The Evolution of Primary Education in England 1944-2010

Abstract

In England, elementary education had evolved under the main control of religious groups for centuries. The main reasons for this were the reluctance of the State to interfere in it and the opposition of the religious denominations because they believed education was a divine mission. With the evolution of the Industrial Revolution and the need for an educated labour force, the State understood the importance of education and started to interfere therein from 1870. This interference covered the elementary schools and their central and local administration, finance, the staff, the provision of welfare services and the raising of the school leaving age. However, the effectiveness of this interference was disturbed by the First World War in 1914, the Economic Crisis in 1929 and the Second World War in 1939. Following 1944, elementary education became primary education, which was characterised by the application of the Welfare State, neoliberal and Third Way policies. The latter impacted on the primary schools, their administration, finance, staff, curriculum, pedagogy and the welfare services. Therefore, the objectives of this work are to discuss the application of such polices on primary education and demonstrate the impact they had thereon.