Education and the Social Order

The fourth and final in the "Studies in History of Education in England" this volume examines the changes and developments in the British education system from the Second World War to the eve of the millennium. Education has always been a battlefield and never more so than in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. Simon argues that educational policy usually reflects the outcome of a struggle between progressives who see reform as a first step towards social change, and conservatives who prefer a stratified system which reflects existing social divisions. It documents the changes that took place as the result of these battles: it begins with the 1944 Education Act and the massive extension of educational opportunity that took place in the postwar period; it then deals with the subsequent prolonged debates about comprehensive education, and other measures of liberalisation during the 1960s and 1970s; and it ends with the years of Conservative government, the 1980s and 1990s, when systematic attempts were made to reverse the advances that had been made during the earlier period. Winner of the History of Education Society Prize 1991-92 Winner of the Standing Conference for Studies in Education Prize 1991-92