environment in which it is delivered. It affirmatively points to the transformative power of education as a means toward social change.

The result of a research project, this work, an attempt to report on what has actually been happening in our schools, answers such questions as: what difference have education reforms made to pupils' experience in schools? and how has recent education policy impacted on children today?

This book explores how curriculum reform is interconnected with policy, practice and society. Curriculum reform is increasingly associated with efforts to better the lives of citizens and provide a competitive edge to national prosperity. Educational policy and practice have been the subject of unprecedented convergence worldwide in the quest for so-called 21st century skills. This book offers a case study of curriculum reform within the Republic of Ireland, focusing on antecedents, processes and outcomes of government efforts to evoke fundamental curriculum realignment at lower secondary level. Set against a backdrop of fluctuating economic fortunes and concerns about academic standards and educational equity, this volume has wider relevance beyond Ireland for any system undertaking education reform at scale.

This second edition provides an insider's account of the 'Three Wise Men' episode.