Description
Book SynopsisThis extensively updated fourth edition by the key author in the field will maintain its place as the most important text on education policy and makes essential reading for all students and anyone interested in education policy more generally.
Trade Review"Stephen Ball is one of the few academics who can embrace policy, research and learning with a fierce and illuminating critical spirit." Richard Andrews, University of East Anglia
"This must-read book is forensic in its analysis and points to the imperative for new thinking on education." Hugh Lauder, University of Bath
"Informative, wise and angry in equal measure about the continued injustices meted out to students in the guise of 'progress', 'what works' and equity." Pat Thomson, University of Nottingham
"[This] detailed study of all governments since 1976 and of the idiosyncrasies of their respective policies... provides academics but also the general public with tools which help them to fully understand the nuances in evolutions which may first appear inconsequential or inconsistent." Les Cahiers du GRASP
"This invaluable new edition of this powerful and provocative book offers fresh insights into political context and policy narratives." Phillip Brown, Cardiff University
Table of ContentsPreface by Michael Hill Introduction: The great education debate (1976-2016) 1. Key concepts: education policy, economic necessity and education reform 2. Class, comprehensives and continuities: a short history of English education policy 3. Policy Technologies and The UK government’s approach to public service reform 4. Policy, inequity and advantage 5. A sociology of education policy: past, present and future
