Teaching within and against the circle of privilege: reforming teachers, reforming schools

Abstract

Three decades of neo-liberal education in western countries, particularly English-speaking countries, have not served most children well. The evidence is mounting that the neo-liberal experiment has been a failure on many grounds, not least because of its deprofessionalizing effect on teachers. The disciplinary effects of neo-liberal policy frameworks on education remain powerful, but there are numerous teachers and schools who have resisted the regime of managerialism and accountability. This paper celebrates such activists. It argues that the internal focus on the delivery of instruction and test-taking inside schools ignores the point that the major influences on the school performance of children exist outside rather than inside the school. The paper argues that young people who have been ‘othered’ and put at a disadvantage by the neo-liberal education system deserve to be treated in a more dignified, engaged and respectful manner than seems to be the case within the ideology of accountability and top-down managerialism.

Keywords:

• critical analysis
• equity/social justice

Notes

1. The research reported in these volumes was supported by a Discovery grant awarded by the Australian Research Council (Project No. DP0665569).

2. The research was supported by funds from the Australian Research Council and Monash University.

3. All names, including the name Connect, names of people and placenames used in relation to data included in this paper are pseudonyms.

4. The ‘Browns’ are one of four families reported in Angus et al. (2004).

5. The following transcript extracts, except for those attributed to McGraw (2011), are taken from the original data gathered for the research reported in Smyth et al. (2008, 2009), and in Angus et al. (2004).

6. It is not possible to rehearse the full arguments against School Effectiveness here. Critiques include Angus (1993, 2009) and Thrupp (1999).