ABSTRACT
This chapter explores directions of curricular change in the context of neoliberalism and austerity politics in the UK. It examines a succession of flawed explanations for underachievement in schools, which in various ways construct working-class students as intrinsically defective learners. The chapter also highlights the failure of managerialist school reform to produce greater opportunity or equality. After a brief history of neoliberal and neoconservative trends in curriculum reform, it outlines some key principles for pursuing curricular and pedagogical justice. Neoliberalism has transferred business values and management styles to the public sector in ways that are especially damaging to schools serving impoverished communities. One particular aspect of neoliberal school improvement theory is its reductionist deployment of the term 'school culture'. Curriculum and pedagogy, in the broadest sense, are central to any serious attempt to improve education for children in poverty.
