Research Catalog
The crisis of the meritocracy : Britain's transition to mass education since the Second World War
- Title
- The crisis of the meritocracy : Britain's transition to mass education since the Second World War / Peter Mandler.
- Author
- Mandler, Peter
- Publication
- Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2020.
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Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JFE 21-5185 | Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315 |
Details
- Description
- xvi, 361 pages : illustrations; 24 cm
- Summary
- Before the Second World War, only about 20% of the population went to secondary school and barely 2% to university; today everyone goes to secondary school and half of all young people go to university. How did we get here from there? The Crisis of the Meritocracy answers this question not by looking to politicians and educational reforms, but to the revolution in attitudes and expectations amongst the post-war British public - the rights guaranteed by the welfare state, the hope of a better life for one's children, widespread upward mobility from manual to non-manual occupations, confidence in the importance of education in a 'learning society' and a 'knowledge economy'. As a result of these transformations, 'meritocracy' - the idea that a few should be selected to succeed - has been challenged by democracy and its wider understandings of equal opportunity across the life course. At a time when doubts have arisen about whether we need so many students, and amidst calls for a return to grammar-school selection at 11, the tension between meritocracy and democracy remains vital to understanding why our grandparents, our parents, ourselves and our children have sought and got more and more education - and to what end.
- Subject
- 1900-1999
- Education and state > Great Britain > History > 20th century
- Education > Great Britain > History > 20th century
- Educational equalization > Great Britain > History > 20th century
- Merit (Ethics)
- Education > Great Britain > Public opinion
- Education
- Education and state
- Education > Public opinion
- Educational equalization
- Great Britain
- Genre/Form
- History.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-350) and index.
- Contents
- Meritocracy vs democracy -- Before the Butler Act -- Crisis of the meritocracy -- The transition to comprehensive education -- The Robbins Principle -- What has happened to the students? -- The transition to mass education -- The swing away from science -- Effectively maintained inequality -- Epilogue: More and more education.
- Call Number
- JFE 21-5185
- ISBN
- 9780198840145
- 0198840144
- LCCN
- 2019956693
- OCLC
- 1142525527
- Author
- Mandler, Peter, author.
- Title
- The crisis of the meritocracy : Britain's transition to mass education since the Second World War / Peter Mandler.
- Publisher
- Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2020.
- Edition
- First edition.
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-350) and index.
- Chronological Term
- 1900-1999
- Research Call Number
- JFE 21-5185