Book Reviews : EDUCATION: A SOCIOLOGY OF POLICY SINCE 1945 Andrew McPherson and Charles D. Raab. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1988) pp. xxiii & 555 38.00 (hard) 12.50 (paperback)
| Author | R.A.W. Rhodes |
| Date | 01 December 1989 |
| Published date | 01 December 1989 |
| DOI | 10.1177/095207678900400308 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
51
EDUCATION:
A
SOCIOLOGY
OF
POLICY
SINCE
1945
Andrew
McPherson
and
Charles
D.
Raab.
(Edinburgh:
Edinburgh
University
Press,
1988)
pp.
xxiii
&
555
38.00
(hard)
12.50
(paperback)
How
do
you
help
a
sleepless
Englishman?
At
first
glance
a
post-war
history
of
education
in
Scotland
might
seem
to
have
somniferous
possibilities.
At
a
&dquo;mere&dquo;
578
pages,
it
could
challenge
even
a
committed
insomniac.
Add
to
the
potion
lengthy
extracts
from
interview
transcripts,
a
chapter
devoted
to
methodology
and
two
chapters
of
social
and
political
theory
and
drowsiness
would
seem
but
a
chapter
away.
But,
once
again,
first
impressions
are
misleading.
This
book
is
a
scholarly
analysis
of
a
major
British
policy
area
which
provides
not
only
impressive
interview
data
but
also
a
sophisticated
theoretical
analysis.
The
first
part
of
the
book
examines
corporatist
and
pluralist
models
of
policy
making
(Chapter
1);
provides
an
introduction
to
the
government
of
Scottish
education
before
1945
(Chapter
2);
and
describes
the
research
methodology
(Chapter
3).
Part
II
looks
at
the
changes
in
secondary
education
since
1945,
looking
at
the
principal
people
and
events
and
focusing
on
the
shifting
conflicts
and
alliances
(Chapters
4
and
5).
Part
III
concentrates
on
resources
examining
the
central-local
financial
relationship.
It
describes
the
changing
roles
of
the
Scottish
Education
Department
(SED)
(Chapter
6);
the
influence
of
the
Inspectorate
(Chapter
7);
the
contribution
of
national
politics,
ministers
and
MPs
(Chapter
8);
the
central
financing
of
education
and
the
allocation
of
capital
expenditure
for
school
building
(Chapter
9);
and
the
supply,
distribution
and
salaries
of
teachers
(Chapter
10Y.
Part
IV
concentrates
on
substantive
policy
issues.
Chapter
II
provides
an
overview
of
the
policies
on
certification,
curriculum
and
selection
up
to
the
1960s.
Thereafter,
attention
switches
to
specific
issues
such
as
the
SED’s
relationship
with
the
teachers
(Chapter
12);
the
growth
of
certification
(Chapter
13);
curriculum
change
(Chapter
14);
selective
education
(Chapter
15)
and
the
introduction
of
comprehensive
education
(Chapter
16).
Part
V
describes
the
educational
policy
community,
providing
an
anthropological
account
of
its
values
and
recruitment
practices
(Chapter
17);
and
an
analysis
of
relationships
between
the
SED
and
the
main
pressure
groups
(Chapter
18).
Finally,
Chapter
19
surveys
the
SED’s
capacity
to
control
policy
outcomes
through
the
policy
community
and
Chapter
20
provides
a
primarily
theoretical
summary
of
the
evolution
of
Scottish
educational
policy.
This
summary
description
does
scant
justice
to
the
richness
of
the
book’s
themes.
The
author’s
account
of
Scottish
education
distinguishes
three
approaches
to
the
analysis
of
education
policy
and
the
state:
social
action
theory
in
which
human
events
are
essentially
in-determinate
and
the
world
is
idiographic,
known
only
through
individual
experience;
pluralist
theory
in
which
the
political
arena
is
separable
from
civil
society,
power
is
dispersed
between
groups
and
relationships
are
not
necessarily
dominated
by
a
particular
class,
bureaucrat
or
status
group;
and
neo-Weberian
theory
in
which
educational
policy
can
be
a
product
of
the
interplay
between
the
public
interest
and
group
interests
but
political
conflict
is
constrained
by
the
pattern
of
civil
domination/subordination
and
especially
alliances
which
can
produce
a
dominant
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