This paper uses Anderson's notion of 'imagined community' to argue that how people think about the publicness of their school system provides insight into the functioning and flourishing of communities, societies and nations. We focus on the privatisation of public schooling in Alberta, Canada and Northern England to highlight tensions between the…

In both Sweden and Ontario the attempt to create a comprehensive school system, during the 1960s especially at the secondary level, was the occasion for disputes between the governments and their respective opponents. Asks some relevant questions in studying the movement toward comprehensivization. (Author/RK)