Education In The United Kingdom

This book investigates the diversity of educational provision within the various parts of the United Kingdom. Building on the expertise of David Raffe and colleagues at the University of Edinburgh, who have been researching what they call ‘home internationals’ in education and who contribute two chapters, the volume includes studies of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The aim is to encourage reflection on the essential differences and the binding similarities of the systems which make up educational provision in the United Kingdom.

Education in the United Kingdom is a comprehensive critical reference guide to education in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, The Isle of Man, The Channel Islands, Gibraltar, The Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla and The British Overseas Territories. Although generically similar in education structures, the various components of the United Kingdom have separate systems, with some very distinctive differences. The chapters, written by regional experts, offer a review of contemporary national and regional educational structures and policies, research innovation and trends. Some of the themes covered include issues relating to the partition of Ireland, differences between maintained and independent schooling, language issues and radical alternatives in teacher education. Including a comparative introduction to the issues facing education in the region as a whole and guides to available online datasets, this book is an essential reference for researchers, scholars, international agencies and policy-makers.

This accessible book provides a basic understanding of the structure and organization of education in the United Kingdom in a time of rapid change and devolved government. It is designed as an introductory guide and reference work for all with an interest in education, including trainee and newly qualified teachers, university lecturers, school-based mentors, and governors and managers. It contains an accessible summary of key issues and contributions from some of the best-known writers in the field.

The existence of state-supported Catholic and other faith-based schools in the UK has become a matter of controversy in recent years, as the previously tolerant acceptance of their role in the English educational system has come under attack. This book seeks to explain to both proponents and sceptics of religiously based educational provision how the maintained Catholic sector originated, what it seeks to do and its contribution to society. It describes the Church’s understanding of the primacy of parents in the education of their children and the limits of the state’s legitimate role. The book will be of value to anyone interested in understanding Catholic schools, those who send their children to them, and those who are working and teaching in them – or aspire to do so.

"Explores the development of education, key issues and contemporary debates in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories"--

A rigorous, compelling and balanced examination of the British public school system and the inequalities it entrenches. Private schools are institutions that children who are already privileged attend and have those privileges further entrenched, almost certainly for life, through a high-quality, richly-resourced education. The Engines of Privilege contends that in a society that mouths the virtues of equality of opportunity, of fairness and of social cohesion, the continuation of this educational apartheid amounts to an act of national self-harm that does all of us serious damage. Intrinsic to any vision of the future of Britain has to be the nature of our educational system. Yet the quality of conversation on the issue of private education remains surprisingly sterile, patchy and highly subjective. Accessible, evidence-based and inclusive, Engines of Privilege aims to kick-start a long overdue national debate. Clear, vigorous prose is combined with forensic analysis to compelling effect, illuminating the painful contrast between the importance of private schools in British society and the near-absence of serious, policy-making debate, above all on the left.

An academy is a new type of school that is publicly funded, supported by one or more sponsors and operates independently of the local authority. Their aim is to raise achievement standards in deprived areas by replacing poorly performing schools. By 2006 46 were operating and there are plans for 200 academies to be opened by 2010. This report looks at the capital and running costs, new academy buildings, academic performance, their contribution to tackling social depravation, and the management of the programme. The value for money assessment is that academic progress means that the Academy programme is on track to deliver good value for money. However to achieve this goal it needs to pay attention both to managing the capital costs and the sustainability of funding and performance.

This accessible book provides a basic understanding of the structure and organization of education in the United Kingdom in a time of rapid change and devolved government. It is designed as an introductory guide and reference work for all with an interest in education, including trainee and newly qualified teachers, university lecturers, school-based mentors, and governors and managers. It contains an accessible summary of key issues and contributions from some of the best-known writers in the field.