Through the Revolution and Out the Other Side

ABSTRACT

This offers an overview of the revolutionary changes in education in England and Wales in the decade following the Education Reform Act of 1987. After an introductory section on the background to the new dispensation, the perception of failure which galvanised the politicians, and the attack on the ‘education establishment’ which under‐pinned it, the article looks at the elements which came together to form a comprehensive re‐working of the education system and its power structure. Major changes in higher education and in teacher training began well before the Education Reform Act appeared on the scene and continued throughout the period under discussion, informed by the same mixture of ideology‐‐the release of market forces‐‐and managerialism.

This account goes on to discuss the changes as they affected the school curriculum and regular testing, the role of local authorities and school governors in the management of the education system, the re‐invention of inspection and the publication of information for parents on performance. It concludes that the revolution which took place under the Thatcher and Major governments is more likely to be consolidated than overturned by their Labour successors who, having changed some of the rhetoric while keeping the impetus for reform, have begun to mobilise the maligned education establishment behind the new order.