The Education Debate - (Policy and Politics in the Twenty-First Century) 4th Edition by Stephen J Ball (Paperback)

About the Book

This extensively updated fourth edition by the key author in the field will maintain its place as the most important text on education policy and makes essential reading for all students and anyone interested in education policy more generally.

Book Synopsis

Education policy is hard to keep track of... a problem that this book solves. In this updated edition, Ball examines new areas of focus, including the increased interest of business in education and the impact of austerity and precarity.

Review Quotes

"The Education Debate is a tour de force not only for its authority and penetration but also . . . its accessibility."

-- "Higher Education Review, on prior edition"

"Ball provides the intellectual resources for understanding how education policy is produced, what it seeks to do, and what its effects are. Theoretically and empirically adroit, it is essential reading for all those needing to understand education policy and politics."

--Bob Lingard, University of Edinburgh, on prior edition

"The Education Debate is one of the clearest and most insightful analyses of education policy I have ever read. In this new edition, Ball once again documents why his work is essential for our understanding of educational politics and processes. The book can serve as a model for how one can write about these complex issues."--Michael W. Apple, University of Wisconsin-Madison, on prior edition

"His introduction to key concepts should be required reading both for those engaged in policy making processes and those seeking to influence change in education."-- "Runnymede Bulletin, on prior edition"

"Insightful and wholly accessible and contributes to broader debates about education policy, initiatives, and economic imperatives found across public services."-- "Critical Social Policy, on prior edition"

About the Author

Stephen J. Ball is distinguished service professor of sociology of education in the Institute of Education at University College London. He is cofounder and managing editor of the Journal of Education Policy and the author of Global Education Inc.: New Policy Networks and the Neoliberal Imaginary, among many other books.