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A CALL TO EXPLORE AND MAP THE EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES UNDER NEOLIBERALISM ACROSS THE GLOBE
Khalid Arar, Deniz Örücü and Jane Wilkinson
Neoliberalism has reinvented the notion of the individual citizen within the nation state into a particular form of competitive self-interest that moves beyond national boundaries (Blackmore, 2016, p. 6). Neoliberal economic theory has come to dominate bipartisan responses to economic globalization in most Anglophonic Western Democracies that were affected by the rapid processes of de-industrialization as fast mobile global capital sought cheaper labor in Asia and South America (Apple, 2012). Whereas some western economies adopted structural adjustment policies to maintain their global competitive advantage, structural adjustment was also imposed as an economic experiment by international monetary bodies such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the World Bank, and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Structural adjustment, an economic orthodoxy of the right wing in the United States, advocated deregulation of financial and labor markets, reduction of state welfare expenditure, privatization of education and health, and small government (Blackmore, 2016, p. 6). The hegemony of neoliberalism along with its inequitable effects has subsequently reshaped the project of compulsory education and compounded the challenges schooling systems face.
The implications of this movement raise key questions for us as educators, for example: What is the purpose of education in a neoliberal economy? What happens in regard to issues of equity, equality, and diversity?; What are the implications for the broader goals of education beyond the market?; How do schools and systems respond?; Who suffers the most from these reforms?; and finally, how do school leaders and teachers survive, if at all? The project that is this book emerged out of such questions and discussions with colleagues. In this respect, we aim to contribute meaningfully to a larger conversation around how neoliberal values and ideals are variously imprinted into diverse educational spaces and practices and the challenges experienced at school or system-level across the globe. To achieve this goal, we have sought to uncover first the various and unique challenges facing schools and second to understand the strategies and practices employed by key actors within these schools or systems as they variously navigate through a dominant global neoliberal agenda to better cater for the needs of their students and societies.
Implications of Neoliberalism on Education
In terms of public education, researchers have argued that neoliberal governmentality is “the key force affecting (and undermining) nation-states today” (Olssen, Codd, & O'Neil, 2004, p. 13). The intensified assault on public education is manifested in a number of ways including resource cutbacks and constraints and the increasing commodification of education (Apple, 2006; Ball, 2013). In addition to shaping educational systems across the globe, conservative ideologies and neoliberal policies have also impacted responses to the challenges faced by societies (Meshulam & Apple, 2014) such as economic instability, wars, refugee flows, environmental damage, racism, sexism, and poverty (Arar, Örücü, & Waite, 2020; Miller, 2019). One of the key impacts of neoliberal policies and practices on education is the issue of exclusion for economic inequality, the politics of coloniality, and practices of exclusion within education have historically functioned to perpetuate the privilege and power of the wealthy and powerful within the neoliberal policy scape globally (Ball, 2017; Darder, 2009).
The global education reforms that arise from varied neoliberal agendas lead to varying and complex outcomes in different education systems and schools (Chitpin & Portelli, 2019). Neoliberalism represents a deep restructuring of the cultural, social, political, and economic relations of state, market, and society based on the politics of financial deregulation that sever the economy from social realities. As such, local expressions of neoliberalism are an outcome of how hierarchically ordered social groups are organized in relations of power concerning the “goods” and “ills” of social life in the context of wider structures of opportunity and constraint (Jaffe & Quark, 2006). Thus, neoliberal policies at global and local levels impact directly and indirectly on social systems in various nation states (Carnoy, 2016; Keddie, 2012).
While neoliberalism does not have a scientific basis (English & Papa, 2018), its emphasis on free markets, individualism, deregulation, privatization, and welfare reform has direct outcomes through creating new rhetorical strategies, identities, relationships, experts, and powers (Jaffe & Quark, 2006). For example, in relation to education systems (Ball, 2012; Barker; 2011), these include an emphasis on: marketization, commercialization and privatization of public schools, voucher systems, League Tables, accountability and performance measures changed labor educators (Milner & Stevenson, 2019), and socioeconomic deprivation.
Regardless of the direct or indirect outcomes of a neoliberal agenda (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010), the ideologies that underpin it have created major challenges within education systems and schools locally and globally (Gross, 2020). We do not blatantly claim that neoliberalism is the only driver behind the challenges encountered by schools, but its impact in shaping school systems globally is evidenced through a range of research (Apple, 2006; Ball, 2012), particularly in terms of the new challenges it poses for schools and systems (O'Donoghue & Clarke, 2019).
Mapping Educational Challenges Posed by Neoliberalism
In this respect, challenge may be interpreted as a relative term. The concept “challenging school circumstances,” was initially associated with the UK context (MacBeath et al., 2007). Yet, the challenges of schools are a global phenomenon. In the UK context, they relate to failing schools, struggles with OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) inspections, League tables, low student achievement (Harris & Chapman, 2004), and dealing with multicultural education (Banks & Banks, 1995). However, these are not the only challenges that schools face and they can be applied to any geographical region at different levels. As MacBeath et al. (2007) asserted, “this is a story that could be told in Sydney, Hong Kong, Paris, or New York,” thus reflecting the universality of challenging school circumstances. However, as Gronn and Ribbins exhorted in 1996, context needs to be taken seriously in any considerations about educational leadership. Capturing the daily realities of schools and local education systems is critical as their individual contexts and geographies mean that challenges take on different forms and occur at different levels, with responses to these challenges varying in developed and underdeveloped societies (Oplatka, 2019).
In terms of the relative nature of challenges in education, a disadvantaged or an advantaged school facing a regime of high accountability endures their own challenges in one part of the world, whereas a school without proper infrastructure in an underprivileged village in Africa, Latin America, or in a war zone in the Middle East experiences very different particular challenges. This is not to underestimate such challenges, but to make the obvious point that particular strategies and solutions in their own contexts will be required. In short, the challenges that schools and their systems face depend on their cultural, socio-political, and economic contexts, which we, as scholars, cannot underestimate. The chapters in this book illustrate this point very clearly challenging circumstances are not only about the deprivation of peripheric groups but also apply to advantaged schools. No matter what their geography and context, all schools experience diverse forms of challenges. Hence, our previous research has examined the forms that challenging school circumstances may take, particularly in terms of their global and local neoliberal imprint (Arar, Kondakci, & Taysum, 2019).
The most direct challenges that schools face are poverty and its consequences such as inequity, deprivation, and issues in regard to accessing schooling. Research has highlighted that high levels of poverty distract from a school's ability to improve student achievement (Rumberger & Palardy, 2005; Ylimaki, Jacobson, & Drysdale, 2007). Students living in poverty often experience poor nutrition, inadequate health services, and higher rates of illiteracy and criminal behavior, which in turn can result in high rates of student transience, absence, and indiscipline (Ylimaki et al., 2007). These circumstances inevitably lead to lower achievement and other problems experienced by students in poverty. Given that schools are the main means of survival for underprivileged and/or initially low achieving students (Scheerens & Bosker, 1997), the effectiveness of schools is particularly critical for such students. Other challenges include major differences in the quality of schooling experienced in rural and isolated areas, as well as the issues experienced by migrant and indigenous populations (Arar, 2020; Ezzani & Brooks, 2019; Mulford et al., 2008). Globally, regardless of their contexts, schools are already challenged with League Tables (MacBeath et al., 2007), international examinations, performativity and uncertainty (Ball, 2000), and with neoliberal market policies in the form of exogenous or endog...
