ERIC ED365561: Voicing Concerns: Sociological Perspectives on Contemporary Education Reforms.

235 Pages·1992·3.5 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
SO 022 292
ED 365 561
Arnot, Madeleine, Ed.; Barton, Len, Ed.
AUTHOR
TITLE Voicing Concerns: Sociological Perspectives on
Contemporary Education Reforms.
REPORT NO
ISBN-1-873927-00-2
PUB DATE
92
NOTE
235p.
Generel (020)
Collected Works
Books (010)
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EDRS PRICE
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*Educational Change; Educational Policy; *Educational
DESCRIPTORS
Sociology; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign
Countries; Higher Education; Social Science Research;
Social Theories; Sociology
Great Britain
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
The 11 papers in this book address, from a
sociological perspective, a variety of contemporary educational
reform issues in Great Britain. The papers examine the direction and
role of sociological research in education. Sociology education has
an important role to play in raising questions about the British
educational system and its premises. The discipline has come under
harsh attack by conservative politicians and educators in recent
years. The papers include: "Parents and the State: How Has Social
Research Informed Education Reforms?" (M. David); "Not in Front of
the Children: Responding to Right Wing Agendas on Sexuality and
Education" (L. Kelly); "Feminism, Education, and the New Right" (M.
Arnot); "Special Needs: Personal Trouble or Public Issue?" (L.
Barton, M. Oliver); "On the Specificity of Racism" (A. Gurnah);
"Teachers' Responses to the Reshaping of Primary Education" (A.
Pollard); "Staying On and Staying In: Comprehensive Schooling in the
1990s" (D. Halpin); "Whose Choice of Schools? Making Sense of City
Technology Colleges" (T. Edwards, S. Gewirtz, G. Whitty);
"Reconstructing Professionalism: Ideological Struggle in Initial
Teacher Education" (J. Furlong); "The Reform of Higher Education" (G.
Walford); and "Recovering from a Pyrrhic Victory? Quality, Relevance,
and Impact in the Sociology of Educa :on" (R. Dale). (DB)
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Points of view or opinions staled
2
official
mint do not neCeissaray represent
0E141 position or policy
.4
Voicing Concerns
3
,
Voicing Concerns: sociological
perspective', on contemporary
education reforms
Edited by
Madeleine Arnot & Len Barton
Triangle Books
4
Triangle Books Ltd
PO Box 65, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OXIO 0`1G, United Kingdom
Published in the United Kingdom, 1992
Triangle Books Ltd, 1992
ISBN 1 873927 00 2
An rights reserved. No part of this publication may he reproduced, stored in
a
retrieval system or transmitted in any forms or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of
the publishers.
Text composition in Pa latino by Triangle Books Ltd
United Kingdom
Printed and bound in the
by
Cambridge University Press
5
Contents
vii
Introduction
Miriam David. Parents and the State: how has social
1
1
research informed education reforms?
Liz Kelly. Not in Front of the Children: responding to
2
20
right wing agendas on sexuality and education
Madeleine Arnot. Feminism, Education and the
3
41
New Right
Len Barton & Mike Oliver. Special Needs: personal
4
66
trouble or public issue?
88
Ahmed Gurnah. On the Specificity of Racism
5
Andrew Pollard. Teachers' Responses to the
6
104
Reshaping of Primary Education
Davie Halpin. Staying On and Staying In:
7
125
comprehensive schooling in the 1990s
OP
Tony Edwards, Sharon Gewirtz & Geoff Whitty.
8
Whose Choice of Schools? Making Sense of City
143
Technology Colleges
John Furlong. Reconstructing Professionalism:
9
163
ideological struggle in initial teacher education
186
10 Geoffrey Walford. The Reform of Higher Education
Victory?
11 Roger Dale. Recovering from a Pyrrhic
Quality, Relevance and Impact in the Sociology
201
of Education
Contributors
MADELEINE ARNOT, Department of Education, University of
Cambridge, 17 Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1QA
LEN BARTON, Division of Education, University of Sheffield,
Sheffield S10 2TN
ROGER DALE, Education Department, University of Auckland,
Auckland, New Zealand
MIRIAM DAVID, Social Science Department, Polytechnic of the South
Bank, Borough Road, London SE1 OAA
TONY EDWARDS, School of Education, University of Newcastle upon
Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NEI 7RU
JOHN FURLONG. Department of Education, University College of
Swansea, Hendrefoilan, Swansea SA2 7NB
SHARON GEWIRTZ, Centre for Educational Studies, Kings College,
University of London, Chelsea Campus, 522 Kings Road, London
SWIG OUA
AHMED GURNAH, Education Department, Sheffield City Council,
Sheffield SI 1RJ
DAVID HALPIN, Department of Education, University of Warwick,
Westwood, Coventry CV4 7AL
LIZ KELLY, Child Abuse Studies Unit, Polytechnic of North London,
Ladbroke House, 62-66 Highbury Grove, London N5 2AD
MIKE OLIVER, Thames Polytechnic, Avery Hill Campus, Bexley Road,
Eltham, London SE9 21'Q
ANDREW POLLARD, Faculty of Education, Bristol Polytechnic,
Redland Hill, Bristol BS6 6UZ
GEOFFREY WALFORD, Aston Business School, Aston University,
Aston Triangle, Birmingham 134 7ET
GEOFF WHITTY, Goldsmith's College, University of London, New
Cross, London SE14 6NU
Introduction
MADELEINE ARNOT & LEN BARTON
This book has been produced during a period of major changes
in
education. Many but not all of these changes have been the result of
Conservative Party reforms during the 1980s, culminating in the 1988
Education Reform Act and its implementation. The driving force behind
these developments have been supporters of a market ideology with an
these can
emphasis on choice, competition and 'modernisation'. Alongside
its
also be found supporters of a radical form of conservatism with
and a
commitment to sustaining the social order through family, 'nation'
encouraged the establishment of new
new morality. These influences have
with a
priorities, objectives and intended educational outcomes, coupled
fundamental concern with where and how the system of provision is to be
managed.
Teacher education is not unfamiliar with the demands for change
for over a
emanating from various sources including government. Indeed,
included
decade it has been the subject of serious criticism. These have
initial and
critiques of the contribution of sociology of education within
in-service teacher education courses. The political attacks of the
Black
the
Papers in the late 1960s and early 1970s focussed not just on schools or
teaching profession. By the mid 1970s sociology of education courses were
being attacked for their political bias. The Gould Report (1977) examined
Cox
sociology of education courses, helped by lecturers such as Caroline
challenged
who were themselves engaged in teaching the discipline. They
educational
the right of sociology of education to offer a critique of existing
rather
policies and provision arguing thai such analyses were dangerous
role which
than inaccurate. Sociological critiques of liberalism, of the
of
education played within capitalism and of the continuing reproduction
vii
0
INTRODUCTION
social inequality encouraged teachers and student teachers to cri`, .se basic
social values, the educational system and its premises.
The reaction of those in the discipline at the time included hearkening
back to the concept of a sociological imagination and the valuable role that
the social sciences could play in delving behind the taken-for-granted world
of practitioners and policy makers. Sociologists could, through their
research, investigate the structures and processes involved in education in
such a way as to inform genuine attempts at social reform. As Dale has
argued in his overview of the chapters of this volume, sociologists despite
their
stance
critical
were
committed
the
project
of
to
social
redemption/emancipation
through
universal
provision.
They
allied
themselves to the pursuit of egalitarianism and excellence in education for
all children. In this sense, they were not out of line with the mainstream
educationalists, nor indeed the expressed goals of policy makers in the post
war period.
Increasingly, however, sociological research raised more a-
more
challenging questions about the real purposes of schooling, and the
motivations and commitment of politicians to the principles of equality of
opportunity for all. The range of options available to teachers and schools,
and to policy makers to encourage social reform through educational
reforms, became increasingly narrow. Attention had already been drawn to
and economic assumptions behind
the
political
the
and
select;on
organisation of knowledge, the principles underlying school organisation
and the negative experiences of working class, black and female pupils
within state education. Thus strategies for educational reform by the 1980s
were becoming, according to Dale (Chapter 11), increasingly utopian rather
than optimistic. Significantly Paulo Freire's work which was taken up by
sociologists in the 1970s and by feminists in the 1980s encouraged the
development of utopian thought as functional to political action.
By the early 1980s criticisms of sociology of education from the Right
had become increasingly outspoken and given more credibility within the
new nolitical framework. When Conservative party politicians focussed
attention on raising the quality of schooling, sociology of education
was
represented as one of the causes of low teacher morale as well as an
was blamed
setting up
over-politicised
teaching
profession;
it
for
diversionary attempts in schools to promote racial harmony and to
challenge sexism, without getting down to the real business of improving
the quality of teaching and the raising of standards. Equality was
counterposed with quality of schooling as two different political goals, with
sociology clearly seen as obsessed with social
rather than genuine
educational concerns. Critics also alleged that sociology of education as an
academic subject was characterised by political bias, subversion, irrelevance
and weak intellectual scholarship (Dawson, 1981; Cox & Marx, 1982).
In a paper in which Dawson argues for the removal of sociology of
education from all courses for student teachers, he maintains that:
...at a time of retrenchment, when luxuries have been discarded and
necessities are threatened, it is unwise to spare an unnecessary, costly and
viii
INTRODUCTION
cut out
of courses for
harmful ideology. Sociology of education should be
Sector
student teachers, not primarily as a means of reducing the Public
the
is) but to improve
though that
Borrowing Requirement (important
are taught (p.
intellectual and moral environment in which would be teachers
60).
critically both for its
This type of discourse needs to be engaged with
constitute much of
dogmatism and the unsupported generalisations which
happened which has
its substance. However, a great deal has now
markedly influenced the extent and nature of the discipline.
its funding
The restructuring of in-service teacher education and
authorities towards
which was transferred away from local educational
of education courses.
schools has had major consequences for sociology
improved school
Funding was clearly linked to the new priorities of
and evaluation. Teachers
management, leadership, curriculum planning
study sociological courses as part of their
were encouraged not to elect to
of improved
professional development, defined increasingly in terms
classroom skills and school development.
the closure of
Conservative government policies have also resulted in
institutions and courses; other institutions
many initial teacher education
change has been the
have amalgamated or set up associations. A major
of Teacher
introduction in 1984 of the Council for the Accreditation
approval in order
Education (CATE). All initial courses must gain CATE
This involves meeting
for their students to receive qualified teacher status.
for example, the time
particular criteria as defined by the CATE committee;
mathematics, science and
given to subject specialism, teaching practice,
requirements
information technology. In order to achieve these and other
traditional educatiot-1
extensive changes have needed to be made. Marty
removed or given greatly
studies elements within such courses have been
Thus, many sociology of
reduced time with an added applied emphasis.
The recent
education courses have become the victims of these events.
teacher training will no doubt be
announcement of the proposed changes to
1992).
viewed as a further attack on the discipline (Clarke,
sociology of education is
Given the somewhat hostile climate in which
unusual to publish a text which explicitly
now operating, it is somewhat
number of sociological
addresses the discipline. Although there have been a
Education Reform Act (Bash &
texts commenting on, for example, the
have tended to offer
Coulby, 1989; Nude & Hammer, 1990) these
the legislation rather
sociological insights into the possible implications of
and teaching to the new
than debate the relevance of sociological research
the discipline can find a
climate. Such analyses have tended to assume that
studies which is different
role for itself in developing a model of policy
oriented models of policy
from the mainstream somewhat management
analysis (Ozga, 1987).
represents
book
a
This
different.
somewhat
project
Our
is
education and to its
commitment to the importance of sociology of
and research. The key role
continuance within higher education courses
after the war cannot be
which the discipline has played in the decades
ix
U