By Nigel Gann, Hamdon Education, UK (1st Edition: Austin Macauley, 2021)

"Nigel Gann's carefully researched analysis should be read by anyone who is interested in the reality of how control of our schools has become much less democratic. Putting his experience of the dubious shenanigans around the change of control of a small primary school into a national context, the account of this experienced school governor and teacher makes compulsive reading."

Warwick Mansell, writer/editor of the website Education Uncovered. 

“Nigel Gann has created a quite remarkable text and I recommend it wholeheartedly to all those who have a serious interest in the school system in England. Drawing on a significant moment for him and his local community – the forced academization of the village school - he provides a well-researched, thorough and securely grounded account of the way the school system in England is changing. Nigel highlights not only the flaws in this trajectory but also the defects in the way the policies underpinning the pathway were created.

The picture he paints is of schools being ‘taken away’ from their local communities by a system that is increasingly centralized and corporate in nature as schools fall under a direct management hierarchy from the Secretary of State, to schools commissioners and multi-academy trusts to schools. Nigel points to the dangers of schools losing touch with the local communities they serve and the harm that will do. However, he doesn’t just paint a negative picture, he sets out alternative approaches in a constructive way.

Very importantly, Nigel has written a very engaging book that is based on very sound educational and moral principles. The book is an excellent read and Nigel’s standpoint as a committed educator shines through the text. I recommend it to all those involved in the school system in England – you will gain new and important insights.”

Chris James, Emeritus Professor of Educational Leadership and Management, Department of Education, University of Bath

“Weaving together novel insights and empirical evidence from case study material, policy commentary and education research, Nigel Gann offers an impassioned rebuke and rejection of the celebrated gains of ‘academisation’ in the English education system.  Tracing the history of these reforms and their present-day effects, from diminishing community consultation and bargaining to intensive and costly legal and political wrangling, Nigel Gann carefully details the technocratic exceptionalism upon which the fate of schools is now decided.  Responding to these crises in public sector organisation and the growing public demand for democratic accountability, Nigel Gann avoids any excessive fatalism by communicating a new vision of education, with public trust, transparency and localism at its core.”

Dr Andrew Wilkins, Goldsmiths, University of London

“I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone working in or with an interest in the education sector in England, including parents, governors and trustees. The book makes for uncomfortable reading at times and will, I suspect, resonate with those who have been through similar experiences. It is especially timely as we are in the throes of a pandemic which has served to highlight exactly why every school, irrespective of structure, should be part of its local community. As Nigel Gann points out, the corporatisation of schools in the public sector has resulted in less democratic institutions. The loss, in particular of accountability to parents and communities, is not acceptable. A well-researched, well-written, warts and all account of the current state of play in 2021. A fascinating read into the world of education through the lens of the forced academisation of a rural primary school”

Raj Unsworth, parent, chair of governors, trustee, special advisor to Headteachers Roundtable.

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