Towards a New Progressivism in Primary School Education

Summary

An ideologically neutral orthodoxy of primary school educational practice may be developing in the United Kingdom on the basis of a critique of ‘progressive’ methodologies found, for example, in the writings of Robin Alexander. This paper expresses caution about such a development, by defending principles underlying progressive or ‘child‐centred’ approaches to classroom practice against misconception and misrepresentation as well as against more substantiated attacks. It argues for a development of child‐centred teaching methods within the English/Welsh National Curriculum in the light of current models of mind and human development and the sorts of practical demands the National Curriculum makes on primary school teachers.