Comparative Research Of The Education Policy Of The Two Parties In The U.K. (1979-2015)

The United Kingdom has a two party political system, which is mainly led by the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. From the point of view of ideologies, the Conservative Party believes in neo-liberalism. It emphasizes the rolling back of the State and encourages the market to play a positive role in the provision of education. It also believes that everyone could have the educational equality of opportunity in front of the market. However, the traditional Labour party believes in social democracy which emphasizes that the State should interfere in education in order to cure the inequalities brought by the government and to achieve the equality of educational outcomes. The development of education policy in the U.K. is very much related with political parties. On the one hand, education policy occupies an important part in the election and governing agenda of a party. On the other hand, its outcomes and people's view towards it will significantly influence a party in the next election. By discussing the content of education policy of the Conservatives as well the Labours from 1979 to 2015, this article aims at analyzing how the two party politics influence evolution of education policy and figuring out if education policy is more ideologically related or not. The author chose the post-Thatcher period of 1979 to 2015 because there is a huge gap between the education policy before and after 1979. The education reform of 1979 lays a solid foundation for the reforms onwards. This article chose the manifestos of the two parties and green papers and white papers, as the first-hand materials of this research. Much of the policy content analysis is based on these materials. Besides, there are many qualitative and quantitative researches concerning the outcomes and influences of education policies. These researches provide support and evidence for the article. The author also employs the method of comparison. By comparing the common points and differences between the two parties' education policy, the author analyzes the trend of development in education policy. After the step into power of Thatcher, the Conservative Party made a huge changes to education policy under the Old Labour government. It encourages a quasi-market of education, open enrollment and empowers parents to choose schools freely. At the same time, Thatcher imposes the New Public Management methods on the management of British schools. These approaches include the National Curriculum and regular inspections as well as the release of school league tables. All these policies are aimed at leveling up the hotly debated education standard in the U.K.. However, those who can benefit from these reforms are mainly students from upper classes. The educational gap between the rich and the poor is becoming wider. The Blair government which steps into power in 1997 has, to a large extent, continues the education policy of the Conservatives, especially in terms of high accountability and more school diversity. But the Labour Party tries to combine together the aim of high education standard and the aim of more education equality. It tries to alleviate the negative impacts of competition in the market on disadvantaged groups through co-operations between different schools. The outcomes of this approach are not very satisfied due to the rooted contradiction between market and co-operation. The coalition government led by Cameron introduces the idea of Big Society into education policy. It tries in involve more providers into the provision of education, including parents and community groups, so to have more energies and innovations in schools. This action actually blurs the boundaries between State, private sector and the third sector. And the role played by the government in providing education is largely weakened. As a result, the education policy under the coalition government reinforces the privatization in education under the Thatcher government. The article draws the conclusion that education policy is becoming less and less marked with the ideologies of the two parties. It shows that the education policy is leaning to the right. In other words, both the Conservatives and the Labour have reached a consensus based on the privatization of education. After 1979, the education policy has not changed significantly and it has developed stably. This trend could possibly last for some time in the future.