Education and Labour Party Ideologies 1900-2001and Beyond

Denis Lawton analyzes labor education policies since 1900 and shows that from the very beginning the Labour Party lacked unity and ideological coherence concerning education. Specifically, there has always been a tension between those like the early Fabians who saw educational reform in terms of economic efficiency, and the ethical socialists whose vision of a more moral society stressed the importance of social justice in education. After an assessment of Labour ideologies in the past, this book concludes with an examination of New Labour and the Third Way in education and suggests some changes that will be necessary in the near future.

Denis Lawton is Emeritus Professor of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London.