Robert Owen:

This book is all about the educational thinking of Robert Owen, the 19th century philanthropist and founder of the co-operative movement. He became acutely aware of the social difficulties faced by the majority of the working population of his day.  The fortune that he acquired as a mill owner gave him the means to ensure that his voice was heard. He believed that community education provided a means of breaking out of the vicious cycle of social and moral degeneration. Owen was a self-educated man. Here we visit of just one part of his thinking, an area that has been relatively neglected, namely early childhood education.

John Siraj-Blatchford was Senior Lecturer in Science Education at Homerton College, Cambridge. He has taught in infant, junior and secondary classrooms.