Which Nation's Schools?: Direction and Devolution in Welsh Education in the Twentieth Century Book

Who has controlled Welsh schools throughout the twentieth century, and in whose interests have they been controlled? This study draws on hitherto undiscovered confidential government papers and provides an entirely new perspective on developments in Welsh education, particularly since the Second World War. The author describes how, ever since a substantial element of educational control was vested in local authorities, the potential for conflict was present; it erupted in the `Welsh Revolt' after 1902, in the dispute over `special places' during the Depression and, especially, in the fight over multilateral schools after 1944. This study proves that the 1944 Education Act and its implementation in Wales, far from being the product of consensus as is generally argued, was in fact a focus of confrontation in which central government and its bureaucracy were the winners. The 1988 Education Act, therefore, was no dramatic break with a tradition of co-operation but a continuation of the tension between central and local government.