Neoliberalism and Education Systems in Conflict by Arar, Khalid; Örücü, Deniz; Wilkinson, Jane;

Short description:

Neoliberalism and Education Systems in Conflict: Exploring Challenges Across the Globe explores how neoliberal values are imprinted onto educational spaces and practices, and by consequence, fundamentally reshape how we come to understand the educational experience at the school or system-level.

Long description:

Neoliberalism and Education Systems in Conflict: Exploring Challenges Across the Globe explores how neoliberal values are imprinted onto educational spaces and practices, and by consequence, fundamentally reshape how we come to understand the educational experience at the school or system level. Countries across the globe struggle with the residual effects of increased accountability, choice/voucher systems, and privatization.

The first section of the book discusses the direct imprint of neoliberal policies on educational spaces. The next section examines the more indirect outcomes of neoliberalism, including the challenges of inequity, access, violence, racism, and social justice issues as a result of neoliberal ideologies. Each section of the book includes case studies about education systems across the globe, including Britain, Middle East, Turkey, United States, China, and Chile written by international contributors.

Neoliberalism and Education Systems in Conflict is essential reading for educators, scholars, and faculty of educational leadership and policy globally.

"Neoliberalism and Education Systems in Conflict: Exploring Challenges Across the Globe, examines the seemingly endless and diverse needs of societies, schools and children facing challenging circumstances around the world in order to better understand the strategies and practices educators employ to navigate their way through a dominant global neoliberal agenda. Contributing scholars from five continents provide critical insights into the challenging global-local (glocal) contexts that schools in their region confront as they attempt to improve the life chances of all school age children. This edited volume is an important read for educational practitioners and policymakers struggling to understand the top-down/bottom-up pressures they confront daily."
— Stephen Jacobson, Editor of Leadership and Policy in Schools, and Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy, University at Buffalo, USA

"Arrar, Örücü, and and Wilkinson deserve commendations for two important reasons. First, for bringing together an impressive list of scholars from across the globe, at very different stages at their careers to reflect upon and share ideas and knowledge on one of the major issue of the day: the interplay between educational leadership and neoliberalism. Second, for helping to move existing debates on the subject forward by examining the issues faced by education systems from the individual school level to the wider macro/systemic level. This represents a major departure from existing literature and has potential to fill many contextual gaps in our understanding of how individual schools interact with the system in the face of neoliberalism. The unique case studies from countries around the word provide meaningful glimpses into the strategies and practices employed by key actors within different educational spaces to navigate global neoliberal agenda whilst remaining relevant to the students and society in which they live and work."
— Paul W. Miller, President of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration & Management, Head of the School of Education, and Professor of Educational Leadership and Social Justice, University of Greenwich, UK

"Context, context, context is the rallying cry for this provocative new book regarding global challenges facing education. The book, with authors worldwide, argues that the complex realities of contradictory ideas and interests of society as a whole will need to contextualize solutions. The concept of local uniqueness will need to intersect with theoretical perspectives makes this new book a valuable contribution to the thinking of contemporary educational leaders."
— Rosemary Papa, Founder of Educational Leaders Without Borders and Professor of Comparative & International Education and Leadership, Soka University of America, USA

Table of Contents:

1. A Call to Explore and Map the Educatıonal Challenges under Neolıberalısm across the Globe

2. Challenges of School Principals and Teachers in Private Schools: Comparison of Two Cases in the Middle East

3. Neolıberal Challenges in Public Schools in Hong Kong: An East Asian Model?

4. Principals’ Leadership Tensioned by Market Pressures in Chile

5. Polıcy-Practıce Decouplıng: Education Inspection Reform in China

6. Issues in Pre- and Primary School Education in Rural Turkey: Teachers’ Experiences and Perspectives

7. Stepping Up or Stepping Aside? The Necessity of Balancing Promise with Critique

8 Neoliberalism—the straw that broke the back of Lebanon’s Education System

9. The neoliberal challenge to leading in disadvantaged public primary schools in Victoria, Australia

10. Educational Administration Challenges in the Destabilised and Disintegrating States of Syria and Yemen: The Intersectionality of Violence, Culture, Ideology, Class/Status Group and Postcoloniality

11. Commonalities in schools and education systems around the world shifting from welfarism to neo liberalism; are the kids okay?

12. Doing Social Justice Leadership in Challenging Circumstances: Principals’ Perspectives

13. How Leaders of Outstandıng Muslım Schools in England Interpret Islamıc Educatıonal Values in a Neolıberal Clımate: ‘Brıtısh Values’ and Market Competıtıon

Concluding Remarks: The Global/Local Nexus of School Challenges under Neoliberal Policies: What Next?