Big change question: Does politics help or hinder education change?

For many politicians and policy makers, schools are the worst problem and the best solution. They are the best solution because of their potential to secure social change and reform. Schools sit at the intersection of the community, family and wider society. They are the heartland of social change and provide politicians with a potentially powerful platform to redress issues of inequality, diversity and disadvantage so sharply rarefied in many classrooms and schools. Each successive government sees education as an arena for change as public opinion and support for educational improvement is always a given. Every voter cares about education whatever their political persuasion. Consequently, every government pledges to raise standards, increase achievement and to improve schools, whatever it takes. While approaches and interventions vary across political fault lines, the issue of improving schools has been a consistent policy aspiration, in many countries, over several decades