Between education and the economy: high‐stakes testing and the contradictory location of the new middle class

Abstract

This paper analyzes the contradictory location of the professional and managerial new middle class within the rising tension between old systems of the industrial capitalist model of education, epitomized by a reliance on high‐stakes, standardized testing and the newer forms of production associated with the ‘fast’ capitalism of the global economy. The author argues that the professional and managerial new middle class is faced with a dilemma since they benefit from systems of high‐stakes, standardized testing, yet require schools to also teach the types of skills and flexibility associated with knowledge economy. The analysis suggests that this dilemma represents the contradictory class location of the new middle class relative to both discursive and productive resources.

Keywords:

• high‐stakes testing
• new middle class
• global economy
• contradictory class location

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge Ross Collin and the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful feedback on this manuscript.