ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the political and economic infl uences on education in England. While there have been similar developments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and across many industrial nations, it is England that has experienced the extreme effects of educational politics. Over a century, education policy has swung between benign indifference, micromanagement and free-market economics. The chapter introduces:
• trends in government policy in England since 1870; • political theories and their effects on education policy; • the links between education and the economy; • the development of market forces in education.
