A global education reform movement has recently converged in a number of countries on a series of common policy initiatives aimed at increasing the competitiveness of education systems. Characterised by accountability measures such as standardised curriculum, national testing, international benchmarking of achievement, school league tables, teacher evaluation and performance pay, these measures, associated with economic priorities and neoliberal policies more generally, have been enacted by governments on both left and right.
This issue of Social Alternatives aims to uncover the tensions between aspects of the contemporary reform agenda and an alternative educational ethos and practice which have characterised progressive approaches to education and educational policy.