Radical Traditions in Education in the 21st Century

Education was powerfully if never decisively shaped by the activities of social and political movements in the 20th century. Covering a range of issues, this book traces the impact of such movements on educational practice.

University of Keele, UK

Review 1 Terri Seddon I think this would be a particularly timely book which would sell well in Anglo Saxon countries and Europe. There is no doubt that the major themes that Ken Jones is taking up are extremely pertinent to England and Australia, and also to US, New Zealand and other parts of the UK. Europe is also likely to be a market because of the impact of neo-liberalism within the EU and Ken's research on neo-liberal impacts in Europe. Its character means that it is likely to be attractive to markets in politics and sociology, as well as education. Given the way political opinion is shifting at present in the face of large scale human challenges like climate change, I think there is a strong likelihood that the issues Ken is addressing will come back onto the agenda even further as teachers and other people in and around education ask what can be done through education to address social change. If the book is intended for the student market, how would you expect it to be used (e.g. indicate whether main text, recommended reading, library only). Please list courses: At postgraduate level, I think the book could be used as a course text -- possibly as the focus of a reading group styled teaching situation. It would also be used via recommended reading, libraries. Etc. I would certainly use the book in these ways and would seriously consider using the book as a group reading activity because the content is provocative and Ken writes really well. What are the principal competitive books available and what particular advantages has the proposed new book? I can't think of any books that take up quite this angle. In a way it is evidence that supports Ken's contention that neo-liberalism has had its effects in the culture of education so that we no longer recognise and value what we once saw to be important, even though we resist this trend. My sense is that many books published today are either about how to survive neo-liberalism and its manifestations in professional working lives, or are critiques of neo-liberalism which do not really attend to resistance and counter movements (as Ken argues). Indeed, my irritation with quite a lot of what has been written is that it actually conflates neo-liberal practices and counter-movement practices as if they are the same thing. How quickly is this book likely to become out of date? The book is durable. It is timely in addressing current challenges but does so by drawing on serious conceptualisations within the social sciences -- conceptualisations that go back through the 20th century and beyond. This is important work because it links with the wider disciplinary traditions and means that its usefulness will endure, even when the current challenges are only memories. Basically the book deals with the intractable wicked problems of education and these will persist regardless of the day to day politics and policy regime. Because Ken is such a good writer and well known for his seminal analyses of the new right, etc, this book could well become a classic of its kind and be a kind of market of our times which sits at the interface between neo-liberalism and subsequent regimes which I think are emerging. Is the author a recognised authority in this field? Yes. His previous books have been very well received. Is the author's coverage of the subject adequate and appropriate to the level aimed at. If not , what modifications are needed? Yes, a very interesting set of chapters that cover the field very well. I'd like to see some reference to the world beyond Europe rather than just confining the book to Europe. The point here is not to tell more stories about other places but to be alert to global scale in order to contextualise Europe and its practices appropriately. There is a tendency for authors writing about Europe to be a bit parochial, like the English and Americans, as if they are the centre. I think there is also scope for considering the implications of currents in contemporary politics and their implications for social movements in and through education. For instance, the climate change agenda and its interface with wider movements around poverty and social justice has the potential to reopen thinking about education and its role in social movement and in social sustainability. I think this kind of broad agenda might be interesting in the context of Ken's analysis. In other words, what does this analysis of education politics say about large scale social change agenda -- and what is the contribution of research in all this. Do you recommend that we should publish this book? Absolutely. I look forward to receiving a copy of this book. I think Ken has a great agenda and the capacity to carry it off in a very user friendly, readable way. Thanks for the opportunity to read this proposal. Review 2 Pat Thompson, University of Nottingham This is a potentially important book which will be of interest in the UK and beyond. There is a returning interest in the UK in the demise of radical education traditions, as witnessed by the recent publication of a special issue of Forum: 'Reclaiming our radical past'. There seems to be an emerging sense that academics and activists have allowed: (1) policymakers to impose an amnesiac pall over education, and (2) right-wing think-tanks to close down debates through the use of limited and abusive lexicon and ideological distortions. Because of the growing interest in the effects of neo-liberal rhetorical and policy assault, this book is likely to find a larger audience than even perhaps a couple of years ago. The reference to Raymond Williams in the title will create interest in conference and catalogue browsers. The author has correctly identified the market as academics and researchers, including postgraduates. There will be sales in countries whose education systems and policy trajectories are intertwined with that of the UK -- Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Progressive educators in North America will also be interested and at least some will include this text in doctoral course work. As Jones argues, there is little available to compete with this text. Policy histories (Tomlinson, Whitty) have neither the focus on the contemporary cultural turn, nor the connections with Europe that feature in this book. The chapters on creativity, trade union activities and the campaign against academies are distinctive markers of the text, but are unlikely to date the book quickly. Jones and Jones and Buckingham's work on creativity for example (2001) are still widely cited and what has been published since (Hall and Thomson 2005, 2006) draws on this work. The argument made about the knowledge economy takes existing work in the area and applies it in interesting ways to schooling - most researchers largely focus on HE ( e.g. Kenway et al)). As such, the book provides a challenge to the ready determinism and/or sectoral elitism which surrounds such discussions. Jones has a positive and strong reputation in the UK and European educational research fields. He will attract some readers on the basis of his previous work. The author's recent single authored history of British education is well known, respected and widely used. This new book promises a sequel as well as a reworking of material already in the public arena. Jones writes with authority and his texts are clear and beautifully crafted. This is certainly a book I would buy and recommend to my colleagues and doctoral students. It is likely to have considerable library take-up, but also needs to be priced so that it is affordable to doctoral students who do not have unlimited budgets. I completely endorse the publication of this text and look forward to reading it. Response to Reviews I'm sorry that I have been a long time getting back to you with a revision - I've had other work of course, but I also want to rethink some of the issues around the book, and do some research about them. The result is this new version. It differs from the original in several respects: 1) Much of the British material, originally contained in three chapters, is now brought together, and condensed, in one. 2) There are new chapter proposals relating to what I hope are topics of international interest - Marxist theorising, and libertarian traditions of education. The literature referenced here is North American, as well as British. 3) The chapter on anti-racism in Britain is linked to global debates about the politics of identity. 4) The focus of the book is, I think, more clearly defined.