The Neolib-rebellion: a critical analysis of how neoliberal values are presented in the discourse of contemporary education policy in England

This thesis explores how the dominant values of neoliberal politics are presented within the discourse of contemporary education policy in England. Utilising a uniquely developed analytical framework, the research deconstructs the language and the social processes at work in creating contemporary education policy in England and reveals how dominant neoliberal values are legitimised through a depoliticised discourse of ideological fantasy. Underpinned by Critical Realism, this study employs Bhaskar’s ‘depth’ ontology (1978) as a conceptual lens to view education policy as an empirical surface artefact, with a deeper, hidden social reality obscured by its discourse.

This thesis is written from the critical perspective that neoliberalism erodes the concept of education as a public good, reducing it to a marketised commodity. The research identifies three key mechanisms that drive the neoliberal agenda of contemporary education policy in England:

• the importance of global competition
• the development of future human capital
• the performance and accountability of educational institutions

The study argues that these cogs in the neoliberal engine of educational reform are legitimised and promoted as the solution to issues of social inequity that are ‘problematised’ within the discourse of education policy (Freire, 1970/ Foucault, 1977). The research contends that education policy discourse highlights problems of social injustice and presents neoliberal solutions which portray a utopian prosperous and fair society. It proposes that the ideological narrative woven into contemporary education policy is a form of discursive crisis management which pledges to tackle societal issues of inequality yet fails to acknowledge the roots of the problems.

This study provides an original contribution to the field of research through employing an individually developed critical analysis framework. It utilises linguistic and interdiscursive analytical methods to explore how education policy discourse constructs emotive narratives which blur the boundaries between ideological fantasy and neoliberal reality. The thesis concludes by suggesting that neoliberal education policy should be subverted and challenged. It argues that education policy discourse both reinforces and exposes power asymmetries - awareness of this is important for anyone seeking alternatives to the neoliberal education regime. The study believes that acts of resistance - such as developing a critical awareness of the power behind policy - may reawaken the moral and ethical pedagogy of teachers and leaders, enabling the profession to re-focus on wider educational values rather than the measurable school improvement agenda of neoliberal education.