This article considers how neoliberalism has created a reductionist view of lifelong learning in the UK focused on upskilling workers for the labour market. This critical policy analysis uses Marx's theory of labour-power, as conceptualised by Glenn Rikowski, to examine the Skills and Post-16 Education Act, 2022 and to identify its ideological…

In this paper we set out proposals that constitute a democratic Marxist manifesto for teacher education for economic, environmental and social justice. In doing so, we of course recognise structural limitations on progressive action but also that teacher agency is shaped and not erased by these. We therefore sketch the strategic shape a…

While the loss of space for critical engagement has been a primary focus for critics of the neo-liberal transformation of higher education, the recasting of the relationship between education and economy has not meant the death of critical thinking. Instead, I argue that critical thinking has emerged as a binding point in higher education…

To date research and scholarship on privatisation in education lacks critical depth and intensity. Many accounts have been largely descriptive, focusing on how privatisation takes places, or on the threat of privatisation, or its insertion within education systems. Furthermore, work on educational commodification has been substantially dissociated…

FORUM invited Melissa Benn and Jane Martin to interview Clyde Chitty, a brilliant and effective classroom and university teacher, one of the most well-known advocates of comprehensive education, a long-standing member of FORUM's editorial board, and for two decades co-editor of the publication. It was Michael Armstrong who called him 'the patron…

This paper considers the role and function of Left academics within "elite" (i.e. Russell Group) universities within the UK. Deploying Marxist theory and critical realism, it analyses the "dialectical contradictions" experienced in such a role and reflects upon productive strategies for resisting the hegemony of neo-liberalism…

The economic downturn has caused governments to reassess levels of resilience and adaptability in the face of new challenges. There has been increased focus on the higher education sector, which has been blamed for developing graduates whose skills do not meet the needs of the economy. The author explores a framework to interpret and understand…

If the recent revival in academic interest in Lenin's theory has overlooked his few writings on education, this may be because they appear to offer so little. This paper seeks to rectify this oversight. Whilst acknowledging that Lenin's educational offerings are thin, it is proposed that those on the left in the Twenty-First Century might…

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has a relatively long history in the United States, from where it originated, dating back to the 1980s. Its presence in UK academic literature, however, is more recent, having surfaced in the first decade of the twenty-first century. I focus in this paper on developments in CRT in the UK from January 2012 to January…

This article argues that educators should be aware of the way that Christian beliefs interact with the structure and practices of secular education policies and that established secular social theory can help them to do this. Drawing on an example from empirical research, the author models how concepts associated with Bourdieu's social theory can…

The title of this article comes from the editorial written for this journal by Olive Banks, Len Barton, Roger Dale, David Hargreaves, Roland Meighan, Ivan Reid and Graham Vulliamy (Banks et al. 1980, 4) that appeared in its first issue, and set out its remit. The seven scholars who wrote that editorial pledged to "publish high quality work of…

This paper will present a Marxist analysis of the current function and role of information and communication technology (ICT) in education, with specific reference to schooling in the UK. Over the past five years the UK government has spent in excess of 2.5bn British Pounds on ICT equipment for schools and in "training" teachers to use…

The author begins by arguing that in order to understand imperialism it is necessary to have a conceptual awareness of the concepts of racism and racialisation. He then considers how the British Empire impacted on schools during the imperial era. He goes on to examine the nature of the New Imperialism. Calls are currently being made by notable…