Education in Britain has been transformed over the last 50 years. State education systems have expanded hugely, and levels of achievement and participation have continuously risen. At the same time, society has become ‘educationalized': the home, the workplace, the holiday and the playgroup are seen as sites for learning, in ways that increasingly connect to the acquisition of formally-defined skills and knowledges. Yet for most of the postwar period, education policy has been dominated by questions of ‘failure' ‘crisis' and ‘decline'. Half a century of reform has far from eliminated substantial inequalities, and the ‘conservatism' of education in the face of major cultural and economic change remains a central political issue. This book seeks to describe and explain the patterning of change and continuity in British education, and to account for the persistence of the controversies which have accompanied it. In doing so, it combines economic, political, cultural and social approaches to the study of education.

"A superb, crucial, blistering expose of all the myths about our education system that are all too often used to attack it. Melissa Benn again proves why she is one of country's most formidable education campaigners - and why the powerful should fear her. Owen Jones, Guardian columnist and best-selling author Never has it been more urgent to publicise the truth about what works and doesn't work in our education system. Debunking the ideology of marketisation, and exposing the half-truths that pass for objective reporting, Benn and Downs meticulously lay out the evidence: that a national system of comprehensive schools delivers the best outcomes. This hugely important book should be required reading for each new Education Secretary. Caroline Lucas, MP Opinions about comprehensive education are often made into easy-to-swallow sound-bites by media and politicians alike and whilst the benefits of a genuinely comprehensive education for all pupils are obvious, untruths have unwittingly evolved into hard facts. Based on Melissa Benn and Janet Downs’ work as part of the pioneering Local Schools Network, The Truth About Our Schools calls for us to urgently and articulately challenge unquestioned myths about state education. Benn and Downs have meticulously built an argument for its still enormously vital role, and rigorously challenge assumptions that: Comprehensive education has failed Local authorities control and hold back schools Choice, competition and markets are the route to educational success Choice will improve education in England: the free school model. Academies raise standards Teachers don’t need qualifications Private schools have the magic DNA Progressive education lowers standards Anyone who thinks that comprehensive education cannot deliver, that local authorities are the chief block to improving our school system, that competition and markets are the route to educational success and that private schools hold the magic DNA that can simply be transferred to other state schools will have their beliefs shaken by this blisteringly incisive book. .

Product Description: Top scholars systematically explore roles, rights, and responsibilities of major participants in UK education: the government, the educators, the learners, and the parents. They investigate the inequalities produced by their current arrangement and look into how changing these arrangements might lead to different outcomes for all involved...read more

Product Description: Schools in England are radically changing their organization and governance, casting aside the founding principle of the 1944 Education Act that education is a public service and abandoning the ideal of education as nurturing a sense of community...read more

Written specifically for education studies students, this accessible text offers a clear introduction to education policy. It aims to help the reader understand what is meant by educational policy, how policy can be made and the main discourses that have driven education. Capturing the essential aspects of educational policy over the last thirty years, the book provides an overview of political themes in education demonstrating how education policy has progressed and the effect this and politics have had on schools. It then covers key themes such as performance, choice and professionalism to show how education policy is constructed and implemented and how this has impacted on education in practice. Features include: • activities that can be undertaken individually or as a group to promote discussion • annotated further reading lists; • chapter overviews and summaries Written as part of the Foundations in Education Studies series, this timely textbook is essential reading for students coming to the study of education policy for the first time.

Product Description: School Wars tells the story of the struggle for Britain’s education system. Established during the 1960s and based on the progressive ideal of good schools for all, the comprehensive system has over the past decades come under sustained attack from successive governments...read more

Product Description: In the World Library of Educationalists series, international experts themselves compile career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, major theoretical and practical contributions - so the world can read them in a single manageable volume...read more

Product Description: Ethnicity and Education in England and Europe examines where, when and how minority ethnic groups miss out on educational opportunities. Through a combination of comparative, quantitative and qualitative methodologies and the showcasing of new research, it provides a fresh approach to examining the long-standing debates over ethnicity, and in particular ethnic differences in educational achievement...read more

Essays discuss the role of the teacher, higher education, literacy, class bias in education, mass culture, the future of broadcasting, conformity, cultural development, and the mass media

Essays discuss the role of the teacher, higher education, literacy, class bias in education, mass culture, the future of broadcasting, conformity, cultural development, and the mass media