International Handbook of Urban Education pp 1157-1172 | Cite as
Future Directions for Urban Education in the UK
Previous chapters of this handbook have described a range of developments in contemporary urban education policy and practice in the UK. Many of these developments advance our understanding of what are likely to be the key drivers for reform of urban education in the future. This final chapter, arising from these insights, will examine what we see as the main trends that are bringing about significant change in urban schools in the UK. Many of these changes do, we believe, have the potential to create more effective ladders of opportunity for students in urban areas and, hopefully, many of these will be irreversible. The chapter also highlights some key policy areas which will require significant further development if the needs of students in urban areas are going to be addressed fully and real social justice achieved. These include extended schools, race equality, issues of access and equity in the context of the rhetoric of choice and “parental empowerment.”
Many of the contributors to this handbook have described how developments in urban education in the UK are currently characterized by a set of contradictions. On the one hand the trend toward diversity and choice in education, with its attendant promotion of quasi markets and acceptance of the inequalities they produce, continues to grow and develop often with negative consequences for deprived urban areas. After 1997 New Labour continued the commitment to marketisation and the assertion of consumer rights in education (Whitty, 2002, p. 127) which had characterized education policy in the two previous decades but, at the same time, there has been a remarkable growth in funding and in social policy interventions designed to create a more equal society in the UK. These interventions have been based upon hugely ambitious governmental goals to halve child poverty by 2010, achieve full employment and to close the gap between the poorest areas in England and the rest. One of the biggest achievements of the New Labour governments since 1997 has been its ability to gain acceptance for the active role of government in creating a “social justice” agenda alongside an economic strategy designed to benefit all its citizens. New Labour has shown a deep commitment to the improvement in public services for wider social benefit across all areas, most notably in education and health, and it is in this context also that future of directions for urban education in the UK should be viewed.
Keywords
Young People Social Capital Social Justice Lifelong Learning Urban SchoolPreview
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