ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the consequences of a fragmented and competitive system within an education market which promotes choice. It argues for partnership between schools, colleges, youth service, voluntary bodies and employers. The rapid expansion in the last few years of the co-operative schools' movement reflects a strong resistance to these developments - schools which are committed to local and community accountability, to public service rather than to private gain, and to the promotion of co-operation rather than competition within an increasingly fragmented system. Students need to know not only the range of possible career opportunities open to them, but also how such opportunities relate to their own abilities and aspirations. Sir Winfried Bishcoff, former chair of Lloyds Banking Group, challenges why only 15 per cent of employers consider recruiting straight from school. Employers are looking for talent, attitude and experience, not necessarily degrees. There is no curriculum development without teacher development, as Laurence Stenhouse argued so forcefully.
