This book completes the series of readers for the Open University's undergraduate course EU208 Exploring Educational Issues. It brings together informed writings from a variety of research paradigms. One of the major themes of the book is the current controversy over early years education. It explores the nursery voucher scheme, the relationship between school and parents, the goals of education, and how quality can be controlled. The book also examines issues of inequality in terms of class, race and gender, and offers readers a chance to re-evaluate themselves and their children within new frameworks of thought, practice and policy.