ABSTRACT
Some trends have lost their novelty and even lose a clear purpose as they become accepted practice and the educational orthodoxy. Chapter 3 describes these entities: trends which exist in a state of decrepit dominance in education, adhered to because they conveniently support other wider drivers for public education, including the performative appeal of greater results despite scarce resources. Behaviour management and teacher quality are examined in Chapter 3 as orthodox trends which are routinely referred to in schools and in educational policy but rarely challenged.
The trends outlined in this chapter might instill a sense of pessimism about contemporary schools and the depressing direction of educational policy in Australia, England and the US, but this is not the whole picture. Progressive trends outlined in other chapters, namely inclusion, PBIS, mental health and RtI, stand in contrast to the crumbling orthodoxy and ultimately offer hope, however fleeting, of a modernised education system. The Conclusion to this book develops this insight further.
