Academic entrepreneurial behaviours are increasingly a research field paralleling processes of capitalist commodification. We mobilise Baudrillard's concepts to probe a school's strategic communication methods symbolising class neoliberalism, which aspirational parents may experience as a desired habitus of 'distinction'. We suggest their…

This article examines the challenges involved in attempting to build collaboration and implement change in a partnership of schools during a period characterised by neoliberal education policy. The partnership was located in a relatively isolated coastal and rural area in the north of England with significant areas of disadvantage and comprised 18…

Historically, pubic art galleries and museums have a well-deserved reputation for elitism, colonialism and exclusion and they are, therefore, frequently omitted from the discourse of adult education. However, the escalating social, cultural and ecological problems of this new century have placed pressure on these public institutions to change and…

This article examines the complex relationship between England's new National Curriculum and the neoliberal reform of education known as GERM. It explores contradictions between economic functionality and Gove's nostalgic traditionalism. It critiques the new curriculum as narrow, age-inappropriate, obsessed with abstract rules, and poorly focused…

In this article we begin by discussing "ideology" as a theoretical construct, and the interconnections between policy and ideology in the education system in England. We analyse the main principles of education policies that can be broadly defined from Left to Right, according to the following ideologies: Marxism/Socialism/Radical…

The article examines the enduring popularity of a form of school history which is based predominantly on the idea that the transmission of a positive story about the national past will inculcate in young people a sense of loyalty to the state; a reassuring and positive sense of identity and belonging; and a sense of social solidarity with fellow…

This paper, based on the author's presidential address to the History of Education Society in November 2006, explores aspects of continuity and change over the past 40 years with particular reference to educational reform and the development of the History of Education Society itself. It assesses the significance of the work of the playwright Alan…

This paper seeks to explore how we may best understand the relationship between teacher identity and national culture. Using Raymond Williams' concept of 'structure of feeling' as a starting point, it is suggested that creative cultural forms of representation of teachers may complement social scientific studies to give a more complete and richer…

This paper considers four notions of teacher professionalism--traditional, managerial, collaborative and democratic professionalism. While its focus is on England, the increasing convergence of education policy around the world means that its discussion and arguments have much wider relevance. The paper begins by outlining the different…

This paper examines the unobtrusive ways in which broadcasting sustains the lives and routines, from one day to the next, year in and year out, of whole populations, and reflects on some of the implications of these processes by accounting for the ways in which the times of radio and television are organized in relation to the social spaces of…

Reexamines a well-known conflict between Unitarian reformer, Annette Akroyd, and Hindu liberal, Keshub Chunder Sen, over the administration of a private girls' school in 19th century India. Argues that previous interpretations stressing colonial ethnocentrism failed to take into account the complexity of the situation. (MJP)

Finds Protestant fundamentalists and Muslims in England, Australia, and the United States turning away from government schools, finding official policies antithetical to their beliefs. Argues that traditional Judaeo-Christian beliefs have been replaced by the antinomianism of those opposed to any universal moral law. Suggests that the present…