ABSTRACT
It can be argued that the post-war campaign for comprehensive education in Britain has passed through a number of phases — not all of them directly related to the political complexion of the government in power. Over forty years have now elapsed since the passing of the Butler Education Act of 1944, and in that time a number of new theories and practices have surfaced to acquire a transient popularity, while many others have been discredited and effectively discarded. Having said that, it is, of course, highly dangerous to suggest that any reform movement can be divided up into neat periods each with its own distinct flavour and outlook. If we think in terms of phases or periods — and this chapter makes use of 1965 as a suitable turning-point in the analysis — they are clearly to a large extent arbitrary, and can be justified only as an artificial device for making a complex subject more manageable.
