The neo-liberal education policies of epimeleia heautou: caring for the self in school markets

Abstract

The paper argues that neo-liberal education policy has capitalized on a historical concern to care for the self, or the Greek epimeleia heautou. We discuss epimeleia heautou in relation to education policies that emphasize greater choice in curriculum offerings, and in relation to school choice policies more generally. Thus, a premise of our argument is that school choice policies accommodate a much greater range of selves to be cared for. The analysis examines the neo-liberal subject, homo œconomicus, in relation to education policy that produces choices of the self and choices for its care. We conclude by discussing conceptions of the self in relation to two aporias of neo-liberal educational equality produced through ethnic-specific schools.

Keywords:

• care of the self
• education policy
• neo-liberalism
• school choice
• quasi-markets
• equality

Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge that this research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Notes

1. http://www.tdsb.on.ca/schools/index.asp?schno=3949. The phrase is the second principle, Kujichagulia, of Nguzo Saba, or Kwanzaa.

2. Magnet schools are a public choice alternative often implemented to encourage ‘voluntary forms of racial integration’ (Archbald, 2004, p. 283) and to foster innovation through specialized curricula. Charter schools are ‘legally independent, innovative, outcome-based public schools’ (NCREL, 1993, p. 1). Vouchers programmes provide parents with portable funds to send their children to a school of their preference (public or private) (Teske & Schneider, 2001).

3. Foucault (2003) analyzed these ideas in relation to race and ethnicity, and we apply his racial analysis to a neo-liberal self elsewhere (Webb & Gulson, 2012).

4. Although beyond the scope of this paper, segregation by choice, or self-separation, is a significant policy precondition that addressed the African Canadian community's self-development. This idea is evidenced in the formative Ontario policy document ‘Towards a New Beginning’ (Four-Level Government/African Canadian Community Working Group, 1992), a policy document that recommended the creation of ‘Black focused schools’ as a short-term strategy seeking to improve the self-esteem of Black youth. The argument was that Black-focused schools would foster a better understanding and appreciation of the historical contributions of the Black Community to Canadian society and, by so doing, would help African Canadian youth reach their full potential within the public system. Caring for their own selves was presented as a requirement for their Black Canadians’ advancement in society. While the document recognized the importance of the government's involvement and assistance, it also makes clear that the community is expected to have an active role in the process of change. Terms like ‘self-development’, ‘responsibility’, ‘self-reliance’ and ‘self-sufficiency’ serve to convey the idea that the African Canadian community needed to become responsible of taking care of itself, to be in charge of ‘managing’ its own development. This particular research will be published shortly.