Reviews: Educational policy

51 reviews found for "Educational policy"

Book review : The Bristol guide : professional responsibilities and statutory frameworks for teachers and others in schools: This is a book review of The Bristol guide : professional responsibilities and statutory frameworks for teachers and others in schools produced by the University of Bristol, Graduate School of Education and edited by Malcolm Lewis. It was reviewed by James Williams of the University of Sussex on behalf of ESCalate. Those wanting a thorough summary of the acts, statutes and circulars that apply to education really need The Bristol Guide, produced...
Book review : The curriculum : theory and practice: This is a book review of The curriculum : theory and practice (6th ed.) by AV Kelly, published by Sage in 2009, ISBN 9781847872753. It was reviewed by Linda Barlow-Meade of Northumbria University on behalf of ESCalate. This is the 6th edition of Kelly’s work on Curriculum, a work first published in 1977. Kelly continues to argue strongly for a curriculum which promotes genuine education, a curriculum that will develop the whole person in a truly...
Book review : Teachers' legal rights and responsibilities : a guide for trainee teachers and those new to the profession: This a book review of Teachers' legal rights and responsibilities : a guide for trainee teachers and those new to the profession by Jon Berry, published by University of Hertfordshire Press in 2007, ISBN 9781902806778. It was reviewed by James Williams of the University of Sussex on behalf of ESCalate. Topics covered include: Professional duties; Out-of-school activities; Health and Safety; Physical contact with pupils; Discipline; Protecting...
Book Review: Radical Education and the Common School: A Democratic Alternative: Book Review: Radical Education and the Common School: A Democratic Alternative
Book Review: Education for Values, Morals Ethics and Citizenship in Contemporary Teaching: In the words of Jo Cairns the aim of the book is to present possible networks of concepts, arguments and processes which will lead to intellectually and emotionally challenging foundations for the consideration, articulation and implementation of values teaching and acquisition in and through the curriculum. This book will be of value to those involved in teacher education, citizenship studies or more generally in ethics in education
Book review : Teachers and the law: This is a book review of Teachers and the law by Kim Insley, published by the Institute of Education in 2008, ISBN 9780854737741. It was reviewed by James Williams of the University of Sussex on behalf of ESCalate. This book looks at major aspects of education and the law, such as the statutory basis of education; the curriculum and assessment; equal opportunities; health and safety and employment. Within each section there is a summary of the...
Book review : Key issues in education policy: This is a book review of Key issues in education policy by Stephen Ward and Christine Eden, published by Sage in 2009, ISBN 9781847874665. It was reviewed by Christian Beighton of Canterbury Christ Church University on behalf of ESCalate. This book is aimed at undergraduates and postgraduates reading Education Studies or a degree in education which does not lead to qualified teacher status. Ten chapters cover such central concerns as education...
Book review : Whose degree is it anyway? : why, how and where universities are failing our students: This is a book review of Whose degree is it anyway? : why, how and where universities are failing our students by Robert J. Naylor, ISBN 9780955698705. It was reviewed by Joanna Williams of the University of Kent on behalf of ESCalate. Naylor, a professor of pharmacology who continues to teach undergraduate and post-graduate students, argues that teaching is being relegated in the demand for universities to fulfil political goals relating to...
Book Review: Contemporary Issues in Learning and Teaching: Book Review: Contemporary Issues in Learning and Teaching. This book is for NQTs and has an unusual format, covering first policy, then learning context, and finally the professional practice of teaching. It is wide-ranging, and considers globalisation, ideology and conflict, learning and practice. The reviewer found it of great value and would recommend it for new teachers
Book Review: Reading Educational Research and Policy: The aim of Reading Educational Research and Policy is simply stated as extending and developing the educational literacy of its readers. The intended readers are student teachers, teacher trainers (sic) and inservice teachers. Its starting point is that all educational texts are constructed in certain ways and on the basis of certain (usually powerful) interests and therefore need to be read as such if they are to be properly understood and used....
Book Review: Faith in Education - A Tribute to Terence McLaughlin: Book Review: Faith in Education - A Tribute to Terence McLaughlin. This book is a collection of lectures held in memory of McLaughlin, who died in 2006. Dr Helen Jelfs reviewed the book and found it a "helpful overview of scholarship in the area of faith based education" but a fairly demanding read, since it deals with the philosophy of education. The book looks in particular at Catholic schools. The pros and cons of faith schools are...
Book review : The dangerous rise of therapeutic education: This is a book review of The dangerous rise of therapeutic education by Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes, published by Routledge in 2008, ISBN 9780415397018. It was reviewed by Stephen Bigger of the University of Worcester on behalf of ESCalate. This book is a polemical diatribe against ‘therapeutic education’ on the surface; but in reality it rails against the education system being taken over with an unhealthy tendency to treat people as...
Book review : Assessment for learning : why, what and how?: This a book review of Assessment for learning : why, what and how? an inaugural professorial lecture by Dylan Wiliam, published by the Institute of Education in 2009, ISBN 9780854737888. It was reviewed by Linda Jones of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Postgraduate Medical School on behalf of ESCalate. Dylan Wiliam assembles his argument that, for professional development of teachers to be effective, we must not simply theorise about formative...
Book Review: Education in a Post-Welfare Society: Education in a Post-Welfare Society is a powerful, valuable and thought-provoking book, which makes sense of the educational initiatives and legislation that have been features of the British state education system since the 1944 Education Act. The first six chapters move from 1944 to the present, and the book then broadens its sweep to consider educational policy and change across a range of educational themes. The book covers every area of...
Book review: Children, their world, their education: final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review: This is a book review of Children, their world, their education: final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review edited by Robin Alexander and published by Routledge in 2009, ISBN 9780415548717. It was reviewed by Keith Savage of Stockport College on behalf of ESCalate. This Report might, in other times or circumstances, have been described as a 'landmark' but with the government-sponsored Rose report and the statutory New...
Book review : Don't touch! : The educational story of a panic: This is a book review of Don't touch! : The educational story of a panic by Heather Piper and Ian Stronach, published by Routledge in 2007, ISBN 9780415420082. It was reviewed by Stephen Bigger of the University of Worcester on behalf of ESCalate. This book deals with the moral panic about professional adults and touch in school education. It makes a strong case that this panic has sexualized, even fetishised touch, as even the 99 percent of...
Book review : Every Muslim child matters: This is a book review of Every Muslim child matters by Maurice Irfan Coles, published by Trentham Books in 2008, ISBN 9781858564210. It was reviewed by Stephen Bigger of the University of Worcester on behalf of ESCalate. The book is based on detailed discussions with a range of Muslims involved in education so that it is not just one person’s point of view, or indeed the view of a particular group within Islam. It features guidance for governing...
Book review: Children, their world, their education : final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review: This is a book review of Children, their World, their Education - Final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review, edited by Robin Alexander and published by Routledge in 2009, ISBN 9780415548717. It was reviewed by Mark Jenkins of the University of Winchester on behalf of ESCalate. The Cambridge Review was a major research project on the future of primary education in England. It made 75 recommendations for the future of...
Book review : Primary school teacher deployment : a comparative study: This is a book review of Primary school teacher deployment : a comparative study edited by Fatimah Kelleher and published by the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2008, ISBN 9780850928839. It was reviewed by Mark Jenkins of the University of Winchester, on behalf of ESCalate. By considering the teacher deployment strategies of four Commonwealth countries the book examines UNESCO’s ideal of Universal Primary Education at both an administrative and...
Book Review: Hidden worlds: young children learning literacy in multicultural contexts: This book explores how different children in the UK come to be literate. It questions the helpfulness of national strategies which may impose a common approach. There are various interesting case studies about children and their particular experiences, in nursery schools or at home. The author emphasises the importance of developing literacy projects which draw on home experiences
Book Review: Governing Children, Families, and Education: Restructuring the Welfare State: The book provides a critical text for those who are beginning to analyse welfare state reforms and looking into how various discourses have constructed the family, the child, and their education. The book claims to contribute to: ‘historical and cultural studies in education, general educational reform literature, comparative international education, gender and education and education from early childhood through to secondary level’. However, it...
Book review : The death of progressive education : how teachers lost control of the classroom: This is a book review of The death of progressive education : how teachers lost control of the classroom by Roy Lowe, published by Routledge in 2007, ISBN 9780415359726. It was reviewed by Ms Anne Anderson of ESCalate at the University of Bristol. Roy Lowe tackles the history of popular education in the UK and how the teaching profession ‘lost control of its own destiny’. Lowe implies those best poised to answer are those in the teaching...
Book review : Education policy in Britain: This is a book review of Education policy in Britain by Clyde Chitty, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2009, ISBN 9780230222786. It was reviewed by Brian Poole of Sohar University (Oman) on behalf of ESCalate. This is a book steeped in both history and politics, its contents span the period from 1945 virtually up to the present day. It begins with a chapter on why education matters The following three chapters provide a potted history, moving...
Book Review: Teacher Education in Transition: reforming professionalism?: This book is part of the series on Developing Teacher Education and arose out of two ESRC Projects: Modes of Teacher Education: Towards a basis for Comparison 1991-92 (MOTE) and Changing Modes of Professionalism? A Case Study of Teacher Education in Transition 1993-1996. However, the authors have extended the period covered by the book to include more contemporary developments in initial teacher education policy. The central theme of the book is...
Book Review: Education Policy and Social Reproduction: The abstract and promotional details that introduce this important and timely work read as follows: 'This book takes a theoretically informed look at British education policy over the last 60 years when secondary schooling for all children became an established fact for the first time. Comprehensive schools largely replaced a system based on academic selection. Now, under choice and competition policies, all schools are subject to the rigours of...
Book Review: Educational Planning and Management in Small States: Concepts and Experiences: The eighteen case studies range from the changing role of education officials in Botswana, through the management of stress amongst Cypriot headteachers, to assessing the reasons for failure in a technical and vocational initiative in St Kitts-Nevis. The case studies are divided into two sections, eight essentially dealing with issues in educational management and ten with issues in educational planning
Book review : Overcoming the barriers to higher education: This is a book review of Overcoming the barriers to higher education by Stephen Gorard, published by Trentham Books in 2007, ISBN 9781858564142. It was reviewed by Ruth Hewston of the University of Worcester on behalf of ESCalate. In 2004, HEFCE commissioned Professor Stephen Gorard and a team of authors to independently review the existing relevant evidence on widening participation in Higher Education. This text presents a compelling summary...
Book review : The concepts and practices of lifelong learning: This is a book review of The concepts and practices of lifelong learning, by Brenda Morgan-Klein and Mike Osborne, published by Routledge in 2007, ISBN 9780415428613. It was reviewed by Deborah Lee of Nottingham Trent University on behalf of ESCalate. Morgan-Klein and Osborne explore the emergence of the concept of lifelong learning, how it can be interpreted and - perhaps most importantly - how it is being debated: they note, for instance, that...
Book Review: The Routledge-Falmer Guide To Key Debates In Education: An accessible, stimulating and at its best challenging collection of analyses of different aspects of the contemporary education system. Hayes’ collection is a rich repository of argument and discussion. It encompasses a wide range of topics, including anti-bullying strategies, parental involvement, multiple intelligence theory, the rise of circle time, literacy and the literary, citizenship education, and the uses and abuses of new technologies
Book review : The great city academy fraud: This is a book review of The great city academy fraud by Francis Beckett, published by Continuum in 2007, ISBN 9780826495136. It was reviewed by Victoria Elliott of the University of Oxford on behalf of ESCalate. The Great City Academy Fraud is a wide-ranging critique of the Government’s flagship schools programme, beginning with an historical overview of the City Technology Colleges (CTCs) which the Labour Party criticised while in opposition....
Book review : Whose childhood is it? : the roles of children, adults, and policy makers: This is a book review of Whose childhood is it? : the roles of children, adults, and policy makers by Richard Eke, published by Continuum in 2009, ISBN 9780826499813. It was reviewed by Sandra Shaffi of Stockport College on behalf of ESCalate. Controversial issues are addressed in the first part of the book, whereby discussion is shown around the challenges faced by Sure-Start in relation to wider policy and the impact on the settings in general....
Book Review: Understanding Early Years Policy: The authors of this book set out to share their knowledge and understanding of early years policy with readers at all levels of the profession. The strength of the book lies in its ability to untangle the conglomeration of key developments of early years policy from 1945-2005 whilst at the same time establishing itself as a reference book on early years policy that will never out date itself
Book review: Education for social justice: achieving wellbeing for all: This is a book review of Education for social justice: achieving wellbeing for all by Laura Chapman and John West-Burnham, published by Continuum in 2009, ISBN 9781855394698. It was reviewed by Brian Poole of Sohar University (Oman), on behalf of ESCalate. This is a book which will stimulate debate, disagreement and the questioning of personal positions, and for that reason it could be used fruitfully with undergraduate or Masters-level students...
Book review : Lost generation? : new strategies for youth and education: This is a book review of Lost generation? : new strategies for youth and education by Patrick Ainley and Martin Allen, published by Continuum in 2010, ISBN 9781441134707. It was reviewed by John Field of the University of Stirling on behalf of ESCalate. British education, according to Ainley and Allen, stands at the edge of a precipice. As a result of conflicting demands, inflated expectations, continual policy tinkering and the self-interested...
Book Review: Making Sense of Education Policy: This is social criticism of a high order, in a collection of papers and lectures produced originally between 1993 and 2001, with some revisions included. It is broadly based, and negotiates concepts and theories, events and ideologies, and includes discussion of some of Whitty's research findings, notably on educational markets and choice. A long introduction on School knowledge and social education was the Karl Mannheim Memorial Lecture of 1997...
Book review : Developing sustainable leadership: This is a book review of Developing sustainable leadership, edited by Brent Davies and published by Paul Chapman Publishing in 2007, ISBN 1412923964. It was reviewed by Simon Atkinson of the University of Hull on behalf of ESCalate. The fourteen authors brought together by Professor Davies provide a thought provoking, but evidently practical collection of essays which provoke reflection, criticism and at times frustration. The volume begins with...
Book Review: Education Studies: Essential Issues: 'Education Studies: Essential Issues' is a book similar in style to the editor's first volume 'Introduction to Education Studies', both books introducing a variety of broad educational issues while analysing certain areas in greater depth. Whereas the first book dealt with wider perspectives on education (i.e research, politics and policy, psychological theory), this book deals with more specific issues with chapters viewing education through...
Book Review: Learning and Teaching Where Worldviews Meet: This book was not as I expected it to be. With my mind-set of citizenship education, international citizenship and sources of competing views of the world, I saw a space in 'worldviews' - between the "d" and the "v" - where none exists, and was startled to be wafted from citizenship reflections to Weberian weltanschauung. This book takes the reader on more disparate, wider and wilder journeys - from Princess Diana's death through rural poverty in...
Book review : Gender in primary and secondary education : a handbook for policy-makers and other stakeholders: This is a book review of Gender in primary and secondary education: a handbook for policy-makers and other stakeholders by Ramya Subrahmanian, published by the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2007, ISBN 9780850928648. It was reviewed by Dr Christine Bold of Liverpool Hope University for ESCalate. The book provides an overview of the rationales that have informed policy development in girls’ education and encourages a change towards a rights–based...
Book Review: Making Sense of Education: An introduction to the philosophy and theory of education and teaching: This book covers three distinct but interrelated aspects of education: education, teaching and professional practice; learning, knowledge and the curriculum and schooling, society and culture. The three sections provide a useful overview of philosophical thinking in these areas and touch on issues central to the concept of education and the practice of teaching
Book Review: Teacher Education Through Open and Distance Learning: This book is Volume Three of a series World Review of Distance Education and Open Learning. It is published on behalf of the Commonwealth of Learning, an international organisation established by Commonwealth governments in 1988. The purpose of the organisation is to create and widen opportunities for learning, through Commonwealth co-operation in distance education and open learning. It works closely with governments, colleges and universities...
Book review : Rethinking english in schools : a new and constructive stage: Book review : Rethinking English in schools : a new and constructive stage, edited by Viv Ellis, Carol Fox and Brian Street, published by Continuum in 2007, ISBN 9780826499226. It was reviewed by John Butcher of University College Falmouth, on behalf of ESCalate. This edited collection originated in an Oxford conference, - Why English? The editors and contributors are researchers in English Teacher Education, representing UK, US and Australian...
Book Review: Educational Counter-Cultures: Confrontations, Images, Visions: This is the third volume of papers arising out of the annual international ‘Discourse Power Resistance’ conferences held in the UK. The series editors, Jerome Satterthwaite and Elizabeth Atkinson, describe their hopes and the intended audience for this series thus: ‘This series, which is intended for students, teachers, trainers, lecturers, researchers and those responsible for shaping educational policy, aims to promote a radical rethinking of...
Book Review: Scottish Education 2nd edition Post-devolution: Taking account, according to themselves, of the changes in Scottish education since the [re-]creation of the Scottish Parliament albeit with somewhat limited powers, Bryce and Humes present us with a revision and update of their 1999 first edition. As before, the writers come from a wide range of backgrounds and include not only academics but also teachers, advisory staff, local authority personnel, journalists and so on
Book review : Education studies : a students guide: The book’s 18, quite short, chapters cover a wide range of topics, arranged in three broad areas: ‘Global and international perspectives’, ‘Teaching, educational settings and policy’, and ‘Knowledge, learning and the curriculum’
Book Review: Education and Social Change: A well referenced and interesting sociological analysis of recent educational policy and practice, set in the context of social change - 'a sociological commentary on contemporary educational times'. She describes the transformation within sociology itself, as struggling through a wilderness. The initial chapters deal with policy issues -auditing and inspection; the educational 'market'; and imposed definitions of what constitutes knowledge. The...
Book Review: Education, Education, Education: In the Footnote to this tonic of a book Ted Wragg writes that there are two choices when things go badly in education: laugh or cry. He prefers to laugh because 'the alternative is too awful to contemplate, and anyway, why should the buggers grind you down'. Herein lies the popularity and importance of his regular column on the backpage of the TES – his wonderful wry sense of humour that raises smiles and morale in staffrooms across this country...
Book Review: Reshaping Teaching in Higher Education - Linking Teaching with Research: In the first of a series of linked chapters we first gain insights into the basic tenet of the whole book, which is: - that to produce quality learning for the students we need to reshape our teaching by linking teaching and research in many new ways. Next we examine the proofs that such links really do relate to a quality student experience. In Ch 3 the student perspective is examined as to whether they are motivated or not by these links. Next...
Book Review: Early Childhood Education - Good Practice in Achieving Universal Primary Education: A Handbook for Education Policy Makers and Practitioners in Commonwealth Countries: Consisting of a series of papers presented to the JTA Conference 2004, the book gives a frank and appealing insight into pre-primary and primary education opportunities in Jamaica
Book Review: Beyond A Levels: This book provides a detailed account of the developments that led to the Curriculum 2000 initiative, tracing its roots back to the New Vocationalism of the 1970s, through the 1980s and 1990s in the earlier chapters, where they document and analyse some of the more turbulent times in education policy and practice
Book Review: Becoming a Teacher: 'If you are learning how to be a teacher, then this book has been written for you.' So begins the second edition of this well known reader written and compiled by a group at the School of Education, Kings College, London. New chapters, including citizenship, literacy and inspection, bring the book up to date without diluting either the quality or accessibility of the read. The book is aimed at the trainee and newly qualified teacher, though it is...