Monday, August 25, 2014

Review: Basu, Ranu. (2004). The Rationalization of neoliberalism in Ontario's public education system, 1995-2000.

Basu, Ranu. (2004). The Rationalization of neoliberalism in Ontario's public education system, 1995-2000. Geoforum, 35, 621-634.

Well I had to scrape myself off the ceiling a few times while reading this article. It made me furious to read the strategies enacted in order to rationalize, and thus introduce inequities into, the high school system in Ontario. It further infuriated me as I recognized these same strategies occurring within the university educational system and currently, at our local university.

Basu (623) discusses the "unique local specificities of public schools in Ontario that are not usually considered during the design and implementation of 'universalistic' neoliberal policies (623)," an idea which may provide some insight into the differentiation process currently being applied to universities across Ontario. The neoliberal establishment is perhaps trying to avoid some of the resistance that occurred within the secondary school system?

1. Schools are "publicly funded community resources" and at the secondary school level are present in many neighbourhoods in the city and vary based on socio-demographic composition, history and culture of their neighbourhood (623). At the university level there may be many or only one university present within cities but they do vary based on the same points Basu noted (though I lack citations as proof, those within the system are very well aware of the reputations attached to the various universities that may be considered outcomes of the points noted). 

2. "[T]hough the primary purpose of these public institutions is educational, schools can also be thought to be centres for civic renewal since they provide a space for neighbourhood integration (623)." Do universities? They are civic renewal if they graduate critical citizens prepared to engage in society; there is a growth industry, economically, in that neighbourhoods are created around universities to supply goods and services not necessarily available within the university itself. A space for neighbourhood integration? Perhaps regional integration for those universities that pull a majority of their student body from a specific region or regions.

3. "[S]chools are essentially political in nature and can often be the battleground for larger social change (623)" which is a statement many will recognize as common to the university.

4. The last point is that "schools are intrinsically spatial in nature (623)" and the presence or absence of schools have "direct effects on the welfare and status of the neighbourhood (623)" ... Or city.

Because or for all these reasons a standardized approach to education will not work. I believe this applies at the university level also, and, as mentioned above, may reflect the neoliberal focus on differentiation. Unfortunately I need to do more reading in order to better compare and contrast the approaches.

The author presents three periods of neoliberalization: "a period of aggressive implementation whereby using a variety of techniques and strategies neoliberal reforms were introduced in areas of governance, finance and curriculum...[then] a period of dissent and chaos to finally a period of quiet anticipation...(623)."

Basu notes the players, mostly state actors, the rhetoric of fiscal efficiency, economic rationalization and accountability to the public, the move to centralized control, the introduction of supposed independent agencies as regulatory bodies intended to monitor, shape and control institutional behaviour, unions as impediments to restructuring and prosperity. Strategies: the creation of NGOs "where 'objective' advice was in reality geared towards legitimizing neoliberal economic rationalization (632)," "implementing policies through a 'stealth approach' (632)," noted as occurring in university senate including facile consultations and by-laws to quantify faculty activities as "accountability", and rhetoric to create doubt and reduce confidence in the existing system, to demonize unions and university processes "unions are a problem", "teachers don't spend enough time in the classroom", and we need to "put children [students] first (632)."

Importantly, the author notes that informal action works better than formal (union) collective action and that "[l]ocal residents do not usually organize in response to macro-societal changes and general conflicts, but typically around specific issues perceived as critical at the local level (632, citing three other studies)."

The author does not promulgate or emphasize a moral high ground, nor is it an argument for democracy against neoliberalism unless you consider the dishonesty inherent in the stealth approaches taken by the neoliberal establishment. Her focus is on the mechanisms used by the neoliberals to implement their agenda in the Ontario public education system. Exposing the strategies improves our awareness of what may happen or be happening in other educational systems. Turk's book Universities at risk (2008) and Deem,  Hillyard and Reed's work on the changing management of universities in the UK (2007) all add to our understanding of neoliberalism's strategies or activities re: engagement with their various constituencies.

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