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

Title
'Good' Education in a Neo-Liberal Paradigm: Challenges, Contradictions and Consternations
Publication Date
2020
Author(s)
Anderson, Joanna
Boyle, Christopher
Editor
Editor(s): Christopher Boyle, Joanna Anderson, Angela Page and Sofia Mavropoulou
Type of document
Book Chapter
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Koninklijke Brill NV
Place of publication
Leiden, Netherlands
Edition
1
Series
Studies in Inclusive Education
DOI
10.1163/9789004431171_003
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/29610
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 “what are students learning?” and “why are they learning?” and “who 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.
Link
Citation
Inclusive Education: Global Issues and Controversies, p. 35-57
ISBN
9789004431171
9789004431157
9789004431164
Start page
35
End page
57

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