Engines of Privilege: Britain's Private School Problem

Engines of Privilege: Britain's Private School Problem

by David Kynaston (Author), Francis Green (Author), Francis Green (Author), David Kynaston (Author)

Synopsis

A rigorous, compelling and balanced examination of the British private school system and the lifetime inequalities it entrenches Britain's private, fee-paying schools are institutions where children from affluent families have their privileges further entrenched through a high-quality, richly-resourced education. There is an irrefutable link between private schools and life's gilded path: private school to top university to top career. Engines of Privilege contends that, in a society that mouths the virtues of equality of opportunity, of fairness and of social cohesion, the educational apartheid separating private schools from our state schools deploys our national educational resources unfairly and inefficiently; blocks social mobility; reproduces privilege down the generations; and underpins a damaging democratic deficit in our society. Education is fundamental to creating who we are. Intrinsic to any vision of the future of Britain, therefore, has to be the nature of our educational system. Yet the quality of conversation on the issue of private education remains surprisingly sterile, patchy and highly subjective. Francis Green and David Kynaston carefully examine options for change, while drawing on the valuable lessons of history. Accessible, evidence-based and inclusive, Engines of Privilege aims to kick-start a long overdue national debate. Clear, vigorous prose is combined with forensic analysis to powerful effect, illuminating the painful contrast between the importance of private schools in British society and the near-absence of serious, policy-shaping debate.

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 320
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 07 Feb 2019

ISBN 10: 1526601265
ISBN 13: 9781526601261
Book Overview: A rigorous, compelling and balanced examination of the British private school system and the lifetime inequalities it entrenches

Media Reviews
David Kynaston is one of the great chroniclers of our modern story ... Every paragraph contains some glittering nugget -- Praise for David Kynaston's 'Modernity Britain' * Sunday Times *
This is the work of a scholar with a gift for illuminating every square inch of each enormous canvas he chooses to paint ... Kynaston brings characters large and small to life -- Praise for 'Till Time's Last Sand' * Literary Review *
An exemplary narrative history, with the archives plundered judiciously and plenty of focus on people and their quirks ... Fascinating -- Praise for 'Till Time's Last Sand' * The Times *
A historian of peerless sensitivity and curiosity about the lives of individuals -- Praise for 'Modernity Britain' * Financial Times *
Author Bio
Francis Green is Professor of Work and Education Economics at the UCL Institute of Education. He is the author of ten books and 150 papers, and is a recognised authority on the economic and social effects of private schooling in the past and present. He also works as an occasional adviser to the European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions, the OECD and the World Bank. David Kynaston has been a professional historian since 1973 and has written twenty books, including on the City of London, cricket and a series covering the history of post-war Britain (1945-79), 'Tales of a New Jerusalem'. He is currently a visiting professor at Kingston University.