Examines the ideas that have shaped education over the years, showing how and why today's schools have grown into their current form. It explores how education has been molded by politics, philosophy, and social science, and focuses especially on arguments over the competing benefits of formality and freedom in teaching. This second edition examines in greater depth the inequalities perpetuated by current education systems, asking whether education makes for social mobility, as often claimed, or, in reality, actually reinforces existing inequity. Looking forward, it evaluates the impact of controversial legislation on future students, and considers how teaching must evolve to keep pace with an increasingly digital world. -- Provided by publisher.

Previous edition: 2013.

Beginnings -- Oil and water : the formal and the progressive -- The traditions unfold : ideas into practice -- Big ideas from the 20th century -- Analysts and theorists : what did they ever do for us? -- The curriculum -- School's out!.