Originally published in 1972.This book considers the actual development of infant schools and education in Britain against the background of industrialization and social change, making clear how this development was influenced by the ideas of particular theorists from both the Continent and England.

Originally published in 1972.This book considers the actual development of infant schools and education in Britain against the background of industrialization and social change, making clear how this development was influenced by the ideas of particular theorists from both the Continent and England.

History of Early Childhood Education presents a thorough and elegant description of the history of early childhood education in the United States. This book of original research is a concise compendium of historical literature, combining history with the prominent and influential theoretical background of the time. Covering historical threads that reach from ancient Greece and Rome to the early childhood education programs of today, this in-depth and well-written volume captures the deep tradition and the creative knowledge base of early care and education. History of Early Childhood Education is an essential resource for every early childhood education scholar, student, and educator.

Over the last 200 years Britain has witnessed profound changes in the nature and extent of state welfare. Drawing on the latest historical and social science research The Origins of the British Welfare State looks at the main developments in the history of social welfare provision in this period. It looks at the nature of problems facing British society in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries and shows how these provided the foundation for the growth of both statutory and welfare provision in the areas of health, housing, education and the relief of poverty. It also examines the role played by the Liberal government of 1906-14 in reshaping the boundaries of public welfare provision and shows how the momentous changes associated with the First and Second World Wars paved the way for the creation of the 'classic' welfare state after 1945. This comprehensive and broad-ranging yet accessible account encourages the reader to question the 'inevitability' of present-day arrangements and provides an important framework for comparative analysis. It will be essential reading for all concerned with social policy, British social history and public policy.

The public provision of early childhood education has developed at different rates across individual countries over the past two centuries. This book provides the historical background to explain how these national differences occurred, with particular reference to welfare and educational systems, to highlight how particular influences grew.

Pre-school childcare in England, 1939–2010 investigates how competing ideas about child development influenced the provision, practice and experience of childcare for the under fives since 1939. It explores how theories which developed during the war about the psychological harm caused by separating an infant from its mother influenced the organisation of childcare outside the family in light of the social, economic and demographic changes seen during the years that followed. Focusing on four different forms of childcare – day nurseries, nursery schools and classes, playgroups, and childminders – it considers how both individual families and wider society managed the care of young children in the context of dramatic increases in the employment of married women. Using a new body of oral history interviews specifically undertaken for the book, it also examines the experiences and effects of care on those involved and the current policy implications raised.

Are child-care centres good for children? How can we provide good day-care? Feminists have long argued for the provision of day-care facilities so that mothers may be free to work outside the home. The call had enjoyed little support from politicians and experts, however. Feminists had been seen to stand for women’s interests, and psychologists and pedagogues for children’s – as if the two were opposed. Only in the early 1990s had the opinions of politicians and experts begun to change. Yet, even so, a positive policy on day-care was still lacking. Originally published in 1992, Elly Singer’s exciting book shed a fresh and critical light on its subject. She exposes the preoccupations and contradictions of mainstream developmental psychology and its experts, shows how their theories blind them to many important questions, and reveals the almost total denial by mainstream psychology of the daily realities of parents and their children at the time. Elly Singer then proposes fresh ways of thinking to meet the new and different circumstances in which children and parents find themselves in contemporary society.

Since Labour came to power in 1997, early years services have undergone a huge transformation – for example a significant increase in the scale of provision, the creation of an over-arching policy approach (Every Child Matters), the establishment of new departments focused on children and their families at local and national level, new structures designed to promote partnership between different bodies concerned with children’s welfare, significant changes in the early years curriculum, new subsidies for childcare and education and new arrangements for regulation. The book would offer an historical account of the development of early years services in the United Kingdom (with consideration of developments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as England). After an Introduction arguing the relevance of an historical perspective, it would offer a fairly brief account of developments from the 16th century to the Second World War, a similarly brief account of developments from the Second World War up until the Conservative victory of 1979, a more detailed account of developments in the period of Conservative Government (1979-1997) and three chapters with an even more detailed account of developments since 1997. It is easy for those involved to become so focused on the implementation of the latest changes that they lose sight of the process of change itself. This book would be intended to help them to understand what has happened so far, to evaluate that process and to prepare for the future. The objective would be to assist the reader to understand what has happened, and why, rather than argue that what we have now is, or is not, better than what went before or than any other set of arrangements that might be conceived.

Samuel Wilderspin became a household name in his own lifetime. Befriended by Dickens, lampooned by Cruikshank, his achievements discussed in Parliament, he was one of the best known educators of the 1830s and 1840s. However, Wilderspin’s consistent opposition to denominational education combined with his liberal and advanced views made him unpopular with the Establishment. Samuel Wilderspin’s fame declined after his retirement in 1847 but his reputation as an infant school educator has survived. Many of his ideas and practices have had a great influence on infant education. In this book, first published in 1982, Wilderspin’s own story is placed in the context of this growing movement led by Owen, Buchanan and Oberlin, and it goes a long way towards reinstating him as one of the prominent figures in the early education movement. This title will be of interest to students of history and education.