Australian Education: Reform or Crisis?

What is behind the 'back to the basics' drive in education?

How far should schools prepare students for the changing

world of work?

Why are more parents turning to private schools?

Broad changes have swept through Australian society and education in the past decade and altered assumptions about the relationship between the two. Do these changes reflect processes of democratic reform or a crisis in the social system?

Anthony Welch offers a critical overview of current educational debates and issues. He outlines the background to recent reforms and argues that they are motivated more by economics than educational values and are unlikely to achieve their goals.

He then focuses on Aboriginal education, class, gender, multiculturalism, the 'back to the basics' movement and the relationship between school and work. Drawing on current data, he analyses the extent and direction of change in these key policy fields.

Australian Education is essential reading for anyone interested in the role of education in society.

Tony Welch has written a sharply observed and vigorously argued analysis of Australian education. A refreshing book that gets behind the rhetoric of 'standards' and 'choice' to the deep problems of social change and educational justice.

RW Connell, Professor of Education, University of Sydney.