Education Policy, 1997-2000: The effects on top, bottom and middle England

Abstract

This article links the divisive education policies of the early 1990s, pursued by New Labour after 1997, with the continued reproduction of a class structure relatively unchanged despite the economic, political and cultural transformation of post-industrial England. It briefly overviews New Labour's education policies, including a list of Acts, Reports and initiatives 1997-2000 in an Appendix. It notes the divisive effects on class structures of an emerging hierarchy of schools and the relationship of class to the economy. It describes the continued reproduction of upper and some middle class groups via private schooling, the strategies of other middle and aspirant groups in their jockeying for positional advantage in education, and reviews the prospects for the poor under a government that preached inclusion but pursued exclusionary policies. The article suggests that theories of social reproduction have to take into account the ruthless determination of privileged and aspirant social groups to maximise the reproduction of their own class advantages. © 2001, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.