Session Information
23 SES 13 C (JS), Schooling and Education after Neo-Liberalism
Symposium, Joint Session NW 14 and NW 23
Contribution
An NFER (2010) study says that “Providing opportunities for pupils to feel part of decision-making processes in schools, preferably from primary level onwards, may help not only to raise levels of participation in civic life, but also confidence in the value of, and potential for reform of civic institutions.” (p. 55). Thus do different philosophies underlying schooling and different forms of school organisation affect the kinds and levels of decision making that are able to take place? So, what forms of schooling are appropriate for what visions of society? And, what pedagogical practices, what forms of socialisation, what values give rise to proactive, coherent, equitable and socially just participation in society? Such questions are increasingly educationally and methodologically urgent (Schostak and Schostak 2008, 2010). At the global level, it is being argued by some that far from having ‘won’ the great historical political battle of ideas, the power of the West is on the wane. Rather than Fukuyama’s ‘end of history’, history never went away and the future is uncertain. Certainly the political and economic critiques of people like Harvey, Wallerstein and Arrighi and Zizek claim to detect shifts in the global political and economic tectonic plates from American domination towards China and possibly Latin America. New forces are already in play. These have led to environmental and economic critiques of global market and political practices that have implications for the kinds of schooling and educational arrangements and practices that populations need if they are to survive. Technological developments are already transforming political behaviour among populations and transforming the possibilities for access to knowledge and communities of debate. Furthermore, there is a rich heritage of different and alternative forms of schooling and approaches to education as a critical exercise in thinking, critique and action to bring about social justice and democratic practice to draw upon in conceptualising schooling and education after neo-liberalism (Fielding and Moss (2010). Given the evidence upon which these arguments are based then it is reasonable to explore the question of schooling and more importantly the spaces for education after neo-liberalism not as a future possibility but as a present reality.
Symposium discussions divides into two sessions. The first focuses on systematic relations between institutions, policy and society; the second will focus upon impacts upon relationships within institutions and impacts upon individuals. The papers presented in the symposium will discuss these issues from a range of critical research perspectives, disciplines and cultural contexts across 6 European countries.
Session 1 focuses on the recent policy statements and initiatives in the organisation of schooling in the context of historical and contemporary examples of alternative or different forms of schooling and educational practice.
Session 2 addresses issues of the impacts of different kinds of pedagogical and organisational regime on health, values, identities, social justice and forms of political engagement whether from historical examples and/or current existing cases. The discussant will critique and summarise what can be learnt from the different cultural contexts in each session to provoke discussion.
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