ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the process of reclamation, that is, teachers taking control of education. It proposes four principles as the basis for change. They are democracy, scholarship, activism and solidarity. The scientific or experimental approach involves randomly assigning an intervention to pupils, in experimental and control groups. The chapter argues that the importance of democracy and its place in policy-making if teachers are to regain professional autonomy. Deliberation for the purpose of democracy is intrinsically linked to scholarship. Activism involves building networks and communicating more widely the needs of the profession and the nature of education. Public-sector workers – who has long been branded a cost to society – are beginning to realise their importance. Junior doctors have demonstrated solidarity in resisting government attacks on the National Health Service and teachers have been largely united in their opposition to the reintroduction of selective schools.
