Originally published in 1985, this book argues that to make sense any attempt to improve the situation must take account of what we now know about adult growth and development, accepting as an operational imperative that it is as problematic and turbulent as childhood. The book claims that since adults flourish to the extent that they have a sense of personal recognition, the business of education is to enable people to gain that sense of being recognised and valued through any learning they undertake. It suggests that putting adults in charge of their own learning is the logical extension of establishing a public education system and so is a necessary step towards our society becoming a democracy of learners. This important book marked a watershed in the literature on adult and continuing education.

The post-Mao period has witnessed rapid social and economic transformation in all walks of Chinese life – much of it fuelled by, or reflected in, changes to the country’s education system. This book analyses the development of that system since the abandonment of radical Maoism and the inauguration of ‘Reform and Opening’ in the late 1970s. The principal focus is on formal education in schools and conventional institutions of tertiary education, but there is also some discussion of preschools, vocational training, and learning in non-formal contexts. The book begins with a discussion of the historical and comparative context for evaluating China’s educational ‘achievements’, followed by an extensive discussion of the key transitions in education policymaking during the ‘Reform and Opening’ period. This informs the subsequent examination of changes affecting the different phases of education from preschool to tertiary level. There are also chapters dealing specifically with the financing and administration of schooling, curriculum development, the public examinations system, the teaching profession, the phenomenon of marketisation, and the ‘international dimension’ of Chinese education. The book concludes with an assessment of the social consequences of educational change in the post-Mao era and a critical discussion of the recent fashion in certain Western countries for hailing China as an educational model. The analysis is supported by a wealth of sources – primary and secondary, textual and statistical – and is informed by both authors’ wide-ranging experience of Chinese education. As the first monograph on China's educational development during the forty years of the post-Mao era, this book will be essential reading for all those seeking to understand the world’s largest education system. It will also be crucial reference for educational comparativists, and for scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds researching contemporary Chinese society.

Reviews of the first edition “This book must become the classic text for students of education, social and welfare policies. Sally Tomlinson, doyenne of policy-orientated education and social research, has written with commendable clarity and comprehensiveness a superb book on British education.” – Journal of Social Policy “This book provides a context for understanding education policy which is currently missing from education and social policy courses. It should be compulsory reading.” – Len Barton, Institute of Education, University of London “The persistence and reinforcement of class advantage through English education policy is a key theme… this book does a superb job of both highlighting the key social justice concerns and controversies over the last fifty years and providing an overview of education policy developments over the same period.” – British Journal of Sociology of Education Highly commended – S.E.S Book Prize 2002 The acclaimed first edition of Education in a Post-Welfare Society provided a critical overview of education policy since 1945. It demonstrated how a relatively decentralised education system became a system in which funding, teaching and curriculum are centrally controlled and privatisation encouraged, with education becoming a prop for global market economy rather than a pillar of the welfare state. The second edition continues the policy story up to 2005, covering two terms of a New Labour government and their plans for a third term. It also continues an examination of the relationship of education policy to social class, race, gender and the economy, paying attention to the educational disadvantages of some ethnic groups and refugee children. The book includes chronologies of education acts, reports and initiatives and summaries of major legislation. This is an invaluable resource for all those concerned with social policy and education, including educational researchers, professionals and politicians.

In this book, an eminent educational historian examines some important aspects of American schooling over the past centuries, illuminating the relation between education and other broad changes in American society and providing a historical perspective for contemporary efforts at school reform. Maris Vinovskis critically reviews and integrates recent work in educational history and provides new research on neglected topics. He discusses such issues as: the gradual shift from the family to the public schools in the responsibility for educating the young; the rise and fall of infant schools between 1840 and 1860; the crisis in the teaching of morality in the public schools of the mid-nineteenth century; early efforts to provide schooling for impoverished children; and the evolution of the belief that education improves individual economic and social mobility. He also studies school attendance and discovers that a much higher percentage of children may have attended public high schools in the nineteenth century than has been assumed, investigates when the practice of placing children in grades according to their age became widespread, and assesses whether different age groups in previous eras varied in their support for schooling--as they seem to be doing now.

This book is essential for all those who study and work in today's colleges and for all those who seek a better education for their children, the nation, and the world. It is recommended for courses in higher education and society, contemporary issues in higher education, philosophy of higher education, academic issues in higher education, leadership and globalization and higher education.

Over the last decade, "youth" has become increasingly central to policy, development, media and public debates and conflicts across the world – whether as an ideological symbol, social category or political actor. Set against a backdrop of contemporary political economy, Youth Rising? seeks to understand exactly how and why youth has become such a popular and productive social category and concept. The book provocatively argues that the rise and spread of global neoliberalism has not only led youth to become more politically and symbolically salient, but also to expand to encompass a growing range of ages and individuals of different class, race, ethnic, national and religious backgrounds. Employing both theoretical and historical analysis, authors Mayssoun Sukarieh and Stuart Tannock trace the development of youth within the context of capitalism, where it has long functioned as a category for social control. The book’s chapters critically analyze the growing fears of mass youth unemployment and a "lost generation" that spread around the world in the wake of the global financial crisis. They question as well the relentless focus on youth in the reporting and discussion of recent global protests and uprisings. By helping develop a better understanding of such phenomena and critically and reflexively investigating the very category and identity of youth, Youth Rising? offers a fresh and sobering challenge to the field of youth studies and to widespread claims about the relationship between youth and social change.

Includes section with title: Journal of the American Education Society, which was also issued separately.