Schools in uncertain times: What the present looks like and what the future might hold; the state of the nation and its schooling

At no time in the past fifty years or so has the future of schooling in England seemed less predictable. Even so, we’re going to have a go at it. This chapter is going to consider what has happened to Britain, to England’s schools, and to their governance over the last twenty years or so. The purpose of this is to try to provide a context into which we can put the possible priorities for action for governing bodies in the immediate future.