New_Right_Neoliberalism_Ball_LessonUp_no_footer - Repaired
NEW RIGHT,
NEOLIBERALISM
& GLOBAL EDUCATION
NEW RIGHT
MARKETISATION
BALL (2012)
Lesson duration is: 33 minItems in this lesson
NEW RIGHT,
NEOLIBERALISM
& GLOBAL EDUCATION
NEW RIGHT
MARKETISATION
BALL (2012)
What should schools prioritise most?
Subject knowledge
Job-specific skills
Transferable skills such as Problem-solving, teamwork, communication
The New Right or Neoliberalism
It’s a political and economic theory, not a sociological one.
1. Starting point
Like functionalists, New Right thinkers see education as important for allocating people to economic roles and developing skills.
2. But the economy changed
3. Therefore education must adapt
A flexible economy needs adaptable workers. The New Right argues that education should become more responsive, competitive and skills-oriented. The old division between ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE and PRACTICAL SKILLS is not useful anymore, it’s too inflexible.
ECONOMIC CHANGE → EDUCATIONAL CHANGE
↑ globalized
↑ manufacturing
↑ financial and services sectors.
Which statement best captures the New Right argument?
Education should return to fixed vocational routes because modern jobs are increasingly specialised.
A more flexible economy requires education to combine knowledge, competence and transferable skills.
Academic knowledge should replace practical skills because knowledge industries value theory most.
Globalisation makes the relationship between education and the economy less important.
Three ways in which education adapts to this new economy, according to New right ideas
Stop treating “knowing” and “doing” as separate; modern roles often require both at once. Create qualifications and pathways that combine theoretical learning with practical or work-related skills.
Move beyond recall towards skills usable across contexts: problem-solving, communication, teamwork, digital competence.
Ending rigid distinction between academic and vocational education
Prioritise functional knowledge instead of subject knowledge
Integrate knowledge + skills
Reconstruct the New Right logic
Because the post-industrial economy is characterised by flexibility and rapid change, education should produce adaptable workers. This may involve reducing the distinction between academic and vocational routes, placing greater emphasis on functional knowledge and integrating theoretical knowledge with practical skills.
Reconstruct the New Right logic
Neoliberals claim that economic growth depends on education because when educational standards rise, living standards and the economy also improve.
What do you think needs to be done
in order to improve education?
Neoliberalism: use market logic to improve education
COMPETITION:
Is the key to economic growth and efficiency/improvement
Only works in FREE MARKET – without regulations from state
Allows consumers to CHOOSE
Neoliberals are against the state having the monopoly of education/health as it interferes with a free market and free competition.
Marketisation
Marketisation = The process in which organisations compete in the market.
IDEA OF NEOLIBERALS:
Apply Marketisation to Education = make schools compete for customers
Consequence = schools will raise their standards.
Do you agree with this post?
The school choice process in India
Private low-fee schools in India have expanded rapidly. To increase parental choice, some must reserve 25% of places for disadvantaged children aged 6–14, who attend for free.
Gurney (2017) studied school choice among low-income families in Delhi. She found that parents’ own educational experiences and identities strongly influenced their decisions. Many saw themselves as “uneducated” and were therefore especially determined to invest in their children’s education, sometimes making financial sacrifices. Some also associated private schooling with higher social status.
Gurney argues that market-based education may increase social segregation. If more advantaged families leave state schools for private schools, pro-market policies may reproduce rather than reduce educational inequality.
Which conclusion best reflects Gurney’s criticism of marketisation?
Parental choice always reduces inequality because all families can access private schools.
Private schooling reduces segregation because disadvantaged students receive free places.
Parents’ choices are mainly determined by government policy rather than their own identities.
Marketisation may reproduce inequality because families enter the education market with unequal resources, experiences and social advantages.
According to neoliberals, why should schools compete with each other?
To reduce the number of students in education
To classify workers
For all schools to succeed
To encourage schools to improve
Neoliberals say school results should be visible. Why?
Marketisation: the importance of making results visible
Marketisation: the importance of making results visible
For MARKETISATION to work, school performance/results should be VISIBLE
WHY? For families and governments to be able to make informed decisions (decide where to send your child, what school to fund).
choice + data
schools compete
pressure to improve
higher standards / efficiency
New Right approaches generally prefer a single state monopoly to provider choice.
True
False
Competition is assumed to create incentives for efficiency and improvement.
True
False
Marketisation treats parents and students as consumers.
True
False
Ball: performativity
A system in which performance is made visible, measured, compared and used to judge people or institutions.
WHAT GETS MEASURED
EXAM RESULTS
INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS
TARGETS / OUTPUT INDICATORS
APPRAISALS & SELF-REVIEW
QUALITY ASSURANCE
CHANGES WHAT PEOPLE PRIORITISE
Teachers and institutions may direct time, resources and attention towards activities most likely to improve visible indicators of performance.
What valuable educational activity might be neglected because it is harder to measure?
A school reduces enrichment time to increase exam drilling because league-table position has fallen. Which concept best explains this?
Privatisation
Performativity
Vocationalism
Social reproduction
Ball (2012): education policy becomes global
Policy is increasingly shaped through transnational networks, not only inside national governments.
GLOBAL
EDUCATION POLICY
NATIONAL STATES
THINK TANKS
GLOBAL ORGANISATIONS
e.g: World Bank
PRIVATE FIRMS / MNEBs
Key idea: educational models, metrics, consultancy and “best practice” circulate across borders.
MNEBs: when education becomes a transnational market
MNEB = Multinational Education Business.
STATE
sets goals • funds • regulates • contracts
CONTRACT / PARTNERSHIP
MNEB can provide…
Policy consultancy
advice on reform, management, targets
Assessment
tests, marking, data systems
Professional development
teacher training and support
Platforms / management
digital systems or operational services
Ball’s concern: private organisations can gain influence over how public education is designed and delivered
— while also profiting from it.
LESSONUP • MATCHING
Match each concept to the best definition or example
A Marketisation
B Performativity
C MNEB
D Consumer choice
E Functional skills
F Global education policy
1 Policy ideas and actors operate across national borders.
2 A multinational company sells assessment, training or management services.
3 Parents select between schools using published information.
4 Schools are organised to compete for students and resources.
5 Teamwork, problem-solving and communication usable across jobs.
6 Measurable outcomes become central to judging and steering performance.
LessonUp tip: use “drag & drop” so students move concepts onto definitions.
Match each concept to the best definition or example
Parents select between schools using published information.
Educational ideas, practices and organisations increasingly operate across national borders.
Measurable outcomes become central to judging and steering performance.
Schools are organised to compete for students and resources.
Marketisation
Performativity
Global education policy
Consumer choice
