Free schools were a flagship policy of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition (2010-15), aligned with the broader academisation programme, yet both consolidating and transcending New Labour's educational narrative between 1997 and 2010. Driven by political 'modernisers' such as Prime Minister David Cameron and his Education Secretary Michael…

This article is based on a PhD research project at the University of Birmingham. It examines the intersection between official descriptions of the post-2010 free school programme and the actual experiences of individuals who opened such schools. The tensions between them are located within the control exerted by central government over school…

In 1940, John and Morag Aitkenhead set up Kilquhanity School in rural Galloway, inspired by the writings of A.S. Neill and the practices at Summerhill School. In 1962, Aitkenhead wrote that he had swallowed 'hook, line and sinker' Neill's theories and that 'but for him and his example, there could never have been this free school in Scotland'.…

Purpose: This paper aims to illustrate, by means of a content analysis of 278 weekly School Meeting minutes, the ways in which student voice is actualized in one democratic free school in Germany. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses a qualitative content analysis methodology of 278 weekly School Meetings minutes. Findings: This paper uses…

Global interest in the field of extended education has increased over the past two decades. Extended education in the context of Swedish school-age educare has a unique position in the school system due to its voluntariness and governance as well as the free time and leisure activities it offers pupils and the lack of set learning outcomes. These…

As public education faces multiple issues, including the surfacing of children's struggles in society and the formation of capabilities suited to the times, free schools are tasked with expectations for their role as a supplement to public education, leading to a change in the onetime structure of opposition. However, attention must be paid to the…

This paper aims to examine the academic significance of the concept of "ibasho" (a place or community one feels at home), which emerged from the problem of truancy in Japanese society in the 1980s. Free schools were created as "places ibasho" for truant children. In the field of youth work, group-work-based youth organizations…

This paper is an attempt to define the concept of togetherness from two different angles. Initially, it focuses on how togetherness can be seen in relation to students' participation. A central argument is that more focus on togetherness in school can be of great importance for the motivation. Secondly, the article states that we develop our…

Teachers in Estonia are working in a tense environment of conflicting expectations which, on the one hand, involves a neoliberal approach to standards and, on the other, the humanistic values of education and well-being of students. The purpose of the study was to identify the factors of school climate which ensure both the job satisfaction of…

Our descriptive survey assesses the possible alternative educational opportunities for female students deprived of formal education in Afghanistan. Our sample comprised 94 female participants, with 36 (38.3%) being high school students, 32 (34%) being high school graduates, and 26 (27.7%) being university students. Based on the results, the great…

This paper discusses the rise and possible fall of the Free Schools movement in England. The arguments here are taken from a collection of government reports, education charitable trust's papers, press reports and articles written by champions of the Free School movement. It does appear from examining the presented evidence, that the initial idea…

To mark the ten year anniversary since the introduction of the free schools programme, New Schools Network (NSN) commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to conduct an independent data-led investigation into what impact free schools have had since their introduction in 2010. The research examines the impact that free…

This paper reports the experiences of staff, parents, governors and students at a secondary free school in the West Midlands of England in relation to the inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN). The paper is based on a qualitative research project carried out at a school that opened in 2015, with the explicit aim of examining…

This study examines parental choice preferences following the introduction of the Free Schools policy in England. It reports on two phases of data collection: first, the analysis of factors that Free School and non-Free School parents reported as important in informing their choices; and, second, findings from semi-structured interviews with…

This article extends the authors' earlier work (Young & Muller 2013) exploring the concept of 'powerful knowledge'. It first examines some of the origins of the concept and goes on to a brief consideration of how sociology, political theory and economics have traditionally represented 'power' and 'knowledge'. Two key senses of power are…