Educating by slogans: Rhetoric and dominion in educational neoliberalism

Abstract

Over the last couple of decades, the neoliberal educational agenda has affected educational practices and schooling purposes worldwide. As a result, all of the features of education have been profoundly affected by such a shift. While there has been work done on what neoliberal mindset is and how and why it affects all levels of educational policies, less has been said about the language of educational neoliberalism, its penetration and its—problematic—affinity with advertisement language. Specifically, in this paper I contend that reports, publications, speeches, and videos of powerful educational institutions (e.g., the OECD, the US Department of Education, and the European Commission), display a problematic similarity—if not equivalence—with commercials from famous brands (e.g., Nike, BMW, Puma, and Panasonic). By focusing on several documents from very influential ONGs and Departments of Education, and by highlighting statements and keywords contained therein, I display how it is virtually impossible to recognize which statement is from, say, OECD or US Department of Education, and which one is from such famous brands—Adidas or Audi. Such an issue begs the question as to how the actors of education—teachers, students, educators—should think and enact their roles and how they should live the concrete practice of education within a landscape shaped by such a rhetoric. In other words, what is the image conveyed by this uniform language and, in turn, what are the projects, dreams, desires, and understandings that such rhetoric underpins and arouses?