Education in a Post-welfare Society

A critical overview of education policy, as government in Britain has moved from creating a welfare state to promoting a post-welfare society dominated by private enterprise and competitive markets. Concentrating particularly on the last 20 years, the author places in context the avalanche of legislation and documentation that has re-formed education into a competitive enterprise in which young people learn to compete. She also demonstrates how a relatively decentralized education system became a system in which funding, teaching and curriculum were centrally controlled, and education narrowed to an economic function.