This article examines the complex but seldom articulated relationship of primary physical education, citizenship, and social justice. We argue that to conflate physical "activity" and sport with physical "education" in unacknowledged ways may serve to perpetuate the status quo. More significantly, the current emphasis on…

Based on a school ethnography carried out in an English primary school in the last years of New Labour Government, this paper examines the processes and dynamics involved in the introduction of a cooperative learning method as part of the Success for All Literacy Program, which was being implemented in the school for the first time. It discusses…

Ninety-five teachers in Key Stage 1 in England and Wales completed a questionnaire and records of time spent on work over a period of 14 consecutive days, resulting in detailed records of 1,330 days of teachers' time. The data are analyzed in terms of overall time spent on work; time distribution; and time spent specifically on teaching,…

The Educational Reform Act (ERA) of 1988 reflects the most comprehensive restructuring of education in Britain in this century. This paper discusses the implementation of the National curriculum, the innovation at the heart of the ERA. The first part of the paper offers the views of educational commentators on changes resulting from this law.…

The first of two follow-up studies, involving 53 infant teachers in England and Wales, was conducted to monitor changes in the workloads of teachers as the national curriculum and assessment were brought in following ministerial promises to reduce the burdens imposed on teachers by the implementation of the national curriculum. Data were collected…

This paper reports on findings from a 1990-93 PACE (Primary Assessment, Curriculum and Experience) study concerning the impact of the United Kingdom's Education Reform Act on teachers' professional perspectives and responses to change. Data are drawn from interviews with a national sample of 88 teachers and more intensive classroom study…

The first part of this paper reviews the literature on fundamental issues that relate to the work of teachers as the national curriculum is implemented in the United Kingdom. These issues include: (1) the work day of junior and secondary school teachers; (2) the politics and sociology of teaching; (3) the work of primary school teachers; and (4)…

A sample of 348 secondary teachers in England and Wales kept a week's record of their work and completed a questionnaire on time usage. The survey indicated that the total mean time spent on work and work-related activities was 54.4 hours per week. Of this, teachers spent 16.9 hours on teaching, 12.9 hours on preparation, 18.1 hours in…