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Children, power and schooling: how childhood is structured in the primary schoolDympna Devine, 2003Stoke on Trent, Trentham Books£17.99, 166 pp.ISBN 1-8585-6271-6Devine’s study is built around a compelling and often entertaining account of the lives of children in Dublin primary classrooms in the 1990s. The account is framed by a combination of theoretical perspectives—from earlier sociologies of the classroom, and more recent theories from the sociology of childhood—brought together to construct a coherent overview of the structural positioning of children as pupils. This hybrid theorizing generates a range of interesting interpretations and conclusions: about the status of children in classrooms; about the ways that structure and agency interact in the lives of individual teachers and children, and of whole groups; and about the complex contribution of social class, sex, academic ability and peer group culture to children’s perceptions of their role and position.The analysis derives from data collected from 133 children, aged around six to 10, and their teachers and head teachers, during a single school year. The children are observed in five classrooms in three different schools, selected for their varied social class intake, and much of the data presented consists of quotations from children’s interviews. The very disparate views offered by younger and older children, boys and girls, from differing socio-economic backgrounds, together present a complicated mosaic of beliefs and practices, in which the underlying structural and power issues can be hard to identify. This rich jumble of evidence however has been carefully categorized, and is presented as chapters focused on the separate themes of curriculum, pedagogy, evaluation and social relationships, so as to present an integrated overall analysis.This overall argument is a familiar one by now: that children and childhood, though socially constructed in particular ways by different societies, always constitute a minority social group, whose scholastic ‘work’ is not valued as a social contribution, and whose rights are over-ridden by adult views of their best interests. Schooling, of course, is one of the key ways in which individual children’s wishes are subjugated to societal ends. Society’s ‘interests’, on the whole internalized by the children, relate to their future status as adults in employment, rather than to their present status as individuals with rights to a say in their own daily lives. In the present, they are generally voiceless—and this study is one of many attempting to allow them to be heard.All these arguments are supported by the data presented, most tellingly by the children’s own blunt but pragmatic reflections on the way things are in schools. Like children everywhere, these Irish children know where power is located in schools, and can identify a subtle hierarchy of authority and control, in which they themselves participate. This participation is not merely acceptance or resistance of adult power: the children themselves organize their own oppressive power structures, in which classmates who are viewed as clever or stupid, popular or pretty, socially adept or diffident, make each others’ lives bearable or unbearable. At the same time, the relationships between teachers and their classes is not at all one of simple dominance: like the teachers depicted in earlier studies, Devine’s teachers are engaged in a constant struggle, attempting to sustain their idealistic, vocational and caring intentions in the face of daily demands and pressures, from government and other sources, as well as from children. The children, in their turn, recognize the teachers’ dilemma, and are generally supportive of the negotiated power-sharing arrangements that enable the classroom to function from day to day. Most children in the study feel teachers treat them well, and are positive about school; while a surprisingly large number of them (72%) identified a child, rather than an adult, as ‘having the most power in school’ (p. 26).The Irish Republic, of course, is not only a foreign country but a postcolonial one; like many postcolonial nations, it appears to retain—at the time of this study—some colonial educational practices that are unusual in the UK. These include the predominance of whole-class teaching; the classrooms with desks in rows; the teacher’s desk placed at the front of the classroom for full surveillance, or worse, at the back, so that surveillance is carried out undetected; and the evident lack of autonomy experienced by most children in the matter of their own learning and working habits. So UK teachers and researchers may feel this is a somewhat alien world, and the children somewhat old-fashioned in their acceptance of structural rigidity and inequality. The theoretical models, nevertheless, transcend the actual evidence and remain a pressing reminder of continuing, and universal, concerns. The recommendations for policy—for increases in pupil representation, and improved work on citizenship—have to some extent already achieved New Labour orthodoxy.A minor, but depressing, query: don’t publishers employ copy-editors any more? One glance at the references had me reaching for my pencil as if this were student work for correction. I spotted over 30 errors or inconsistencies in a quick read-through: authors (when names like Althusser are mis-spelt, you wonder if the author actually consulted them), punctuation (apostrophes), chronology, variant referencing forms, repetitions. The main text itself, though written in a forceful and clear style, also had its share of mis-spellings and misplaced apostrophes. I couldn’t help wondering what those strict Irish teachers would have thought of it.Liz Brooker, Institute of Education, University of London, Bedford Way, London WCIH ONT, UKA new deal for children? Re-forming education and care in England, Scotland and SwedenBronwen Cohen, Peter Moss, Pat Petrie and Jennifer Wallace, 2004Bristol, Policy Press£19.99, xii?+?241pp.ISBN 1-8613-4528-3With children’s centres expected to become an election issue in the UK, this is a very timely book because it examines early years education and care policy in three European countries. The book is a comparative research study of England, Scotland and Sweden, which all brought early childhood education and care services, schools and school age childcare under the same government department in the mid to late 1990s. It looks at the nature of the reforms, explores the relationships between children’s education and care as well as how they intersect with family life and employment. Although devolution has given Scotland some control over childcare and education policy, there is still some policy overlap with England and so Scotland emerges as a bridge between the situation in England and Sweden.One of the most striking differences between Sweden and England/Scotland is the way in which the child is seen in public policy. In Sweden, this period has seen what the authors describe as ‘a paradigm shift in how the child is understood’ (p. 39). There is less emphasis on the ‘poor’ child or the child as victim than in England/Scotland. Another difference is the concept of ‘pedagogy’ that is central to Swedish childcare and education practice. In England/Scotland childcare and education are seen as separate, although as one interviewer said, we ‘can’t educate without caring and a good carer can’t care without offering some developmental potential’ (p. 41) suggesting that caring and education need not be so polarized.Another difference between Sweden and England/Scotland is the balance of public and private provision of childcare that has developed over the past three decades. The largely public provision in Sweden is contrasted with the marketization of childcare in England and Scotland where private provision dominates. In this sense, although there were major reorganizations at national government level in all three countries, there were also continuities in policies in relation to public or private provision.Each national study examines the condition of workers within the childcare and education sectors. Women make up the majority of the labour force in all three countries. In Scotland and England there are many different levels of pay, training and qualifications. There have been some predictions that with the integration of childcare and education services differences within the workforce would breakdown. However, it is still a fragmented and poorly paid workforce. There have been attempts to introduce training, which would enable childcare workers to move into the education sector. In Sweden, a much greater degree of integration of the workforce has been achieved. The merger of trade unions, which helped to strengthen their bargaining power at municipal level, led this integration. One of the questions posed by the book is whether liberal welfare regimes (e.g., England and Scotland) with significant private provision of childcare can undertake a major revaluation and reform of the workforce.Sweden is presented as the third case study. Although the profile of Sweden is not uncritical, it still emerges as a vision of what can be done. In Sweden there was a clear move of welfare childcare functions/services into the education sector both at national government level and local level. The reforms signified the move from having achieved a provision of childcare for parents in employment to a greater focus on the child and pedagogy, which also had strong political support. The concept of lifelong learning starts with the young child. In this sense, Sweden can be seen as an example of universal coverage evolving from targeted services. In Scotland/England, child policy is ‘targeted and welfarist in nature’ (p. 190) with great emphasis on joined up working and the reduction of poverty and social exclusion. Sweden has a longer history of providing integrated parental leave, childcare and employment but in Scotland and England these issues are only now being addressed.Each country case study begins with a profile of a child in that country which is a vivid way of illustrating the complexity of service delivery. Interview material provides some insights into the reality of policy implementation, especially the problems of achieving ‘joined up’ government in England and Scotland. This provides valuable evidence of some of the problems facing public policy implementation that are relevant to many aspects of social policy.Local authorities are seen as playing an important role in shaping service developments. In Sweden there is a much greater degree of decentralization and so communes are able to make extensive decisions about services. In Scotland, local authorities have greater scope for service planning and development than in England. The modernization of public services, with an increasing emphasis on local control, has a potential role to play in changes in childcare and education.National political commitment is seen as central to the reforms. A Minister who is willing to champion and promote policies from the top was considered as essential to the success of any reforms.There is a major unresolved issue in all three countries about whether childcare should be treated as a facet of education and what the influence of ‘schoolification’ or being in one form of institution from age one will have on childhood. The book calls for more time to think about and analyze the changes.Jane Lethbridge, Senior Research Fellow, Public Services International Research Unit, Business School, University of Greenwich, London, SE10 9LS.Strategies for inclusive practiceChristine Tilstone and Richard Rose (Eds), 2003London, RoutledgeFalmer£75.00 (hbk), £19.99 (pbk), xiii?+?234 pp.ISBN 0-415-25485-XThis edited book is about the making and interpretation of policies relating to inclusive education in the classroom. It provides a useful overview of government policy in England relating to special educational needs and inclusive education since the beginning of the sea-change ushered in by the 1981 Education Act. While the complexities and contradictions involved in policy making and the ideological struggles which take place around different interpretations of inclusion and exclusion provide a backdrop to the contributions, the main purpose of the book is to explore current policy issues relating to classroom, school and LEA practices in different contexts. It is essentially concerned with placing ‘practice at the forefront’ and relates specifically to the ‘teaching and learning of pupils with special educational needs’ (p. 3), indicating a particular interpretation of inclusive education as being primarily concerned with pupils labeled as having special educational needs. The range of alternative interpretations are acknowledged in a number of chapters in the book. In the opening chapter, ‘Ideology, reality and pragmatics: towards an informed policy for inclusion’, Rose evokes the different ideological strands and starting points in recent debates which he sees as divided between those ‘promoting full inclusion’ who, he argues, ‘have largely written from a moral or humanistic perspective’ and those who ‘perceive major obstacles in the path of developing inclusive schools’ (p. 13). Discussion in which ideology, the interpretation of policy and the conditions necessary for inclusive education to develop, must be joined with a critical exploration of teaching and learning and the need for change at the level of professional practice. This chapter provides a framework for subsequent contributions written by teachers, researchers and policy-makers which, while adopting broadly similar principles, engage with a range of different perspectives and issues.The book is divided into three sections. Part 1, ‘Responding to diversity: the development of policies and strategies’, is made up of seven chapters which are intended to support professionals in developing policies and strategies to enhance the learning of all pupils and, in particular, those who experience difficulties in learning. This section, headed by Rose’s chapter, has contributions in the following areas: strategies for responding to individual learning needs in an inclusive context (Marie Howely and Sue Kime); overcoming discriminatory practices with reference to pupils identified as having severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties who belong to minority ethnic groups (Ann Ferguson and Trudy Duffield); an exploration of issues relating to inclusion and gender, ethnicity and special educational needs (Liz Gershel), which draws on Corbett’s notion of connective pedagogy (2001) and argues powerfully for ‘a holistic educational philosophy for equity and achievement’ (p. 63); school policies for positive behaviour management which stresses the importance of creating ‘time and space for talking and listening to pupils’ (Ted Cole); collaborative multi-agency work with particular reference to pre-school education (Penny Lacey); the development of approaches to ‘inclusive therapy’ in a chapter which raises the issue of ‘invisible forms of exclusion’ in settings in which ‘needs are met superficially in mainstream schools’ (p. 111) and, refreshingly, stresses the importance of the role of professionals in empowering children with learning difficulties, rather than managing them (Christopher Robertson).The second section of the book, ‘Policies into practice through two core subjects’, explores issues and possible tensions in teaching and learning in maths and English in relation to pupils who have special educational needs. Jill Porter’s clear, closely analytical and well-illustrated chapter argues that it is essential for teachers and learning support assistants to understand the wider concepts of mathematics and how learning takes place, as well as having positive attitudes and expectations. Porter observes that maths is a subject ‘in which pupils included into mainstream have been found to make greater gains owing to its pivotal place within the curriculum’ (p. 120).The following chapter by Richard Byers and Linda Ferguson addresses important issues on literacy in relation to children from identified as having severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties. The final section of the book covers a range of wider policy issues and contexts ranging from inclusion in early years (Rob Ashdown); the development of inclusive practices in the 16–19 sector (Caroline Broomhead), the role of the LEA in developing inclusive policies (Sue Fagg), a case study of one LEA (Jim Wolger) which is used to explore some of the tensions and possibilities presented by the development of inclusive policies, and the role of the educational psychologist in developing inclusive education (Sue Sanderson). The book ends with a useful chapter by Christine Tilstone which draws the main strands of the book together and outlines some ways forward for developing inclusive education and the role of professional development.The main strengths of this book lie in its serious engagement with the multiple interfaces between policies as they are made by government, LEA and school, and policies as they are enacted by professionals in the daily practices of management, teaching and learning. There is a clear commitment to reducing barriers to participation and an affirmation that developing inclusive practice is the responsibility of schools, teachers and policy makers at all levels. Some chapters are particularly effective in probing and illuminating areas of policy and practice which can be challenged and reconceptualized in order to reduce barriers to inclusion, many providing useful and detailed examples. The book makes a powerful statement about the right of all learners to full participation in all aspects of the curriculum and challenges by example the common assumption that there are subject areas which are ‘too difficult’ for some learners. Less appealing is the slippage into a deficit view of some pupils which occurs in a few chapters. One way of challenging problems of representation and language is to undertake a critical engagement with labeling and its effects. In addition, a fuller discussion of the need for a wider transformation in the cultures and practices of education systems and schools as an essential part of achieving inclusive education, would have further strengthened this edited collection.Strategies to promote inclusive practice follows on from Promoting inclusive practice (Tilstone et al., 1998) which was joint winner of the 1999 TES/NASEN Academic Book Award. This accessible and well-organized book makes important connections between professional practice and the wider policy context. It will undoubtedly be very useful for practitioners and others interested in developing inclusive practices, and for students on diploma and masters courses relating to special education needs and inclusive education.Felicity Armstrong, School of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies, Institute of Education, 59 Gordon Square, London WCIH ONT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]