A Lesson in Progress? Primary Classrooms Observed in England and France

As part of the Bristol‐Aix project, a comparative study of primary school teachers in England and France prior to the introduction of the National Curriculum, teachers in the two countries were ‘shadowed’ for a week at a time in order to focus in a detailed way on their classroom practice. Striking differences were observed in pedagogy, in classroom organisation, and in teacher‐pupil relations, which were far greater between the two countries than any of the differences observed within one country. The findings provide a basis for projecting some of the more likely results of current policy initiatives in England and Wales and contribute to an understanding of teachers’ responses to educational change.