Romancing the market: narrativising equity in globalising times

Abstract

Despite the ongoing production of statistics about inequities in education, national policy agendas seem incapable of getting traction on the everyday realities of the schooling which re/produces them. This paper is a think-piece which uses narrative analysis to explore some of the meaning-making processes that are implicated in this stalemate. Mobilising Lyotard's notion of a performative master narrative, that of the globalised economy with its attendant trope of the market, equity policy is conceived as a parallel story of distribution of knowledge-as-a-thing, where outcomes are privileged over purposes and processes, and learning is assumed to proceed in the same way for all. The ways in which this equity story supports the master narrative – through the display of test results for example – are signposted, and illustrations are presented to show how blame and sequestration are used as rhetorical strategies to silence equity critics. This kind of deconstructive critique of course has its limitations: debate about norms and ideals, as well as persuasive counter-narratives and exemplars are also needed in order for political action to be undertaken.

Keywords:

• equity
• narrative
• policy
• globalisation
• deconstruction
• performativity

Notes

1.See, for example, No Child Left Behind (www.ed.gov/esea, USA) and Every Child Matters (www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DfES/1081/2004, UK).

2.See, for example, the role of the nation state in debates about boys’ educational outcomes (Lingard, Martino, & Mills, 2009).