The Managerial School: Post-welfarism and Social Justice in Education

The relationship between welfare and the state has undergone a sustained process of reconfiguration over the past two decades and managerialism has played a key role in this process. In education, parents are now seen as consumers and schools as small businesses, their income dependent on their success in attracting customers within competitive local 'markets'.
At the same time, management practices borrowed from business, such as target setting and performance monitoring, now play a key ro...