Education Governance in
the United Kingdom:
the modernisation project
JENNY OZGA
University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT This article considers the mo
dernisation of education governance
as implemented by the New Labour governments of the United Kingdom since
1997. The discussion focuses on the apparent contradiction between those
elements of modernisation that require the measurement and management of
performance; and those that promote greater fairness and responsiveness. It is
argued that tensions between these elements of policy are resolved by New
Labour policy makers through the use of ideas derived from social capital
theory. Modernisation uses these ideas in
pursuit of a transformation of politics
that enhances governability by making be
liefs and feelings quantifiable, and by
equating social relations with capital ac
cumulation. The article concludes with a
consideration of the problems encountered in the operationalisation of the
modernisation project in the United Kingdom’s Education Action Zones, where
business was encouraged to play a major role in building new networks and
social relations.