This book uses international and interdisciplinary approaches to the comparative study of education in its political, sociological, and economic contexts. Major topics include critical theory, hegemony, postmodernism, oppression, disabilities, emancipation, corporatism, meritocracy, democracy, socialization, reproduction, pluralism, inequality, social analysis, postindustrialism, predatory culture, pragmatism, and 'subversion'. Educators from the US, UK, Canada, Netherlands, FRG, Israel, and Sweden survey the current educational scene in the US and Western Europe, major policy debates, and possible solutions for current public policy dilemmas.

This book uses international and interdisciplinary approaches to the comparative study of education in its political, sociological, and economic contexts. Major topics include critical theory, hegemony, postmodernism, oppression, disabilities, emancipation, corporatism, meritocracy, democracy, socialization, reproduction, pluralism, inequality, social analysis, postindustrialism, predatory culture, pragmatism, and 'subversion'. Educators from the US, UK, Canada, Netherlands, FRG, Israel, and Sweden survey the current educational scene in the US and Western Europe, major policy debates, and possible solutions for current public policy dilemmas.

`This book is a very worthwhile read for teachers, student teachers and teacher educators. It would be encouraging if politically based policy makers were to digest its contents also′ - Citizenship, Social and Economics Education `I recommend this book as an enjoyable, thought provoking and politically important read′ - Widenining Participation and Lifelong Learning `This important book challenges current educational policies in England in a style, for the most part, easily accessible to a wide audience. Geoff Whitty′s assertions are supported by a wide variety of research findings and this is a book that should be of considerable interest to student of sociology and to all member of the teaching profession′ - Mark Pepper, Equals `The particular strength of this book is Geoff Whitty′s grasp on and insights into the politics of education... he is able to bring to bear an authoritative perspective which is unrivaled in the United Kingdom. there is no other current book which compares in terms of the breadth and depth of this′ - Professor Stephen Ball, Institute of Education, University of London `This book represents a "struggle" by the director of the London Institute of Education, one of our foremost centres of teacher training and research in education, to understand what lies behind the education policies of recent governments. It is tempting to conclude that if a leading educational sociologist such as Geoff Whitty, who happens also to be brother of the former general secretary of the Labour party, has difficulty with this, there can be little hope for the rest of us. But now, at least, we have this personal odyssey to guide us′ - Bob Doe, Times Educational Supplement This book aims to make sense of the changes in education policy over the past decade, using the resources of the sociology and politics of education. The author shows that wider sociological perspectives can help us to appreciate both the limits and the possibilities of educational change. Geoff Whitty illustrates this through studies of curriculum innovation, school choice, teacher professionalism and school improvement. He considers how far education policy can be used to foster social inclusion and social justice and the book concludes with an assessment of New Labour education policy in these terms. The book deals with education policy in England and Wales, as well as making comparisons with contemporary education policy in other countries. This book is relevant to students of education at masters and doctoral levels, students of social policy, and policy-makers.

"Rationalist theories of political behavior have recently risen in status to that of a new—or, more accurately, rediscovered—paradigm in the systematic study of politics. Brian Barry's short, provocative book played no small part in the debate that precipitated this shift. . . . Without reservation, Barry's treatise is the most lucid and most influential critique of two important, competing perspectives in political analysis: the 'sociological' school of Talcott Parsons, Gabriel Almond, and other so-called functionalists; and the 'economic' school of Anthony Downs and Mancur Olson, among others."—Dennis J. Encarnation, American Journal of Sociology

Bringing together the sociology of knowledge, cultural studies, and post-foundational and historical approaches, this book asks what schooling does, and what are its limits and dangers. The focus is on how the systems of reason that govern schooling embody historically generated rules and standards about what is talked about, thought, and acted on; about the "nature" of children; about the practices and paradoxes of educational reform. These systems of reason are examined to consider issues of power, the political, and social exclusion. The transnational perspectives interrelate historical and ethnographic studies of the modern school to explore how curriculum is translated through social and cognitive psychologies that make up the subjects of schooling, and how educational sciences "act" to order and divide what is deemed possible to think and do. The central argument is that taken-for-granted notions of educational change and research paradoxically produce differences that simultaneously include and exclude.

This is an assessment of the reluctance of American education institutions to undergo change and reform at a time when it is considered necessary. The lack of public confidence in educational institutions is discussed along with the subsequent consequences.