Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education ― Reclaiming Meaning

Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education aims to challenge the language used in education, arguing that there is a nexus between the use of such language in both the public and professional domains and the changing intentions of the governance of education. This book will address the ways in which two significant words, ‘improvement’ and ‘reform’, have been appropriated by policymakers in order to justify globalised education policies that are designed to address instrumental, national and intersecting international interests, rather than the development of a more generous social enterprise based upon mutual respect and a desire for public well-being.

The language of contemporary educational reform and improvement, the authors argue, largely employs evasions that mask what is really intended by policymakers and bureaucrats. Chapters in the book examine a series of cases, from the UK, Australasia and the USA, in order to explore the current context in which these words and many like them are utilised, particularly in relation to the formulation and enactment of government policies. In the process, the authors expose these empty words for what they really are and argue that, if we are to see schooling based upon ‘praxis’ as morally-informed action, then it is essential that such terms are reinstated as ones that have the potential to transform practice beyond performativity and reclaim elements of authentic progressivism.

This book is essential reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students engaged in the study of educational policy and reform, as well as those involved in the study of teacher education, discourse analysis and cultural studies.

Nicole Mockler is Lecturer in Education at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Susan Groundwater-Smith is Honorary Professor of Education at the University of Sydney, Australia.