Growing political, economic and social uncertainties throughout the world have prompted many governments to "reform" their national education systems. This book looks at the effects of these reforms and finds that, far from improving education, they have often made it more difficult for teachers to do a good job in the classroom. Drawing on her own research and other international studies, Gill Helsby argues that many reforms have created constraints and imposed excessive bureacratic requirements which often diminish both the confidence and the capacity of teachers to perform to the best of their ability.