ABSTRACT
What does it mean be a school student in 2013, compared with half a century ago? How much has changed in fifty plus years? In some respects very little. In some respects there is a world of difference, mainly because the world is a different place while the world of school has essentially changed little and, as exemplified through the first lens of policymaking, has in many respects regressed. Through this final lens two very different stories bring into sharp relief what it means to be a student, what diminishes and enhances a sense of agency, throwing into new perspective the notion of ‘potential’ and ‘intelligence’. Both stories demand a suspension of disbelief.
