The Plowden Report, Children and their Primary Schools (1967), had a huge impact on education in the latter 20^th century, but at the time was labelled as left-wing, and of no practical use to the problems of education in the 1960s. The contributors to this volume were all concerned with the educational thinking of the Plowden Report, and its appropriateness or otherwise to the educational needs of the day. In quarters where the Plowden Report was treated as an authoritative textbook, the views in this volume provide a valuable critique.