Politics and the Primary Teacher

"How does the media represent the role of the teacher, and how does this affect classroom practice? How visible are problems of health and welfare in a school's population? How accurately does an inspection reflect the achievements of a primary school? How influential are governors in primary schools, and how 'political' are they? Breaking new ground in an accessible and usable form, Politics and the Primary Teacher is designed to help professionals develop their understanding of constant changes in educational policy, and to consider how their practice might be shaped accordingly. With key questions, chapter introductions and summaries, independent learning tasks and annotated further reading sections, this text covers a range of fascinating key topics,which include: - The curriculum, its purposes and structure - Education for citizenship and responses to ethnic and cultural diversity - Pedagogy and teaching methods - The 'Every Child Matters' concept, and inter-professional working - Assessment, testing, league tables and national accountability measures - The political implications of new policies such as academies and free schools - The impact that the media has when shaping local and national views about education. This timely and insightful book encourages primary teachers to reflect critically, and offers support and encouragement in thinking about policy and politics as one aspect of the primary teacher's professional knowledge"--

Peter Cunningham is Bye-Fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge and Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Education, University of London.