ABSTRACT
("The pPolicy cChallenge") discusses the direction and influence of policy with a particular focus on the last decade. Referring to eight salient policy agendas which are international in their reach, it is argued that these need to be subject to rigorous critique and challenge. As competitive globalised policy continues to narrow the curriculum and diminish teacher discretion, policies on institutional autonomy increase the control and authority of the individual headteacher/principal. This has the effect of widening the "power distance" between senior leaders and their staff, intensifying accountability pressure so that conformity becomes the default position for teachers. Quoting Michael Fullan, these are described as the "wrong policy drivers", creating conditions detrimental to learning and to student interests while innovation and change in pedagogy become increasingly constricting. The chapter concludes that such critique should not be treated as reactive disagreement but rather acknowledged as an architecture built on the solid foundations of critical dissent.
