ABSTRACT
Philosophy and sociology can merely describe situations, or propose approaches that will implement change for social improvement. Political parties commission surveys regarding voting patterns of different communities and social groupings, but what to do about the trends so exposed is up to political strategists, not the pollsters. Progressive sociologists may of course see it as their obligation to provide action scenarios drawn from their description. The neoliberal insistence on markets, privatization, individualism and accountability is most obvious in relation to mass testing and examination schemes rather than the detail of epistemology itself. In many economies there is a tension between neoliberal and conservative opinion regarding education and public policy is usually the result of an uneasy compromise between the two. The process of education is pursued by each citizen in their own way throughout their entire life, although backgrounded and contextualized by social and physical environments.
