This is the first book to take a long, hard look at the changes that have taken place in the classroom over the last thirty years. Roy Lowe examines the rise of child-centred approaches to teaching in the period following the Second World War and then traces the process by which the role of the classroom teacher has been almost completely transformed since major debates on what should be taught and how it should be taught during the 1960s. Just some of the questions raised - and answered - by this original and freshly researched examination of what has gone on in our classrooms include: Who were the progressives and what influence did they have on what went on in the classroom? How widespread was the teaching revolution that many claimed was taking place during the 1950s and 1960s? What exactly were the changes in classroom practice at that time? Why is it that the coming of a new politics of education during the 1970s and 1980s was able to have such a massive impact on classroom practice and on the role of the teacher? This study of recent educational practice and policy should be essential reading for anyone concerned with what our schools should look like into the 21st century.