ABSTRACT
One of the most significant features of the 1988 Education Reform Act was the introduction of a National Curriculum for pupils aged 5 to 16 in all state schools in England and Wales. When Sir Ron (now Lord) Dearing and his team began work on the process of reviewing post-16 provision in 1995, they were faced with a system of at least 16,000 qualifications for 16-19 year olds - a stark reflection of decades of short-term solutions to intractable problems and a state of affairs posing very real difficulties for teachers and students alike. New Labour has done little to restore teacher morale in this country after 18 years of negative government propaganda about incompetent teachers and failing schools. New Labour needs to understand that such a view of their work not only undermines the self-esteem and professional autonomy of teachers, but also devalues the teaching process itself.
