Stanground Academy

ABSTRACT This article argues that education reform has been self‐defeating. The conservative search for reassurance in turbulent times has been undermined by a parallel drive to make service providers more efficient. Market disciplines have disrupted local partnerships, while the National Curriculum and testing have failed to remove underlying anxieties about status and social change. Free‐standing schools are expected to cope with ethical confusion and ethnic diversity as if the ground rules were widely shared and agreed. This paper proposes a revival of local and national politics so that communities can debate priorities, create visions and engage the reality of contemporary culture and society. Schools of the future will be driven by children's needs, not examination results and targets.