This paper advances Marxist Critical Policy Analysis (MCPA) -- a particular form of Critical Policy Analysis. I contrast it with 'Traditional Policy Analysis' (TPA) and with 'Critical Policy Analysis' (CPA), generally, and, with respect to Education, work by Michael W. Apple, Stephen J. Ball, and wider reformist, postmodern and…

Digital distraction has become a prominent concern in the world of education, as evident in the growing trend of banning mobile phones. Since laptops are practically indispensable to contemporary schooling, however, banning these devices remains a rare and controversial response. Far more commonplace is the deployment of classroom rules and…

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…

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 builds systematically on the research experiences of the author, involving the application of a Marxist focus in comparative education studies, in the Cuban and Latin American context. It reflects in a general way the importance of this focus and approach, and in turn the contradictions that occur between formal education policy and…

System-based and collaborative teacher inquiry has unexplored potential that can impact educational policy in numerous ways. This impact can be increased when teacher inquiry builds momentum from classrooms and teaching practices and simultaneously addresses district, state, and national discourses and networks. In this conceptual paper, I…

The extensive work of Habermas's intellectual legacy is comparable to the depth and complexity of his reflections. The debates among thinkers close to the conclusions of Adorno and Horkheimer and the mature positions of Habermas are also known. However, despite the marked differences, both of them seem to share a common interpretation: that…

In this essay Malott traces his journey to critical pedagogy focusing on a significant element of his family's ethnic and class background and its connection to his own educational experiences from public schooling to university. Drawing on Marx's historical discussions at the end of Volume 1 of "Capital" Malott traces his own…

In this article, the author seeks to examine the effects of neoliberalism on curricula in Mozambique. Despite the fact that the introduction of neoliberal policies in Mozambique has affected the whole system of education, the focus in this article is only on curriculum reforms in secondary and technical/vocational education. The description and…

Beginning with a reconsideration of what the school is and has been, this paper explores the idea of the school to come. Emphasizing the governmental role of education in modernity, I offer a line of thinking that calls into question the assumption of both the school and education as possible conduits for either democracy or social justice.…

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 aim of this paper is to identify and analyse the ways educational policy is understood, taught and practiced as a training discipline at postgraduate level in the European context. We have validated its epistemological solvency through a quantitative, comparative and ethnographic study of its main features as a discipline--such as ideological…

There was only one Karl Marx, but there have been a multitude of Marxisms. This concise, introductory book by internationally renowned scholar Jean Anyon centers on the ideas of Marx that have been used in education studies as a guide to theory, analysis, research, and practice. "Marx and Education" begins with a brief overview of basic Marxist…

The author has attempted over the years to make a case for educators to work within a revolutionary critical pedagogy that examines the economic, cultural, social, and political purposes of education. Acknowledging the fact that education is a necessary but not sufficient weapon in history's arsenal of social revolution, it is clear that educators…

In this essay, Scott Ellison examines a line of critical thought in educational theory that has unapologetically sought transcendence in the face contemporary social and political conditions. Under the banner of critical pedagogy, Peter McLaren sees this current period of globalization as representing a worldwide historical crisis requiring a…