Full Description
First published in 1983, Contemporary Education Policy examines the British education system during a period of contraction due to severe financial pressure and a falling school population. It analyses how unemployment, demographic changes, and political upheaval transformed this already complex educational landscape and discusses the political, economic, and social effects of these changes. The study gains additional perspective through valuable comparison with youth programmes in West Germany.
Overall, this book looks both forward and backwards: forward to a more policy-oriented and politically aware sociology of education, and backwards to the brief period when sociological approaches actively informed educational priorities. It remains a valuable resource for students and researchers of educational policy, the sociology of education and comparative studies.
Contents
Introduction 1. History and Sociology of Educational Policy 2. The Politics of Administrative Convenience - the case of middle schools 3. An Elite Transformed: Continuity and Change in 16-18 Educational Policy 4. Education and Local Government in the Light of Central Government Policy 5. Teachers' Responses to the Cuts 6. The Peripheralisation of Youth in the Labour Market: Problems, Analyses and Opportunities: Britain and the Federal Republic of Germany 7. State Policy and School Examination 1976-82: An exploration of some implications of the sixteen-plus controversy 8. Schools for Democracy? 9. Accountability, Industry and Education - Reflections on Some Aspects of the Educational and Industrial Policies of the Labour Administrations of 1974-79 10. Thatcherism and Education 11. The Social Democratic Party, its Political Programme and Educational Policies: Revisionism Revisited and Re-formed
