“An administrative state, which was formerly responsible for the economy and human welfare, has given way to one that empowers multinational companies since the rise of neoliberalism. During this change, new philosophies and mechanisms are put in place to make people more entrepreneurial in their economic pursuits and to shift responsibility for areas like healthcare, education, and security.”
For liberals, who see autonomy and self-sufficiency as foundational to dignity, respect, self-esteem, etc., this is more than just a return to simpler times. But what it means is that we don’t care about the weak and oppressed as a whole, and that we’re more concerned with making money off of business and other ventures.Institutions of higher learning and other forms of public service were the first to adopt the new administrative practices. On the other hand, neoliberal policies have changed education’s structure, function, and discourse in society.
There have been major shifts in the way schools and universities teach students to think like entrepreneurs and take initiative in many areas of their lives. Education, from kindergarten through college, is presently framed and justified by policy as a means of building human capital and encouraging economic production.It is a policy concern since it costs the country money when young people don’t do well on international standardized tests or don’t finish high school. Because education is mainly seen as economically significant, the failure of young people to succeed in their pursuit of higher education is seen as an economic problem.
The school system’s function has been altered by neoliberal policies: Similarly, some contend that public schools fail to meet their pupils’ requirements, are too centralized, lack accountability, and do not do enough to cultivate human capital. Some examples of market methods incorporated into neoliberal strategies include the chartering of failed schools in the US and their quasi-marketization in other nations.Voucher schemes are one example of a public-private partnership (PPP) effort that helps alleviate some of the financial strain on public schools. The desire for PPP is fueled by a lack of investment in education and a lack of concern about the declining quality of education. Consequently, one alternate strategy is to advocate for the sale of public schools.
Neoliberal educational institutions work hard to make their “clients” believe they are meeting their needs. This is achieved in several ways, including the following: drawing in exceptionally bright students who will raise the school’s profile, focusing on exam-oriented instruction, providing extra help to students who are expected to do well on assessments, and removing resources from students who have special needs.
Research by theorists like Foucault, who identifies investigation, hierarchical observation, and normalizingjudgment as the tools of disciplinary authority, is often consulted by critics. Hierarchical observation aims to watch and control conduct while normalizing judgment establishing a consistent bar for all learners.
Curriculums and standardized tests use these tools to measure and control people by outlining their value in comparison to an established norm. The effects on teaching, learning, and institutional culture are adverse, and inequalities are worsened, by this standardized approach. At the very beginning, it undermines inclusivity about identities, ideology, ethnicity, and history. The ability to think critically is also diminished and education is no longer seen as a priority based on individual and societal needs; this has far-reaching consequences for human development as a whole. Furthermore, this kind of schooling serves to further divide society by giving more power to the already privileged and powerful.
It is unfair to paint the pre-neoliberal era in a negative light or to reduce neoliberalism to a negative ideology. The educational systems of the past were not immune to inequality and difficulty. To increase accountability and make it easier to identify inequalities, certain components of modern neoliberal policies include education marketing, education standardization, and examinations.
The focus of ongoing efforts to enhance education should shift from narrowly economic concerns to the greater good of society as a whole, through public ownership and the encouragement of diversity and inclusion, rather than the other way around.