Unit 1
Neo-conservative Restructuring in the 1980s and 1990s

In this unit, we focus on the arguments for neo-conservative restructuring that emerged in the late 1980s and the 1990s, and we examine the ways in which demands for curriculum reform have been used as a springboard for organizational reforms in education, including challenges to the central concept of public provision.

The unit readings explain the different ideologies that support the neo-conservative reform movement, including the focus on testing, charter schools, and religious and private schools. The commentary draws on School’s Out: The Catastrophe in Public Education and What We Can Do about It, by Andrew Nikiforuk (1993), and The Charter School Idea: Breaking Educational Gridlock, by Joe Freedman (1995). Both Nikiforuk and Freedman can be classified as advocates of a neo-conservative approach to education (although Nikiforuk might more accurately be termed a conservative with neo-conservative tendencies). It also draws on Class Warfare: The Assault on Canada’s Schools, by Maude Barlow and Heather Jane Robertson (1994), who write from a critical perspective in defence of existing public school provision.

Objectives

After completing Unit 1, you should be able to

1. discuss the educational implications of a neo-conservative socio-political framework.
2. explain the link between demands for educational reform and concerns over economic performance.
3. debate the pros and cons of testing.
4. identify the role that debates about curriculum and school performance have played in shaping the provision of education.