Synopsis
This is an examination of recent school reforms in England and Wales, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. The study suggests that, at the same time as appearing to devolve power to individual schools and parents, governments have actually been increasing their own capacity to manipulate the system. Focusing particularly on the "quasi-markets" favoured by the New Right, the authors review the research evidence on the impact of the reforms. They conclude that there is no strong evidence to support the educational benefits claimed by the proponents of the reforms, and considerable evidence that they are enabling advantaged schools and advantaged parents to maximize their advantages. They suggest that, if these damaging equity effects are to be avoided, there is an urgent need to redress the balance between consumer rights and citizen rights in education.
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Review
"This is a well-written and well-argued text with a huge amount of information covered in a succinct and readable manner." - Community Care "[The Author] provides a far-sighted and historical review of developments in social welfare...With often beautifully balanced and weighty phrasing." - Critical Public Health "It will prove useful as a basic text for courses on English social policy designed for students from other social disciplines or from overseas. In our new modular world, it is the sort of book our students will increasingly demand." - Social History of Medicine "...anyone seeking a brief introduction to the history of social welfare in Britain should find this volume useful as the author has compressed an enormous amount of material into a 168 page text." - Albion "...excellent introduction to the history of 'social welfare'." - Labour Campaign for Criminal Justice
About the Author
Geoff Whitty is Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. He specialises in sociology of the curriculum and sociology of education policy and has previously held chairs at Bristol University and Goldsmiths College. He is author of Sociology and School Knowledge and co-author of The State and Private Education and Specialisation and Choice in Urban Education.
Sally Power is a lecturer in education in the National Development Centre for Educational Management and Policy in the School of Education at the University of Bristol. Her research interests include the sociology of education and the secondary school curriculum. She is author of The Pastoral and the Academic: Conflict and Contradiction in the Curriculum and co-author of Grant Maintained Schools: Education in the Marketplace.
David Halpin is Professor of Education at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where he is responsible for research development. He is a former Deputy Headteacher of a comprehensive school in the north of England and has been a lecturer at the University of Warwick. He is co-author of Grant Maintained Schools: Education in the Marketplace and co-editor of Researching Education Policy: Ethical and Methodological Issues.
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