This book is concerned with the relationships and tensions in education between children's needs and societies' demands, questions which primary teachers everywhere face on a daily basis, such as:
* how does society's view of children and childhood affect teaching and learning?
* how do the dictates of the education system, including a national curriculum, shape teaching practice?
* how do the conventions of classroom practice fit with teachers' own beliefs and values?
The first part of the book offers a basic framework for thinking about primary curricula from the perspectives raised by these questions, whilst the second part presents a range of international views on the primary curriculum from Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia, Europe and the USA.
Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors List of Figures and Tables List of Photographs Introduction Janet Moyles and Linda Hargreaves Part I - Primary Curricula: Origins and Influences 1. Historical and Philosophical Influences on the Primary Curriculum Mel Vlaeminke 2. The Concept of a Development Curriculum Geva Blenkin and Vic Kelly 3. The Primary National Curriculum in England: A Sociological Perspective Paul Ryan 4. Changing Primary/Elementary School Curricula: An Analysis of the English Experience Colin Richards 5. Making a Curriculum: Some Principles of Curriculum Building Maurice Galton Part II - Primary Curricula: International Contexts and Perspectives Introduction Janet Moyles and Linda Hargreaves 6. Primary Education for the Rural Black South African Child Anthony Pell 7. Primary Curriculum: The Japanese Perspective Hidenori Sugimine and Kazumi Yamamoto 8. Relationships and Tensions in the Primary Curriculum of the United States Glenn De Voogd 9. Primary Education: An Australian Perspective Les Regan 10. Primary Schooling in Hong Kong Paul Morris and Bob Adamson 11. Curriculum across Cultures: Contexts and Connections Martin Cortazzi Endpiece Linda Hargreaves and Janet Moyles
