The Tightening Grip: Growth of Central Control of the School Curriculum

Lawton, Denis

ISBN 10: 0854732012 / ISBN 13: 9780854732012

Published by Institute of Education, University of London, London, 1984

About this Item

8vo. 22pp. Ink anntations on front cover, institutional stamp and owner's ink signature on sticker on half-title, marginal markings and underlinings in text. "Bedford Way Papers 21".

Seller Inventory # 23612

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Tightening Grip: Growth of Central Control of the School Curriculum
• Publisher: Institute of Education, University of London, London
• Publication Date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0854732012
• ISBN 13: 9780854732012
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Good+
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • Social Sciences

About this title

Synopsis

Professor Denis Lawton's 1978 inaugural lecture and his subsequent book, The Politics of the School Curriculum (1980), drew attention to the more directive role which was being assumed by the Department of Education and Science on the school curriculum. He found the character of the emerging centralism disturbing, since it appeared to be committed to 'bureaucratic efficiency rather than professional quality'. Equally disturbing was the may in which centralist control was being achieved in secrecy and by manipulation rattier than open negotiation. In this Bedford Way Paper (which is based on his 1983 William Walker Lecture) Professor Lawton looks at events since his 1980 book was prepared, and reconsiders the conjectures and judgements he then made on the centralist trend. He also attempts to clarify the issues and the concepts which can be used for the analysis of events. He perceives that within a short space of time central control is being gained both over the content and evaluation of the school curriculum, and that it is wrong to think of the central authority, the DES, as a monolithic body. There are separate, sometimes conflicting, power groups within it, and it is important to sift out ideology as the key to what a group wants to control, as well as why and how. In a postscript on Sir Keith Joseph's Sheffield speech (which he describes as 'a superb example of an ideological patchwork quite), Professor Lawton concludes that 'the new centralism will only be acceptable if it is based on sound educational principles'.