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The Rose Review has been published to sort out all those nasty curriculum and pedagogical problems that have bewildered, frustrated and exhausted so many primary teachers over the recent past! This article addresses one aspect of the recommendations, namely, the role of cross-curricular approaches to strengthen teaching and learning. Perhaps this is the ‘Holy Grail’ for which we have eagerly waited. On the other hand, perhaps it is a ‘poisoned chalice’ to corrupt the sanctity of subject divisions and impose a modern version of project work on unsuspecting teachers and learners. Hopefully, it is a welcome flash of warm sunlight beaming through the dark clouds of curriculum prescription and government ‘recommended’ teaching methods. In this short article I offer a variety of perspectives on the place of the cross-curricular proposals and suggest that whatever our viewpoint, a curriculum review of any sort is an opportunity to interrogate the purpose of education for children and young people, who deserve ev...

People are more likely to associate Einstein with complex scientific theories and mathematical calculations than with education theory. In fact, Einstein's own experiences of schooling and his reflections on the meaning of life and the significance of education are profound and oddly relevant to the situation that pertains in England today. It is difficult to believe, but never the less true that the great man valued imagination above knowledge and passionately promoted the need for perseverance, thoughtful reflection and the opportunity to fail as a necessary precursor to success. For teachers who are tired of labouring under a tightly prescribed curriculum, narrowly focused learning outcomes and formal teaching methods, Einstein's perspectives provide a refreshing wind of hope and inspiration. For teachers who are content to embrace and implement every nuance of government policy, his assertions will appear idealistic and banal. Either way, Einstein has much to teach us about education.

The present United Kingdom government has continued its predecessor's close involvement with influencing education policy in England, affecting both the curriculum content of schools and the teaching methods used in its delivery. This article argues that by doing so, the government is bringing about a significant change in teachers' professional status. A new breed of teacher is emerging, characterised by a willingness to comply with the government's wishes and concentrate wholly on raising pupils' examination results. At the same time, those teachers who place an equal emphasis upon establishing and maintaining harmonious relationships with their pupils are being marginalised. As well as regretting the abandonment of the nurturing principle, the article concludes that a culture of compliance is at the expense of divergent thought and critical practice. Teachers are in danger of losing their ability to exercise autonomy, influence education decisions or oppose unsatisfactory, centrally imposed measures. S...

Our species has always altered its immediate environment. Unwise irrigation practices by ancient farmers converted the Fertile Crescent-the fabled Babylon-into the desert wastes now known as Iraq. From the Dust Bowl to Chernobyl, we have fouled a lot of nests. But only in recent years did we acquire the capacity to modify the entire planet. In the last half of the 20th century, Homo sapiens became a geophysical force. We are now changing the climate and having a planetary impact on extinction. The United States National Academy of Sciences and the United Kingdom's Royal Society issued a joint paper in 1992 that stated "The future of our planet is in the balance. Sustainable development can be achieved, but only if irreversible degradation of the environment can be halted in time. The next 30 years may be crucial." 2 This, and scores of similar warnings, are not cries of wolf from overwrought extremists but carefully phrased warnings from some of the world's finest scientists. These scholars are trying to call public attention to the fact that the world has entered a dangerous new era. Global warming, a worldwide epidemic of extinction, the population explosion, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, desertification, the loss of rain forests, and other international threats pose unprecedented challenges to our embryonic global institutions. Avoiding irreversible planetary calamity is the primary moral obligation of our era. This profound mission is what makes the modern environmental movement more than "just one more special interest." The modern U.S. environmental movement, and similar movements in other countries, grew out local concerns. American environmentalists worried about the impacts of toxic incinerators, polluted lakes and rivers, endless sprawl, and the clear cutting of nearby forests. They found ways to use politics, lobbying, litigation, boycotts, and other instruments to influence local and national decisions. Their impact has been astonishing. Just 30 years after the first Earth Day, virtually all Americans believe they have a right to a clean, healthy environment, and we have enacted powerful laws to achieve these ends. In the international arena, however, environmental values have generally been sacrificed on the altars of sovereignty and Mammon. Although the international community has banned ozonedepleting chemicals, restrained international trade in endangered species, and begun establishing restrictions on certain persistent toxic chemicals, these have been exceptions. On most global issues, environmental progress has been modest at best. More commonly, environmental problems have just grown worse and worse. The debate swirling around international trade expansion provides a good illustration of the difficulties in creating and sustaining international environmental values. Although caricatured as pro-trade versus anti-trade, the trade dispute is really more nuanced. Virtually no one is "anti-trade." Most environmentalists appreciate coffee, bananas, and Toyota Priuses. The dispute at World Trade Organization (WTO) demonstrations in Seattle and elsewhere has been between those who wish to use trade to improve the environment and to enhance the well-being of working people versus those focused exclusively on the near-term bottom line for one industry, or even one company. Environmental values are not represented in any meaningful way at the WTO or in other international decision-making forums although the failure to incorporate environmental values is dangerous and shortsighted. Environmental problems are the among most vital international security issues in the world today. In part because environmentalists are excluded from participating in international forums, environmental leaders are beginning to seek ways to replicate globally what has worked inside individual countries-building a broad base of support from the grassroots up. They aspire to forge a global majority around environmental values. …

Denis Hayes is a Lecturer within the Rolle School of Education of the University of Plymouth. In this article he discusses an ethnographic style case study of the trials and triumphs of a primary-school headteacher as she attempted to develop a collaborative approach to decision-making.