Post-Compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning across the United Kingdom: Policy, organisation and governance: 37 (Bedford Way Papers, 37) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0854739041 ISBN 13: 9780854739042

Publisher: Institute of Education, 2011

Synopsis

This book brings together the perspectives of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners from across England, Wales and Scotland to produce a rich, up-to-date and highly textured source of evidence about this under-researched sector. The contributors analyse how each country’s approach to national policy, organisation, governance and practice operates and show that by understanding this in depth, one can move beyond simplistic comparisons, policy borrowing and idealisations towards a more effective mode of government in the future. The book looks at the commonalities and differences between the UK’s national systems and compares this internationally, before it maps out and summarises each nation’s key system features. It gives expert opinion on the organisational arrangements and priorities in England, Scotland and Wales and shows how each operates in practice and what implications there are for the learners, educational professionals and wider stakeholders. The book concludes by imagining three possible scenarios for the future of education and training policy across the UK. This book will be of direct interest and relevance to national and international researchers and policy-makers in the broadly defined field of post-compulsory education and lifelong learning. It will also appeal to teachers, lecturers and postgraduate students on courses related to education and political science, and those who work in national and regional agencies in England, Scotland and Wales.

About this title

Review:

This is another authoritative analysis of post-compulsory education and training, from an expert research team with an excellent reputation. The authors exploit in depth the opportunity to contrast differences between the four UK countries, and draw important lessons from these comparisons. This volume provides very solid and valuable policy analysis to help lifelong learning make progress in the next decade. (Tom Schuller Director of the Inquiry into the Future of Lifelong Learning and Director of Longview)

Neoliberal globalisation and the current recession are forcing governments around the world to reconsider the way post-compulsory education is funded, organized and governed. In many cases, market-oriented reforms and budget cuts are in tension with cherished principles such as accessibility, equality of opportunity and educational quality. This insightful and timely collection carefully examines these dynamics with special attention to the role of national states, local governments, the market and civil society in policy-making and program delivery. In their comparative analyses, the authors show how similarities in funding priorities, policy decisions and program delivery coexist with differences that derive from the history, culture and political arrangements of each country. This book illuminates our understanding of cross-national convergence and divergence patterns in policy formulation. (Daniel Schugurensky School of Public Affairs and School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University, USA)

This book explores the complex and contested field of post-compulsory education and training across the systems of the UK. It bravely navigates the inter-related areas of curriculum, qualifications, provider arrangements and learning cultures in the context of parliamentary devolution and the growth of distinctive policy agendas in the constituent countries. The influential policy analysts and thinkers who have contributed to this book present us with a really useful and up-to-date analysis of policy networks, political narratives and governance as they affect the future of post-16 education and training in the UK. -, Professor of Education, (John Polesel Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia.)

A fascinating, timely and stimulating contribution to the field of post-compulsory education and lifelong learning. It’s excellent to see the tradition of “home international” comparisons in the UK being continued and developed within this important text. The chapter on the new Coalition Government is a must read for all researchers. (Dr Roy Canning Stirling Institute of Education, Scotland UK)

This book, by leading writers in the field, makes a major contribution to analyses of policies concerned with post-compulsory education and lifelong learning in the UK. The book usefully draws the readers’ attention to the continuities, ruptures and contradictions in the education policies developed by the home nations. One of the key strengths of the book is its commitment to policy learning as opposed to policy borrowing, with another being its refusal to portray the education policy of any one of the home nations as inherently superior. (James Avis University of Huddersfield)

About the Author:

Professor Ann Hodgson is Faculty Director of Research, Consultancy and Knowledge Transfer and Co-Director of the Centre for Post-14 Research and Innovation at the Institute of Education, University of London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Institute of Education
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0854739041
• ISBN 13: 9780854739042
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 188
• Editor: Hodgson Ann, Spours Ken, Waring Martyn