With its focus on the politics behind education this book will make for interesting reading for all education professionals, especially those involved in policy development and implementation.
Reinventing schools, reforming teaching: from political visions to classroom reality
Synopsis
Charting the educational aspirations and disappointments of New Labour this book asks what happened to “education, education, education” as it travelled from political vision to classroom practice; what are the lasting legacies of thirteen years of a reforming Labour government; and what were the key messages for the coalition government that succeeded Labour in 2010?
Drawing on interviews with ministers, journalists, union officials, lobby groups and think tanks, Reinventing Schools, Reforming Teaching considers the impact of education policy on those who have to translate political priorities into the day-to-day work of schools and classrooms. The authors argue that an evidence-informed view of policy-making has yet to be realised, illustrating how many recent political decisions about education can be explained by the personal experiences, predilections and short-term needs of decision-makers.
The interviews explore the dynamics behind the creation of education policy and cover a wide range of themes and issues, including policy-makers' attitudes to schools, the staff who work in them and the communities they serve; the drivers of politicians' reform agendas and the constraints on radical reform; the shaping and reshaping of curriculum and assessment; the search for a more effective marriage between inspection and school self evaluation; the relationship between academic research and policy making; and how a vision for teaching and teachers might be constructed for the 21st Century.