Examines the effects of curriculum changes on teachers of the early years, giving the views and perceptions of thirty infant teachers.

"Maguire-Fong has updated her groundbreaking book designed to assist pre- and inservice professionals working with infants and their families. Each chapter draws from research and real-life infant care settings to provide valuable insights into how to design an infant care program, plan curriculum, assess learning, and work with families"--

The first part of this book charts and analyses the working days of 326 primary school teachers. It shows how they spent their working lives, the nature of the curriculum they taught, and analyses their work into five main categories: Teaching, Preparation, Administration, Professional Development and Other Activities. The second part comments on the findings by relating them to issues of school management and curriculum manageability and looks at how the idea of `conscientiousness' among primary school teachers may have lead to their exploitation.

The first part of this book charts and analyses 2,688 working days of 384 teachers in 91 LEAs in 1991. It shows how they spent their working lives, how well matched their teaching was to their academic background, and the balance between teaching and other aspects of their work. The analysis uses five major categories: Teaching, Preparation, Administration, Professional Development and Other Activities. The authors argue that there is an occupational split between `the managers' and `the teachers'. The second part comments on the findings by relating them to issues of school management, and teacher professionalism, arguing that `conscientiousness' poses a professional dilemma for secondary teachers.

Based on a DfES funded study of 300 teachers in 100 primary and secondary schools in England, the authors identify different patterns of influence and effect between groups of teachers, which provide powerful evidence of the complexities of teachers' work, lives, identity and commitment, in relation to their sense of agency, well-being, resilience and pupil attitudes and attainment. This, in turn, provides a clear message for teachers, teachers' associations, school leaders and policy makers internationally, in understanding and supporting the need to build and sustain school and classroom effectiveness.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

OFSTED inspections are often the most challenging, searching, uncompromising and stressful events teacher have to experience. This text looks at what effects the inspections have on teachers and their work, on their self and role.