Examining the centralization of State schooling in England from the late 1960s onward, this book presents an anarchist viewpoint on the impact of government control over education. It explores strategies for reclaiming the education of children and young people, emphasizing the need for a shift away from State influence as society faces an uncertain future.
By 1982 the ambitious claims made for newly established comprehensive schools were being put to the test. How effectively does the comprehensive meet the needs of all young people? Do urban, working-class students enjoy more success than in the secondary modern schools? Are they more engaged in their learning with higher self-esteem? This volume discusses these questions and examines issues of social mobility and cohesion, curriculum, the balance between academic and vocational education, the place of exams in the educational system and the influence of independent schools. The author asks whether a more decentralised system of self-governing schools improve the education service OCo a timely question which along with the other issues examined is as relevant and challenging today as when the book was originally published in 1982. "
An account of how the current pressures for change in education can be harnessed to improve the quality of schooling. It argues that the school needs to take greater ownership over the changes it pursues, and that the infrastructure for managing change needs to be created first.