"I think people in this country have had enough of experts" – Michael Gove, former Secretary of State for Education of the United Kingdom.There is no denying that evidence and those providing it are under fire in the public debate. The word "post-truth " has become so ubiquitous in our everyday discussion of politics that the Oxford English Dictionary has declared it its Word of the Year 2016. Evidence, or "facts" are arguably increasingly replaced by deep-held beliefs that many politicians regard as true despite there either being no evidence to support them or even ample proof to contradict them. This development inevitably leads to the question: Can you run an education system on beliefs alone. More...

