Freedoms and Perils: Academy Schools in England

Abstract

Can Dewey's Moral Principles in Education throw light on a contemporary policy issue in education, namely the privatisation of education through the establishment of academy schools in England? The article first considers what the policy entails, in terms of its conception of education as a market commodity. The next section suggests an alternative conception, drawing particularly on Deweyan claims for the fundamentally normative and relational nature of teaching, through his definition of democracy as ‘a form of associated living’ and the school as a place for such association. The third section relates the two conceptions of education and in their light considers tensions and conflicts in the academisation policy concerning inclusion, equity and social cohesion. The article concludes that the establishment of academy schools compromises these values and constitutes a danger to the commons, that is, to socially consensual and equitable ways of being together.

Academisation of Schools in England and Placements of Pupils With Special Educational Needs: An Analysis of Trends, 2011–2017

“…Our findings contribute to a small but growing literature on the nature and effects of academisation (cf. Machin and Vernoit, 2011;Wilson, 2011;Gibson, 2016;Gorard, 2016;Heilbronn, 2016. The analysis showed academisation was particularly rapid for secondary rather than primary schools. The speed of the academisation of the secondary schools was also higher between 2011 and 2013 just after the system and funding was established.…”

“…He identified that in some Sponsored Academies the relationship was very constrained and even more so than in maintained schools, seemingly undermining the principle that Academies gave schools more autonomy from Local Authorities. Another approach has been to question critically the academisation principles for framing education as a commodity in a school market place (Heilbronn, 2016). Part of this argument is that the freedoms associated with academisation can come to threaten wider aims associated with inclusion and equity.…”

School autonomy and educational inclusion of children with special needs: Evidence from England

“…The commission recommended that such practices be eradicated through school‐to‐school collaboration, as the way to improve achievement for all. Another approach has been to question critically the academisation principles for framing education as a commodity in a school marketplace (Heilbronn, ). Part of this argument is that the freedoms associated with academisation can come to threaten wider educational aims associated with inclusion and equity.…”

Freedom and obedience in western education

“…As a result, we find that a financial logic has been introduced into schools, which implies governance, bureaucratization and the degradation of objectives to adapt to the freedoms of capital. Consequently equity, democracy and people are all endangered, as is the social construction of the school (Heilbronn, 2016). These problems arise not only because of the very nature of capitalism and globalization, which have proven to be the greatest equalizers in the history of mankind (Norberg, 2005), but also from the way in which they are executed.…”