Testing times. Success, failure and Fiasco in education policy in Wales since devolution

Howlett, John

Abstract

Wales, as Philip Dixon in this engaging and occasionally waspish account makes clear, has long been regarded as the Ugly Sister. Too often, educational narratives claiming to represent the United Kingdom in reality have meant just ‘England’ with Wales – lacking the comparative educational independence of Scotland – given short shrift and thought of as parenthetical to any discussions of policy and practice. As such, ‘Wales has suffered from a dearth of critical comment on its education system’ (p. xiv) with English commentators and educational critics content to point to a recently devolved nation as at least not suffering the worst excesses of neo-liberalism, marketization and Goveian tinkering. Indeed, since 1999, there has been much implemented from the Cardiff Assembly which seems appealing – the abolition of Standard Attainment Tests, the Foundation Phase for children aged between three and seven which is far more progressive than its Early Years Foundation Stage counterpart and a general reluctance to embrace such divisive measures as league tables. Furthermore, successive attempts to promote the Welsh language – itself perhaps a force for wider social cohesion and national pride – have proven successful with a large number of thriving bilingual schools and an increase in the number of native speakers.

Citation

Howlett, J. (2018). Testing times. Success, failure and Fiasco in education policy in Wales since devolution. British Journal of Educational Studies, 66(2), 278-280. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2017.1400286

• Journal Article Type: Book Review
• Online Publication Date: Nov 9, 2017
• Publication Date: Apr 3, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jun 7, 2023
• Journal: British Journal of Educational Studies
• Print ISSN: 0007-1005
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-8527
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 66
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 278-280
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2017.1400286
• Keywords: Education
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=rbje20