ABSTRACT
This chapter details how society has transitioned from an industrial paradigm to one built on knowledge through the Knowledge Economy, transforming education as part of the transitioning effect. It highlights how knowledge operates at the heart of this new economy, and explores how and why the capacity to use knowledge in new and interconnected ways has required education reform. Chapter 2 also investigates the extent to which schools and teachers have witnessed a corresponding push for increased national standardised testing regimes within this new economy, and uses examples of reform that have taken place in Australia over the past five decades to help the reader understand how this changing focus for government education policy positions education for reform. A main focus for Chapter 2 is to identify the pressure points involved in changing education policy, as well as the associated societal elements which intervene to make such policies a success or otherwise. This chapter concludes by nominating key educational reforms deemed necessary to progress the quality of education within a knowledge economy framework.
