ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the background to some of the educational reforms that have been introduced in England and other western democracies over the past few decades. It explores some of the wider economic and social factors that were impacting and continue to impact on society. The two important forces of social change are economic globalisation and knowledge economy. Economic globalisation describes a social change that is fuelled by economic activity that is beyond the control of individual nation states. Characteristics of the knowledge economy are: economics of abundance, the annihilation of distance, the de-territorisation of the state, the importance of local knowledge, and investment in human capital. The faith in schooling, and more specifically in literacy, for society's health goes hand in hand with the blaming of schools for society's ills. The Education Reform Act of 1988 altered the basic power structure of the education system, increasing as it did the powers of the Secretary of State for Education.
