Glaze Report and political ideology

Pauline Lipman (plipman [at] uic.edu) is an education activist and professor of educational policy studies at University of Illinois at Chicago who has studied education as an ideological project.

NEA 4C's for Education	Glaze Report for Nova Scotia	Neo Liberal Education
critical thinking		teaching is driven by standardized tests and performance outcomes
communication		principals are managers, and school superintendents are CEOs
collaboration		learning equals performance on the tests with teachers, students, and parents held responsible for “failure.”
creativity		Education, which is properly seen as a public good, is being converted into a private good
		Education in an investment one makes in order better to compete in the labor market.

Table 1 4C Education vs neo liberal education

Neoliberalization of public education is also an ideological project, as Margaret Thatcher famously said, to “change the soul,” redefining the purpose of education and what it means to teach, learn, and participate in schooling. Tensions between democratic purposes of education and education to serve the needs of the workforce are longstanding. But in the neoliberal framework, teaching is driven by standardized tests and performance outcomes; principals are managers, and school superintendents are CEOs; and learning equals performance on the tests with teachers, students, and parents held responsible for “failure.” Education, which is properly seen as a public good, is being converted into a private good, an investment one makes in one’s child or oneself to “add value” in order better to compete in the labor market. It is no longer seen as part of the larger end of promoting individual and social development, but is merely the means to rise above others.

National Education Association reports on the 4C’s of education to prepare 21st Century Students for a Global Society.

we interviewed leaders of all kinds to determine which of the 21st century skills were the most important for K-12 education. There was near unanimity that four specific skills were the most important. They became known as the “Four Cs”

The claim that the Glaze report contains elements of the neo liberal education ideology needs to be supported by evidence. The use of business language describing principals as managers is one link between the communication of the Education Minister and the neo liberal education ideology. Collaboration between educators and the government is essential for development of an education system to prepare 21st Century Students for a Global Society.

References

(n.d.). Neoliberal Education Restructuring | Pauline Lipman | Monthly Review. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from https://monthlyreview.org/2011/07/01/neoliberal-education-restructuring/
(n.d.). NEA - An Educator's Guide to the “Four Cs”. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from http://www.nea.org/tools/52217.htm