One Education policy and policy making, 1997–2009
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Clyde Chitty
Abstract
This chapter argues that policy since 1997 has been marked by confusion and contradiction, with Labour wanting to appear to be non-ideological in their approach to welfare reform in order to try and capture as much of the middle-class vote as possible, and so unwilling to tackle the question of the role of grammar schools in the education system, or that of how to deal with selection on entry to secondary schools. It links Labour’s use of top-down initiatives such as the literacy hour and their extension of the National Curriculum to a fairly clear attempt to privatise education. It concludes by suggesting that there is now little to choose between the two main political parties in respect of education policy.
Abstract
This chapter argues that policy since 1997 has been marked by confusion and contradiction, with Labour wanting to appear to be non-ideological in their approach to welfare reform in order to try and capture as much of the middle-class vote as possible, and so unwilling to tackle the question of the role of grammar schools in the education system, or that of how to deal with selection on entry to secondary schools. It links Labour’s use of top-down initiatives such as the literacy hour and their extension of the National Curriculum to a fairly clear attempt to privatise education. It concludes by suggesting that there is now little to choose between the two main political parties in respect of education policy.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- List on contributors vii
- Introduction 1
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Current developments
- Education policy and policy making, 1997–2009 13
- Children’s social care under New Labour 31
- Health policy under New Labour: not what it seems? 51
- Towards a social democratic pension system? Assessing the significance of the 2007 and 2008 Pensions Acts1 71
- Minimum income standards and household budgets 97
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Current issues and debates
- Re-connecting with ‘what unemployment means’: employability, the experience of unemployment and priorities for policy in an era of crisis 121
- Facing the ‘dark side’ of deregulation? The politics of two-tier labour markets in Germany and Japan after the global financial crisis 149
- ‘Flexibility’, xenophobia and exploitation: modern slavery in the UK 173
- Mi Familia Progresa: change and continuity in Guatemala’s social policy 199
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Service user involvement
- Service users and social policy: developing different discussions, challenging dominant discourses 227
- Participation and social justice 253
- Involving disabled children and young people in research and consultations: issues, challenges and opportunities 275
- Responding to unhappy childhoods in the UK: enhancing young people’s ‘well-being’ through participatory action research 291
- Service users as peer research interviewers: why bother? 317
- Index 337
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- List on contributors vii
- Introduction 1
-
Current developments
- Education policy and policy making, 1997–2009 13
- Children’s social care under New Labour 31
- Health policy under New Labour: not what it seems? 51
- Towards a social democratic pension system? Assessing the significance of the 2007 and 2008 Pensions Acts1 71
- Minimum income standards and household budgets 97
-
Current issues and debates
- Re-connecting with ‘what unemployment means’: employability, the experience of unemployment and priorities for policy in an era of crisis 121
- Facing the ‘dark side’ of deregulation? The politics of two-tier labour markets in Germany and Japan after the global financial crisis 149
- ‘Flexibility’, xenophobia and exploitation: modern slavery in the UK 173
- Mi Familia Progresa: change and continuity in Guatemala’s social policy 199
-
Service user involvement
- Service users and social policy: developing different discussions, challenging dominant discourses 227
- Participation and social justice 253
- Involving disabled children and young people in research and consultations: issues, challenges and opportunities 275
- Responding to unhappy childhoods in the UK: enhancing young people’s ‘well-being’ through participatory action research 291
- Service users as peer research interviewers: why bother? 317
- Index 337
