Education increasingly operates in neoliberal terms; privatisation, marketisation and competition have become key drivers for schools in England. This article explores the findings from an ethnography that points to how arts education practices are being used to 'art-wash' schools resulting in parents with the requisite economic, social and…

All education is political; the radical approach to Citizenship Education promotes social justice and critical active participation. In synthesizing a pedagogy of discomfort and the principles of subversive teaching, this is predicated on the notion that authority should be accountable, that people should be able and enabled to take decision…

Forty years ago, leading communist educationalist and "FORUM" editor Brian Simon wrote a chapter entitled 'Why No Pedagogy in England?' In it, he argued that English education had failed to develop a science of learning, due to its class-divided history, and that the time was ripe for the development of such a science. This article…

This paper deconstructs ways in which the white 'race' of Eastern European pupils and the class determination of their parents in the country of arrival combine to either afford or deny them racialised privileges in British education. Critically reviewing published research on Eastern European pupils in British schools, this article concludes that…

This paper explores how, in what ways, and with what outcomes, deep structural transformations have reconstituted higher education in England, and are deeply implicated in the rise of authoritarian populism. We focus particularly on the ways in which our understandings and lived experiences of class, social mobility, meritocracy, social…

Brian Simon (1981) argued that the English education system had failed to develop pedagogy because of social class division. This has been enhanced by the failure to address parity of esteem issues between the academic and the vocational curriculum, which makes the absence of a real pedagogy in Further Education (FE) and alternative provision (AP)…

This article uniquely employs Beverley Skeggs' 'hierarchies of personhood' as a means to explore the iconographies of teacherhood in neoliberal times. Drawing on the narratives of three male primary school teachers in England, it examines and critiques the neoliberal 'subject of value' that is acquisitional, performative and self-propelling.…

Positive social mobility benefits individuals in terms of personal advancement and the nation in terms of productivity. There are other social benefits aside. Education, including higher education, is widely understood to be a key contributor to social mobility. However, without a measure of universities' impact on social mobility it is difficult…

Recent 'obesity' preventions focus heavily on children, widely regarded as the future of society. The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) is a flagship government programme in England that annually measures the Body Mass Index (BMI) of children in Reception (aged 4-5) and Year 6 (aged 10-11) in order to identify 'at risk' children and…

This article contributes a historically reflective critical exploration of the relationship between English state education and social class. In analysing selected historically significant policy documents, the article provides insights into the changing dynamics of social class educational inequality in England. Specifically, how across the life…

A powerful discursive formation claims 'bad parenting' amongst the poor predisposes their children to educational underachievement. A small number of children in poverty succeeding within early education potentially undermines this construction of 'parent blame'. This requires an explanation which perpetuates the dominant discourse about…

This article looks at the consequences of COVID-19 for English education and the injustices it has illuminated. Homeschooling under the pandemic has revealed significant inequalities of class and race. The article maps these, particularly in relation to online learning and the differential class and racial access to education during the school…

Piketty's "Capital" has created enormous interest around the world, not least in educational circles. One reason for this may be his readiness to refer, in a book largely focused on economic history, to the ways that education has, and might, contribute to better and more equal social outcomes. This article welcomes this approach, but…

This paper considers recent developments in English education policy as, confirming promises made in the 2016 White Paper, 'Educational Excellence Everywhere," schools are now to concentrate on the realisation of a knowledge-based curriculum, one that allows all students to 'acquire' cultural capital. First, the remodelling of Bourdieu's…

This paper analyzes the challenges embedded in the conflict between the right to accessible education, which implies a prohibition on discriminatory practices in school admission, and the right to adaptable education, which accommodates children's cultural affiliations. It shows that a normative lens, which examines the ways by which legal rules…