The Falling Rate of Learning and the Neoliberal Endgame

The Falling Rate of Learning and the Neoliberal Endgame PDF Author: David Blacker
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1780995792
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
The current neoliberal mutation of capitalism has evolved beyond the days when the wholesale exploitation of labor underwrote the world system’s expansion. While “normal” business profits plummet and theft-by-finance rises, capitalism now shifts into a mode of elimination that targets most of us—along with our environment—as waste products awaiting managed disposal. The education system is caught in the throes of this eliminationism across a number of fronts: crushing student debt, impatience with student expression, the looting of vestigial public institutions and, finally, as coup de grâce, an abandonment of the historic ideal of universal education. “Education reform” is powerless against eliminationism and is at best a mirage that diverts oppositional energies. The very idea of education activism becomes a comforting fiction. Educational institutions are strapped into the eliminationist project—the neoliberal endgame—in a way that admits no escape, even despite the heroic gestures of a few. The school systems that capitalism has built and directed over the last two centuries are fated to go down with the ship. It is rational therefore for educators to cultivate a certain pessimism. Should we despair? Why, yes, we should—but cheerfully, as confronting elimination, mortality, is after all our common fate. There is nothing and everything to do in order to prepare.

The Falling Rate of Learning and the Neoliberal Endgame

The Falling Rate of Learning and the Neoliberal Endgame PDF Author: David Blacker
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1780995792
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
The current neoliberal mutation of capitalism has evolved beyond the days when the wholesale exploitation of labor underwrote the world system’s expansion. While “normal” business profits plummet and theft-by-finance rises, capitalism now shifts into a mode of elimination that targets most of us—along with our environment—as waste products awaiting managed disposal. The education system is caught in the throes of this eliminationism across a number of fronts: crushing student debt, impatience with student expression, the looting of vestigial public institutions and, finally, as coup de grâce, an abandonment of the historic ideal of universal education. “Education reform” is powerless against eliminationism and is at best a mirage that diverts oppositional energies. The very idea of education activism becomes a comforting fiction. Educational institutions are strapped into the eliminationist project—the neoliberal endgame—in a way that admits no escape, even despite the heroic gestures of a few. The school systems that capitalism has built and directed over the last two centuries are fated to go down with the ship. It is rational therefore for educators to cultivate a certain pessimism. Should we despair? Why, yes, we should—but cheerfully, as confronting elimination, mortality, is after all our common fate. There is nothing and everything to do in order to prepare.

Neoliberalism, Critical Pedagogy and Education

Neoliberalism, Critical Pedagogy and Education PDF Author: Ravi Kumar
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317335171
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
This volume examines the role of neoliberalism and its impact on education in South Asia. It contends that education is in a state of crisis across the world. This is reflected not only in the way the state has withdrawn to pave way for private capital but also in the manner in which knowledge and ways of understanding the world are being challenged by manipulation and adverse influences. A process of ‘factoryisation’ is underway as disciplining of human minds and redefinition of the purpose of human existence are being geared to fall in line with the needs of private capital. The book brings together incisive contributions from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal to explore newer possibilities to deal with the educational crisis, and looks at a range of critical themes in education: pedagogy, teacher–learner relationship, teacher education, the state of the university, and policy. Rich in content, critical and insightful, this book will be a valuable addition for scholars and researchers of education and education policy, sociology, public policy and South Asian Studies.

Critical Reflections on the Language of Neoliberalism in Education

Critical Reflections on the Language of Neoliberalism in Education PDF Author: Spyros Themelis
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000328740
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Recognizing the dominance of neoliberal forces in education, this volume offers a range of critical essays which analyze the language used to underpin these dynamics. Combining essays from over 20 internationally renowned contributors, this text offers a critical examination of key terms which have become increasingly central to educational discourse. Each essay considers the etymological foundation of each term, the context in which they have evolved, and likewise their changed meaning. In doing so, these essays illustrate the transformative potential of language to express or challenge political, social, and economic ideologies. The text’s musings on the language of education and its implications for the current and future role of education in society make clear its relevance to today’s cultural and political landscape. This exploratory monograph will be of interest to doctoral students, researchers, and scholars with an interest in the philosophy of education, educational policy and politics, as well as the sociology of education and the impacts of neoliberalism.

Critical Mathematics Education

Critical Mathematics Education PDF Author: Bülent Avci
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004390235
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Drawing on rich ethnographic data, Critical Mathematics Education: Can Democratic Mathematics Education Survive under Neoliberal Regime? responds to ongoing discussions on the standardization in curriculum and reconceptualizes Critical Mathematics Education (CME) by arguing that despite obstructive implications of market-driven changes in education, a practice of critical mathematics education to promote critical citizenship could be implemented through open-ended projects that resonate with an inquiry-based collaborative learning and dialogic pedagogy. In doing so, neoliberal hegemony in education can be countered. The book also identifies certain limitations of critical mathematical education and suggests pedagogic and curricular strategies for critical educators to cope with these obstacles.

The Future of American Higher Education

The Future of American Higher Education PDF Author: Joseph L. DeVitis
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000971260
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description
"This impressive anthology presents the reader with an introduction to a gallery of public intellectuals through the critical eyes of a wide array of contributing writers from various academic fields. Both the latter and the public intellectuals themselves are responding to the state of American higher education. Importantly, most of them (there are a few public intellectuals in the book who cling closer to the status quo) do not separate colleges and universities from the political, economic, and social currents of American society. They attack the realities of growing social inequality, the intractable presence of institutional racism, and the recurrent reliance on the free market as the arbiter of value. Public intellectuals assess the impact of these social factors on the organization and practices of contemporary American higher education. They force the reader to consider serious challenges to the current arrangement of higher learning and, as such, they ask us to assess the efficacy of their respective perspectives. Do they present the reader with insight or idealism, pathways or dead ends? This compendium provides an abundance of ideas for higher education leaders, policy makers, faculty members, trustees and governmental officials as well as social theorists and graduate students interested in higher education careers."—Richard Guarasci, President Emeritus of Wagner CollegeJust as our society is polarized, higher education is no less divided as to its mission and purpose, whether it should be preparing students for employment or for engagement as citizens, whether it should be corporatist and profit-driven or promote intellectual curiosity and independent thinking, and whether it should pursue a neoliberal agenda or promote a liberal education. Whose scholarship, culture and epistemologies should be validated? Should it be a private or a public good? Preserve tenure or erode it? What role should colleges and universities play in addressing economic inequality and systemic racism? The answers to these questions are critical for the future of our society as our universities and colleges are the nurseries of the values and philosophies that shape it.The chapters in this book review the contributions of seventeen public intellectuals who have been at the forefront of these issues and significantly contributed to these debates. Each describes the genesis of each scholar’s ideas and presents and critiques his or her core insights and arguments. The seventeen public intellectuals represent a spectrum of opinion, from the conservative to the progressive.At this pivotal moment when much of higher education is in economic crisis, and public trust in it has been eroded, this book offers a robust entry point for considering the options and directions ahead for anyone in a leadership position. The book will also be valuable for higher education courses to stimulate debate about these critical issues and introduce readers to the seminal thinkers in the field.Public Intellectuals PresentedStanley AronowitzMichael BérubéMarc BousquetPatricia Hill CollinsLori Patton DavisWilliam DeresiewiczStanley Fish Marybeth GasmanHenry GirouxSara Goldrick-RabbAmy GutmannRussell JacobyRandall KennedyDavid KirpDavid F. LabareeChristopher NewfieldMichael Roth

The Importance of Philosophy in Teacher Education

The Importance of Philosophy in Teacher Education PDF Author: Andrew D. Colgan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429762135
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The Importance of Philosophy in Teacher Education maps the gradual decline of philosophy as a central, integrated part of educational studies. Chapters consider how this decline has impacted teacher education and practice, offering new directions for the reintegration of philosophical thinking in teacher preparation and development. Touching on key points in history, this valuable collection of chapters accurately appraises the global decline of philosophy of education in teacher education programs and seeks to understand the external and endemic causes of changed attitudes towards a discipline which was once assigned such a central place in teacher education. Chapters illustrate how a grounding in the theoretical and ethical dimensions of teaching, learning, and education systems contribute in meaningful ways to being a good teacher, and trace the consequences of a decline in philosophy on individuals’ professional development and on the evolution of the teaching profession more broadly. With this in mind, the text focusses on the future of teacher education and considers how we can ensure that philosophy of education feeds into the excellence of teaching today. This book will be of great interest to graduate, postgraduate students as well as research scholars in the field of educational philosophy and history of education. In addition, it will be useful for those involved in teacher education, and in particular, course, module and program development.

The Taming of Education

The Taming of Education PDF Author: Rob Creasy
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319622471
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
This book evaluates contemporary approaches to education, with a particular focus on the ways in which assessment shapes the educational experience and influences pupils and students. It adopts a critical approach, arguing that there is a need for students to develop critical thinking skills, be flexible and have the capacity for originality. Education has increasingly come to be seen as a process with qualifications as the output; however, as economies change, attaining advantage increasingly relies on creativity and originality. Unfortunately, in the quest to remove uncertainty from education, creativity and originality are often overlooked; and the result is that education is impoverished. Creasy argues here that there is no single factor that has shaped education and led to this situation; rather, developments within education can be seen as having been shaped by a range of forces such as neoliberalism, New Public Management, standardization and internationalization. This is not to claim any deliberate undermining of education, but the cumulative effect is that education is less and less fit for purpose. Written for anyone involved in education, student, teacher or manager, this book draws upon Educations Studies, Sociology and Social Policy to offer a compelling critique of contemporary education.

Competence Based Education and Training (CBET) and the End of Human Learning

Competence Based Education and Training (CBET) and the End of Human Learning PDF Author: John Preston
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319551108
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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Book Description
This book radically counters the optimism sparked by Competence Based Education and Training, an educational philosophy that has re-emerged in Schooling, Vocational and Higher Education in the last decade. CBET supposedly offers a new type of learning that will lead to skilled employment; here, Preston instead presents the competency movement as one which makes the concept of human learning redundant. Starting with its origins in Taylorism, the slaughterhouse and radical behaviourism, the book charts the history of competency education to its position as a global phenomenon today, arguing that competency is opposed to ideas of process, causality and analog human movement that are fundamental to human learning.

Reclaiming the University for the Public Good

Reclaiming the University for the Public Good PDF Author: Malcolm Noble
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303021625X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
This book asks how we can reclaim the university for the public good. The editors and contributors argue that the sector is in crisis, accelerated by the passing of the UK Higher Education Research Act in 2017 and made visible during the University and College Union strikes in April 2018. In response to this, there are widespread demands to reclaim the university and protect education as a public good, using co-operative structures. Taking an interdisciplinary and social justice perspective, the editors and contributors offer concrete examples of alternative higher education: in doing so, analysing how the future of the university can be recovered. This intersectional volume discusses a broad range of approaches to higher education while disseminating new ideas. It will be of interest and value to those disenchanted with the current state of higher education in the UK and beyond, as well as activists and policy makers.

Teacher Education and the Political

Teacher Education and the Political PDF Author: Matthew Clarke
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317555694
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
Teacher Education and the Political is a striking book which addresses the nature and purpose of teacher education in a global context characterised by economic and political anxieties around declining productivity and social inclusion. These anxieties are manifested in recent policy developments such as the promotion of professional standards, the deregulation and marketisation of teacher education and the imposition of performance-related regimes that tie teachers’ pay to outcomes in high-stakes testing. The book assesses the implications of such policies for the work of teachers as well as for teacher educators and those undertaking initial teacher training. It is argued that these policy moves can be read as a depoliticising and de-intellectualising of teacher education. In this context, they illustrate how contemporary theory can provide a language for critiquing recent developments and imagining new trajectories for policy and practice in teacher education. Drawing on the work of theorists from Derrida and Mouffe to Agamben and Lacan, this book argues for the need to maintain a space for intellectual autonomy as a critical dimension of the ethico-political work of teachers. Together these ideas and analyses provide examples of the power of negative thinking, illustrating its capacity to unsettle comfortable truths and foreground the political nature of teacher education. Current teachers, teacher educators and school leaders will be particularly interested readers, alongside those concerned with policy in the wider educational landscape.