Markets, Managers and Theory in Education

This book is concerned with the logic of the relationship between educational theory and practice. However it is not just an academic monograph located within the general area of the philosophy of education, it is also a fundamental examination of three currently popular ideas: vocationalism is the idea that central purposes of education is to prepare people for work. Managerialism is the idea that this preparation can be managed by those not immediately concerned with the practice of teaching, and consumerism is the idea that education should be led by the demands of the market. While the book is mostly likely to interest those who are generally critical of the present dominance of these three ideas in educational policy and practice, it should also provoke some interest from promoters of these ideas.