The Subordination of Local Government and the Compliant Society

The paper depicts the changes that have taken place in the relationships between the state and local education authorities from the 1980s and in the freedom of the schools and the teaching profession to create and offer the curriculum. The changes are linked to a shift from the interactive to the idealist concepts of educational development. They are placed in the context of changes in assumptions about the role of local authorities and schools in sustaining democratic and professional roles and practices, and in the growth of what can be conceived of as the increasing development of a Compliance Society.