The Plowden Report (1967)
Children and their Primary Schools
Articles about Plowden
Introduction
These articles were all written in 1987, on the 20th anniversary of Plowden's publication.
Derek Gillard Plowden and the primary curriculum: twenty years on
'The Plowden Report has been misquoted, misunderstood, over-simplified, torn to shreds by academics and used by a few schools to justify some fairly mindless practice.' (TES 6 March 1987) Written in March 1987, this was my attempt to assess the impact of Plowden on primary education in England.
The following nine articles first appeared in the Oxford Review of Education Volume 13 Number 1 1987 Special Issue: Plowden Twenty Years On:
AH Halsey and Kathy Sylva Plowden: history and prospect
In this introduction to the special Plowden issue of the Oxford Review of Education Professor Halsey writes about the Central Advisory Councils and their role in education policy making and Kathy Sylva examines the use Plowden made of Piagetian theory.
Maurice Kogan The Plowden Report twenty years on
Maurice Kogan considers the membership, terms of reference and assumptions governing the work of the Plowden Committee, evaluates criticisms made since of its proposals and findings and relates the Committee's conclusions to possible change models and to forms of policy analysis that might have been used.
George Smith Whatever happened to educational priority areas?
Educational Priority Areas (EPAs) were a key proposal in the Plowden Report - one which received immediate and widespread support. George Smith looks at why the EPA programme faltered in the 1970s and suggests that in the 1980s there was a revival of interest in the role of education in the inner city.
David Winkley From condescension to complexity: post-Plowden schooling in the inner city
David Winkley suggests that the Plowden Report underrated the seriousness of race and cultural issues in the inner city, and argues for greater institutional consciousness and a more sophisticated philosophical grasp of cultural and racial meanings.
Neville Bennett Changing perspectives on teaching-learning processes in the post-Plowden era
Neville Bennett considers the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of three approaches to studying teaching-learning processes as a context from which to consider the utility of the model of teaching prescribed in the Plowden Report.
Maurice Galton Change and continuity in the primary school: the research evidence
Maurice Galton reviews the findings of the ORACLE project (Observational Research and Classroom Learning Evaluation), carried out between 1975 and 1980, which suggested that the kinds of practice endorsed in the Plowden Report were only partially implemented.
Philip Gammage Chinese whispers
Philip Gammage charts some of the actual changes personally observed over the twenty years following the Report and suggests that Plowden's inspirational qualities should not be overlooked.
Andrew M Wilkinson Aspects of communication and the Plowden Report
Andrew M Wilkinson notes that the influence of a document is not confined to what it purports to say. It has sociolinguistic meanings related to its status, power, context, timing and reader receptiveness He argues that in Plowden these meanings were benign.
Bridget Plowden 'Plowden' twenty years on
Bridget Plowden gives her own account of how it seemed to her that some of the main 'Plowden' recommendations or comments had worked, twenty years on.
On other websites:
Derek Gillard The Plowden Report
An updated version of my 1987 article which I wrote for infed, an independent, not-for-profit site exploring learning and education. (August 2004)
Trevor Kerry Death of an unsung heroine
Professor Trevor Kerry (University of Lincoln) writes 'The Plowden Report was a mine of common-sense and intelligent insight unequalled by any contemporary political pronouncement on education. ... I suggest a Neo-Plowdenesque revival against the forces of Reductionism, of targets, performance indicators and league tables.' (8 October 2000)
Annabelle Dixon Selfhood's playground
Annabelle Dixon (now sadly deceased) explains and assesses the work of Piaget and its influence on Plowden. (Times Educational Supplement 13 August 2004)
Anne Corbett Bridget Horatia Plowden
Born 5 May 1910; died 29 September 2000. Obituary by Anne Corbett (The Guardian 3 October 2000)
Peter Clyne A tribute to a kind, thoughtful, intelligent president
Another obituary by Peter Clyne, who chaired the Executive Committee of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) from 1986 to 1992, of which Lady Plowden was President from 1986 to 1988. (October 2000).
ULIE University of London Institute of Education
List of archives held on Lady Plowden.
If you know of any other useful Plowden links, please let me know.
 
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