The role of the state in school reform: Responding to increasing ethnic diversity in britain

The British government has instituted a wide range of educational reforms to tackle ethnic inequality. This article argues that over the past half century most of these have been driven by immediate political considerations and have failed to incorporate a broader, historical perspective. This has invariably led to short-term, and short cut, solutions to long-term, deeply entrenched problems that, in reality, transcend the world of education. The article evaluates all the major reform programs, ranging from assimilationism to multicultural education to anti-racist education. It concludes with discussion of the merits/demerits of faith schools and the use of school reorganization as a means of tackling ethnic segregation. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.