Social justice and education in the public and private spheres

Abstract

This paper explores the complex relationship between social justice and education in the public and private spheres. The politics of education is often presented as a battle between left and right, the state and the market. In this representation, the public and the private spheres are neatly aligned on either side of the line of battle, and social justice is commonly seen as the prerogative of the public sphere. This paper challenges this representation. It shows how the language of what counts as public and private in education is historically specific, culturally contingent and ideologically loaded. Through drawing on a range of education policies and practices, the paper demonstrates that ‘public’ and ‘private’ are not simple opposites. Moreover, it argues that social justice can be conceptualised in ways that have complex and multi-faceted implications for public and private sphere involvement. The paper concludes that if we are to enhance our understanding of the relationship between social justice and education we need to recognise the multi-faceted nature of what counts as private, what counts as public and what counts as justice.

Keywords:

• social justice
• education policy
• public
• private
• education inequality
• Nancy Fraser

Notes

1. We are aware that in our own exposition we too are guilty at times of ‘lumping together’ the different dimensions—although we hope we do so with some degree of self-consciousness. It seems almost impossible to escape from the pervasiveness and fluidity of the concepts. We hope that the term ‘sphere’ captures this breadth without sacrificing too much precision.

2. Of course, just as the terms ‘public’ and ‘private’ are historically contingent, so too are the different dimensions of social (in)justice.

3. See Power (2006) for a discussion of the ideological and gendered nature of the language of public and private in relation to school choice.

4. Gal also suggests that public and private are ultimately distinguished by law. Although this reminds us of the importance of the legal system in defining aspects of the social we would also recognise that the law is also a reflection of the social.

5. It is possible to consider other domains or other ways of separating different aspects of the education system. For example, access (admissions) and governance (control) have been used in the past as ways of distinguishing between the involvement of the public and private spheres (Taylor, 2002).

6. Based on 2010 prices.

7. In addition to the sources of funding, Green (2005) and Ball (2007) have also charted the exponential rise of the education services, what Ball terms the ‘educational services industry’. These range in focus from providing infrastructure (Academies, Public-Finance Initiatives) and educational programmes (Connexions, Children’s Trusts), to the delivery of contracts (local authorities and assessment) and services (school improvement and examination boards) (Ball, 2007, p. 43).

8. The impact may well be greater in developing countries.