The article deals with changes in the area of education, especially at the higher level, after the so-called neoliberal turn of the 1980s. In order to explore the transformation of the sphere of education, the Marxian concept of commodification was used, as well as the four-level approach to the mechanisms of social reproduction of inequalities of…

The student as consumer has emerged as a common motif and point of contestation in educational philosophy over the past two decades, as part of the critique of the neoliberal educational reform agenda that followed Lyotard's (1984) mapping of the postmodern condition. In addition, the consumer-orientated student has assumed a problematic presence…

This article deploys critical sociology to examine institutions of higher learning, worldwide, within a context of a more utopian set of possibilities. The article contests the idea of universities as marketplaces -- competition, commercialisation and vocationalisation; the synthetic values of docility, conformity, and image/impression management;…

Vocational education and training (VET) systems are currently confronted with extensive reforms. Teacher commitment and active participation play an important role in the achievement of policy objectives. Contemporary education reforms therefore seek to shape the conduct of teachers not only through strict regulations but also by subtle and…

Over the past decades, neo-Zionist discourse has gain prominence in Israel. This approach, which gives preference to the definition of Israel as a Jewish state over its definition as a democracy, is a specific version authoritarian populism. This paper explores how educational discourses, policies and curricular changes are being shaped by…

This paper discusses how critiquing the convergence of neoliberalism and coloniality can become a crucial juncture for imagining alternatives to neoliberal foreign language education. Neoliberalism and coloniality are both mediated by aspects of subjectivity, which not only obscures their co-dependence, but also naturalizes their logic as they…

The 'liberal' feminist perspective on science problematises the presence of fewer women than men in science and believes that increasing their number would qualify as social change. On the other hand, 'radical' critics of modern science argue that science has been deeply involved in the creation, strengthening and subversion of gender…

Human Rights Education exists as an implementing entity of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Scholars such as Andre Keet and others have criticized the dissemination of universal rights through education because it covets Western ideology over local ethical and epistemological constructs. Using Tibbitts' revised typologies of Human Rights…

On October 16, 2017, over 12,000 faculty, librarians, and counsellors in 24 independent postsecondary colleges in Ontario, Canada went on strike for the fourth time since they organized in 1971 as members of the Civil Service Association of Ontario and won their first collective agreement the next year. Begun as an apolitical, self-consciously…

Constructive alignment as a way of framing curriculum has wide appeal in many tertiary education contexts. At one Pacific regional tertiary institution, it has recently been embraced as a means toward greater program quality. Its unquestioned acceptance, however, raises the need for critical reflection. This reflection critiques constructive…

Critics of school choice claim support for educational options was an outgrowth of racist, segregationist views following the U.S. Supreme Court's Ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. In this paper, I examine these claims by analyzing the development of the public school system in the United States and the historical records from Citizens for…

Purpose: This paper has a twofold purpose: (1) to demonstrate, largely with historical evidence, that, contrary to what some have argued, thinking about educational research articulated at the start of the twenty-first century was not really "new wine in new bottles" but, rather, a continuation of the so-called paradigm wars about,…

Purpose: This article focuses on the strategic importance of framing cultural changes in special education through a critical lens. The article explores why cultural responsivity must be understood from a critical perspective that accounts for the historical sedimentation of racism that exists within special education organizational policies and…

As the commercialization of American higher education accelerates, more and more students are coming to college with the narrow aim of obtaining a preprofessional credential. The traditional four-year college experience--an exploratory time for students to discover their passions and test ideas and values with the help of teachers and peers--is in…

Based on an overview of writings published or supported by the Fordham Institute and those associated with it over many years, this article brings together and examines a range of rhetorical tools employed to persuade policymakers and the public of their position. The article argues that in the absence of a reasoned or evidenced position, the…