The Self-Managing School and Social Justice: are they on the same planet?

The self-managing school is an educational reform that seems to have developed the status of reform 'we had to have'. Regardless of whether it was in the educational interests of schools or not, this reform has been foisted onto schools worldwide, and in many instances, with quite devastating effects. Yet, despite its pervasiveness, there is precious little evidence to show that this reform improves learning. On the contrary, for vast numbers of students, especially those who are already least advantaged, this reform is coming to be seen as being extremely damaging. The paper poses a number of questions about the undisclosed intention of this reform, how it works, for whom, and its corroding effects on large numbers of students and teachers.