'Good' Education in a Neo-Liberal Paradigm: Challenges, Contradictions and Consternations

Abstract

In this chapter Anderson and Boyle provide a critical discussion on the notion of ‘good’ education by analysing how neo-liberalism has impacted education. Gert Biesta’s three-domain model of educational purpose guides their endeavour to disentangle the complexities of what it means to provide ‘good’ education that meets the needs of dynamic and diverse groups of students. They contend that current educational discourse evident in school policies, with its neo-liberal focus on an effective instruction, places a strong emphasis on evidence and practices to bring about measurable outcomes that produce winners and losers; a concept that is problematic as it detracts attention from questions such as “<i>what</i> are students learning?” and “<i>why</i> are they learning?” and “<i>who</i> are they learning it from?” These questions are integral to any interrogation of a socially just and ‘good’ education. The authors conclude that current debates around the construct of inclusive education afford an opportunity to ask the questions that need to be asked, and to challenge the neo-liberal agenda that has driven much of the educational reform of the past decade. To do so could shift the momentum towards fairness and equity in education.