The Impact of the National Curriculum on the Teaching of Five-Year-Olds

Book excerpt: 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.