Neoliberalism inside two American high schools

Abstract

This article examines ‘neoliberalism’ inside two American public high schools. The work of one leading critical theorist, Mark Olssen, is explained and examined. Particular attention is paid to Olssen’s concepts of ‘homo economicus’ and ‘manipulatable man.’ It is concluded that Olssen’s theories on neoliberalism accurately describe developments in public education in the West since the early 1980s. It is also believed that his theories could benefit from a study that ‘looks inside the black box’ and reveals what neoliberalism looks like inside schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 teachers and two principals at two public high schools in the American state of Louisiana. Analysis reveals that an educator’s sense of professional autonomy relates to students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. That is, educators at poor schools tend to have dramatically less freedom from local school boards than educators in non-poor schools.