Book excerpt: "This is a timely book, enabling teachers to reflect critically upon their existing work-place practices, which have been so powerfully shaped by the target culture and the logic of performativity that has underpinned it for two decades. More importantly it will empower primary school teachers to play a more active role in effecting curriculum and pedagogical change in their schools and classrooms."Professor John Elliot, School of Education, University of East Anglia, UK This book encourages the reader to question the existing culture of schooling and its practices, which have been shaped and dominated by a target led and outcomes driven agenda. The book draws attention to some of the conflicts that arise in the demand for performance on the one hand and teachers' responsiveness to children and their learning on the other. Sue Cox sets out to show how change might be based on clear understandings of how children learn and how teachers contribute to that learning. She does this by providing frameworks for change and shows how, from these perspectives, participation is key to children's education, both as an account of their learning and as a democratic principle. She explores the potential for transformation in teachers working collaboratively with children in areas such as interaction, curriculum and assessment. An underlying aim of the book is to provide the tools for teachers to develop a principled approach to what they do and how they think in order to challenge, and to re-construct entrenched practices and thinking. This book provides thoughtful reading and promotes reflective thinking for primary teachers and teachers in training, offering insights into new ways of approaching and developing primary education. Sue Cox is Senior Lecturer for The School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia, UK.