Throughout its history, education in Britain has been marked by various crucial divisions: gender and class have long been dividing factors, and since the 1960s there has been increasing awareness of the issues of disability and 'race'. This book contains a selection of articles that discuss the history and gendered nature of education policies and the impact of those policies on practice in education in Britain and elsewhere. It presents a range of views and approaches, demonstrating the complexity of the educational experience and the influence of gender, class, 'race' and culture on education. Far from being a radical and liberating experience for many pupils, education emerges for some as restraining a means of legitimizing dominant ideologies of state and society. The articles some well-known, others less familiar or specially commissioned contribute to ongoing debates and afford an examination of the place of education policy in production, reproduction and transformation of the major dimensions of social inequality."