I have just finished writing a chapter on the UK for a book (Childcare and pre-school development in Europe: Institutional Perspectives, ed. by Kirsten Scheiwe and Harry Willekens, published by Palgrave Macmillan spring 2008) comparing European pre-school institutions since the 19th century. Despite the flurry of activity by the present Government, I am always surprised at how little has changed. English education has always had a preoccupation with regulating children, keeping them off the streets in case they cause trouble, drilling them in the three R's, and making sure they look neat and wash behind the ears. David Cameron's recent education proposals might have been taken straight from a Victorian pamphlet.
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