Primary education is one of the most important phases of learning but there remains a scarcity of in-depth research on this vital topic. However, as the focus on improving outcomes increases there is a growing interest internationally in research that helps us to understand the best ways to help young children engage with the curriculum in order that they may have the best possible life chances. This text helps to address these issues and consists of seminal articles derived from the forty-year history of the journal Education 3-13, which can claim to be one of the most important and influential publications in its field.

The chapters included have been chosen carefully to represent a wide range of key topics in research on primary education and the text is sub-divided into five sections, each of which has been edited by leading academics who specialise in the topic under scrutiny. The sections include:
• Learning and teaching, including the psychology and philosophy of primary education;
• Key challenges in primary education, including changes to the governance of schools, and educational management and leadership;
• The primary curriculum, including Maths, Science, IT and Technology Education;
• The primary curriculum, including English, Humanities and the Arts; and,
• Primary teachers’ work and professionalism.

Many of the contributions are written by seminal figures in academic research. The text will be especially relevant to students and researchers engaged the study of primary education as well as to practitioners, advisers and policy makers and will prove an invaluable resource for those wishing to gain an overview of research into primary education. It is recommended especially for those who wish to understand the development of primary education and the many twists and turns in theory, practice and policy that have influenced its development over the period of a generation. Those who read the text will come across the origins of many of the ideas that continue to influence primary teaching today as well as very recent research on where we are now in this important subject area.