Primary education has been in a state of constant reform and development since its birth. On the one hand, like other stages of education, it is influenced by social, political, economic and cultural changes. On the other hand, it is deeply influenced by the research on the law of physical and mental development of people and children. Since the 1980s, especially since the 20th century, extensive and profound changes have taken place in human society, which are beyond any previous era in scope, speed and depth, and have a great and far-reaching impact on education.

The multi-polarization of politics makes countries closely combine the development of education with national interests, and education has become an important part of their political strategy. On the one hand, economic globalization strengthens the ties among countries in the world, on the other hand, it also stimulates the intensification of economic competition among countries. An important task of education is to serve the national economic competition. The rapid development of the new scientific and technological revolution has not only brought unprecedented opportunities to the development of education, but also put forward new propositions for education and triggered new thinking on education.

Since the 1980s, the reform of primary education in the world has come one after another, which has set off the climax of education reform, and primary education has also shown some future development trends.

First, profound changes in the objectives of primary education.

The goal of primary education in many countries in the world is no longer to master the basic knowledge and skills of labor and livelihood, and the task of primary education is not employment, but development; Primary education is not final education or one-off education, but basic education. Primary education faces all students and attaches importance to their all-round development; The all-round and harmonious development of children has become the main goal of primary education, and growth and development have become the key words of primary education goals. This fundamental change is reflected in the educational policies and laws of many countries.