Many educators have been looking for a fundamentally different approach to engage young people and encourage progress in learning. Supported by recent public policy developments, a transformation is beginning to take place in the practice of many schools. The focus of learning is shifting away from the child as an individual in a classroom detached from the surrounding neighbourhood to a learning community that embraces carers and families as well as young people and teachers. This monograph analyses the organising principles of this cultural transformation and considers how it will shape learning in schools and communities throughout the world. The book brings together key thinkers from the fields of new learning, new communities of educational practice and new forms of educational governance. Arguing for the necessary interconnectedness of pedagogy, institutions and governance, this ground-breaking book will undoubtedly shape the policy agenda in this area for years to come. >

Education and Democratic Participation is an important and timely contribution to the emerging debate surrounding the value of educating citizens and communities in order to empower them to participate in democratic change. Responding to the effects of neo-liberal ideology on comprehensive education and public services, this book examines the purposes and conditions for reimagining an educated democracy. Arguing that social divisions and cultural misrecognition have intensified to the point of crisis, Ranson explains that a just society must create opportunities for diverse, cohesive and tolerant neighbourhoods to flourish. In order to achieve this, education will need to reimagine learners as prospective citizens and as cooperative makers of the democratic communities in which they live and work. Showing that participation in public forums, councils and associations can provide a real means of enabling members of different communities to learn how to respect and value one another, this book provides persuasive arguments that a broader pedagogy of democracy is needed to confront the common dilemmas facing society. This work is aimed at researchers, academics and postgraduates, particularly those lecturing and studying in the areas of education, the social sciences and politics. It will also appeal to professional and practitioner communities in school and college teaching, as well as in local authorities and related public services.

First published in 1985, Between Centre and Locality provides the detailed accounts of the relations between central and local government in Britain since 1970s. The confrontation of centre and locality has been a constant theme of political debate and legislative action since Mrs Thatcher came to power. It discusses range of policy issues including education, the police, housing, race relations and finance. In addition, theoretical chapters are included which set the empirical studies in the broader context of theories of the State and of policy making. The chapters have each been written by an acknowledged authority on the particular subject and are based upon extensive research. The book will be of interest not only to academics in a number of fields but also to politicians, officers, and civil servants in central and local government.

First published in 1977, Clergy, Ministers and Priests provides the first sociological analysis to have been undertaken in this country of the differences in value orientation between clergy in the Church of England, ministers in the Methodist Church and priests in the Roman Catholic Church. Five important areas of values are covered: theological outlook, views on the role of the religious functionary, attitudes towards ecumenism, views on institutional reform, and ideas about the organisational nature of the church. Going beyond the description, the authors examine various explanations for the existence of these differences. First, they consider the interplay of the values themselves. A second approach deals with structural factors related to the denomination such as the social role played by the clergy. Finally, non-denominational social experience is considered, including class origins and the educational background of the clergy. This study will be of interest to scholars and researchers of sociology of religion, religion, and Christianity.

Originally published in 1986. As the keystone of public policy-making and social reform in the post-war period, education has been expected to fuel economic growth, facilitate equality of opportunity, and afford social justice to the deprived. But its vision and objectives are now being questioned in ways which have enormous implications for the management of the service - the traditional balances of autonomy, power and accountability are being redefined. The contributors to this book discuss the effects that this changing environment has had upon a variety of practitioners, and analyse problems and initiatives that are developing within key policy sectors in curriculum and assessment, in the professionalism of teachers, in planning, and in finance. Three major alternative strategies for resolving current dilemmas in the government of education are then reviewed: a further concentration of power at the centre; a community service which would decentralize decision-taking to schools and their local communities; a strengthening of the powers of the local authority. Finally, the editors evaluate these alternatives before proposing their own reconstruction of the government of education.

Originally published in 1990. The rapid decline in the birth rate in the 1970s and the resulting fall in school rolls had a dramatic effect on the curriculum, staffing, organization and management of schools. This book focuses on the national and local politics surrounding school closures, amalgamations and the replacement of sixth forms with tertiary colleges. The author illuminates the changing politics of education through an analysis based on research in LEAs including Birmingham and Manchester. He explores the roles of central government, local education authorities and the politics of increased parental choice. The book shows how spare capacity in schools captures the political struggle between those concerned to protect the post-war tradition of educational opportunity for all and the New Right who want to seize the chance to place schools in the market place, expanding consumer choice and public accountability.

Originally published in 1986. As the keystone of public policy-making and social reform in the post-war period, education has been expected to fuel economic growth, facilitate equality of opportunity, and afford social justice to the deprived. But its vision and objectives are now being questioned in ways which have enormous implications for the management of the service - the traditional balances of autonomy, power and accountability are being redefined. The contributors to this book discuss the effects that this changing environment has had upon a variety of practitioners, and analyse problems and initiatives that are developing within key policy sectors in curriculum and assessment, in the professionalism of teachers, in planning, and in finance. Three major alternative strategies for resolving current dilemmas in the government of education are then reviewed: a further concentration of power at the centre; a community service which would decentralize decision-taking to schools and their local communities; a strengthening of the powers of the local authority. Finally, the editors evaluate these alternatives before proposing their own reconstruction of the government of education.

Education and Democratic Participation is an important and timely contribution to the emerging debate surrounding the value of educating citizens and communities in order to empower them to participate in democratic change. Responding to the effects of neo-liberal ideology on comprehensive education and public services, this book examines the purposes and conditions for reimagining an educated democracy. Arguing that social divisions and cultural misrecognition have intensified to the point of crisis, Ranson explains that a just society must create opportunities for diverse, cohesive and tolerant neighbourhoods to flourish. In order to achieve this, education will need to reimagine learners as prospective citizens and as cooperative makers of the democratic communities in which they live and work. Showing that participation in public forums, councils and associations can provide a real means of enabling members of different communities to learn how to respect and value one another, this book provides persuasive arguments that a broader pedagogy of democracy is needed to confront the common dilemmas facing society. This work is aimed at researchers, academics and postgraduates, particularly those lecturing and studying in the areas of education, the social sciences and politics. It will also appeal to professional and practitioner communities in school and college teaching, as well as in local authorities and related public services.

Originally published in 1990. The rapid decline in the birth rate in the 1970s and the resulting fall in school rolls had a dramatic effect on the curriculum, staffing, organization and management of schools. This book focuses on the national and local politics surrounding school closures, amalgamations and the replacement of sixth forms with tertiary colleges. The author illuminates the changing politics of education through an analysis based on research in LEAs including Birmingham and Manchester. He explores the roles of central government, local education authorities and the politics of increased parental choice. The book shows how spare capacity in schools captures the political struggle between those concerned to protect the post-war tradition of educational opportunity for all and the New Right who want to seize the chance to place schools in the market place, expanding consumer choice and public accountability.

Many educators have been looking for a fundamentally different approach to engage young people and encourage progress in learning. Supported by recent public policy developments, a transformation is beginning to take place in the practice of many schools. The focus of learning is shifting away from the child as an individual in a classroom detached from the surrounding neighbourhood to a learning community that embraces carers and families as well as young people and teachers. This monograph analyses the organising principles of this cultural transformation and considers how it will shape learning in schools and communities throughout the world. The book brings together key thinkers from the fields of new learning, new communities of educational practice and new forms of educational governance. Arguing for the necessary interconnectedness of pedagogy, institutions and governance, this ground-breaking book will undoubtedly shape the policy agenda in this area for years to come. >