ERIC Number: EJ818130
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Dec
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0962-0214
EISSN: N/A
Education and the Politics of Selection: Radical Policies for Those Set to Fail in the Twenty-First Century?
Demaine, Jack
International Studies in Sociology of Education, v16 n3 p191-206 Dec 2006
This paper is concerned with the longstanding question of policy for those referred to nearly half a century ago by the Crowther Report as the "bottom half"; those mainly working class children who, in a sense, are "selected for failure". The issue of selection is a matter of concern in countries around the world and has been at the centre of renewed political debate in Britain during 2005-2006. Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has been keen to advance a policy of "freeing-up" secondary schools so as to provide "diversity" and "more choice for parents and pupils". Critics regard such a policy as involving "selection by other means". This paper discusses questions of social class and inequality that are bound-up with the issue of selection. The paper provides an account of "Blairite" New Labour policy and discusses its closeness to new right education policy. The paper concludes with a discussion of radical proposals and observations on the prospects for the future. (Contains 9 notes.)
Descriptors: Politics of Education, Educational Policy, Policy Analysis, At Risk Students, Equal Education, Educational Sociology, Educational Opportunities, Competitive Selection, Exit Examinations, High Stakes Tests, Academic Achievement, Social Class, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Information Analyses; Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A