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Crawshaw ACE Papers___________________________________________________________________________________________

Neo-Liberalism in New Zealand Education: a critique

Mike Crawshaw

Introduction

Since 1984, a small political and business elite has exerted a

substantial infuence on ideological discourse and the ormation o

economic and social policy in New Zealand !his elite has espoused

"iews and helped to implement policies that are radically anti#

statist and ha"e been shown to bene$t the wealthy at the expense

o the least well o% i &hile this elite has helped to dismantle or

restructure almost e"ery aspect o the New Zealand State they are

still "ery much in ascendancy !his current economic orthodoxy has

already exerted an infuence o"er the education sector in New

Zealand 'rom 1989, schools ha"e been administered in much the

same way as businesses and there is competition between schools

or unding based on student numbers !hough the pace o reorm

has slowed under the coalition go"ernment, ()! *+s, the usiness

-oundtable and many members o the National caucus, ha"e

expressed enthusiasm or a system o education "ouchers and more

open competition between schools or students (lthough only a

small minority o New Zealanders shares the "iews o the usiness

-oundtable, their opinions cannot simply be ignored (s .ohn /ee0s

states, con$ned as its membership is to the chie executi"es o

New Zealand2s ma3or corporations, it is ideally placed to obtain a

positi"e go"ernment response to its political initiati"es 5/ee0s,

19967

(lthough the current discourse represents a return to an ideological

argument waged a century ago, new technologies o distribution,

comparability, appraisal and sur"eillance ma0e the mar0etisation o

education more practically easible and more destructi"e o teacher

autonomy than e"er beore )ouched in the language o public

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ACE PapersCrawshaw__________________________________________________________________________________

choice theory and positi"ism, the 2mar0et model2 has gained

theoretical currency in a country where the real goals o education

ha"e been let largely unexplored !he 'oreword to the )urriculum

'ramewor0 document is rich with the language o the mar0etplace

!eachers must now wor0 to create a :highly s0illed and adaptable

wor0#orce; in an education system beholden to the dictates o

:tomorrows competiti"e world economy; and the goals o progress

and prosperity 5New Zealand Curriculum Framework , 199enship, ha"e

been all but abandoned or assigned to the margins

he !e"orm o" Education

Neo#liberal proposals or changes in the management and unding

o schools were stated in earnest in 198?, when the /epartment o

!reasury released its brie$ng paper Government Management to

the re#elected @abour Ao"ernment (lthough written in the

language o liberal humanism, its arguments and implications wereunremittingly neo#liberal Stressing the public cost and magnitude

o the education 2enterprise2 and =B)/ suggestions or structural

change, the brie$ng made it seem that the *inistry had become an

expensi"e and cumbersome @e"iathan, unresponsi"e to the new

pluralism, and minority needs

( total macro#approach was called orC one that dealt to educational

ineDciencies in expenditure and outcomes, by in some way,realigning the people paying or education with those 2consuming2

it 'aced with an economy in crisis !reasury made it clear that

spending on education must be reduced !he Ao"ernment,

!reasury declared, should :ma0e it a matter or careul assessment

whether greater in"estment in education or a greater emphasis on

macro#economic ob3ecti"es 5or example debt deduction is the

better long term in"estment or society as a whole; 5/epartment o !reasury, 198?7E

#


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Fn response to the concerns and suggestions stated by the !reasury

/epartment, the @abour Ao"ernment commissioned a tas0orce to

ma0e recommendations or reorm o the administration o schools

Fn adherence to the dictates o public#choice theory, which stresses

the duplicity o public ser"ants, the tas0orce was chaired not by an

educational authority or expert in the administration o schools, but

by a company director # rian +icot !he report ad"ocated a

dramatic change in the administration o school education,

proposing that the cumbersome and multi#layered administration o

schools be replaced by boards o trustees elected by parents and an

external re"iew and audit agency 5B-= !he boards would control

most o a gi"en school2s resources, rom teachers salaries, to

maintenance and the purchase o teaching materials oards o

trustees were to be made up o $"e elected parents, the principal,

one other representati"e rom sta% and 5in the case o secondary

schools a student !he 0ey ob3ecti"e behind the proposed changes

was to ma0e schools more li0e eDcient businesses # responsi"e to

the demands o consumers 5curiously de$ned as the parents

*any o the recommendations were accepted uncritically by the

@ange administration, which saw the proposals as :being a good

mixture o responsi"eness, fexibility and accountability;

5/epartment o Bducation, 19887iii *ost o the proposals were

subseGuently passed into law under the Bducation (ct 1989, as

outlined in the statement o intent entitled Tomorrow's Schools

Neo-liberal ideolo$%

!he ideology which held sway o"er the 'ourth @abour Ao"ernment

)abinet is the same as that which underpins the current political

agenda o the usiness -oundtable, !reasury, ()! and most in the

National caucus Ft is deri"ed rom, and best articulated by, the neo#

liberal philosophies o 'reidrich Haye0, *ilton 'reidman, -obert

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No>ic0 and public choice critiGues o bureaucracy 5or example,

&illiam Nis0anen and .ames uchanan *ost o these theorists

5de$ned in the study o ideologies as 2neo#liberals2 ad"ocate a

minimal 2night#watchman2 state where the only legitimate role or

go"ernment consists o national deence, protection against orce

and raud, and the enorcement o contracts ii (d"ocates o neo#

liberalism re3ect the welare state and "iew almost all state acti"ity

as that which undermines indi"idual reedoms 5though these are

2reedoms2 which, as critics o neo#liberalism are not shy to point

out, rely on one ha"ing wealth +i"otal to the indi"idualistic

ramewor0 that neo#liberals wor0 within is also a belie that it is

human nature to see0 to maximise one2s sel#interestiii !his

unsophisticated conceptualisation o human agency cannot

adeGuately account or organic and altruistic orms o collecti"e

action, where, as @auder remar0s, :social bonds o lo"e, respect or

others and collecti"e memory are stripped away in the struggle or

resources; 5@auder, 199?7


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o pro"ider capture !he teacher unions are one o the

most recalcitrant special#interest groups conronting the

go"ernment (ny initiati"e in"ol"ing greater

accountability or teachers is greeted with extreme

hostility bordering on obstruction 5-ichardson, 1997618

)ouchersiv

!hough a purist neo#liberal would "iew any redistribution by the

state as un3usti$able, some o the leading neo#liberals, perhaps in

contemplation o the practical conseGuences o the state2s ull

withdrawal rom the education sector, ad"ocate a pseudo#mar0et o

education "ouchers =ne such leading light has been *ilton

'riedman who has, since 19E6, supported a system o "ouchers

Inder his proposalC

Ao"ernments could reGuire a minimum le"el o schooling

$nanced by gi"ing parents "ouchers redeemable or a

speci$ed maximum sum per child per year i spent on

2appro"ed educational ser"ices2 +arents would then be

ree to spend their sum or any additional sum they

themsel"es pro"ided on purchasing educational ser"ices

rom an 2appro"ed2 institution o their choice 5'riedman,

19E6C as Guoted in *cJen>ie, 199?71E8

(s an organisation, the usiness -oundtable is perhaps the leading

ad"ocate in New Zealand or the introduction o education

"ouchers -oger Jerr, o the usiness -oundtable ma0es the claim

that7

!omorrow2s Schools reormsonly modestly increased

parental choice and the di"ersity o schooling !hey relied

too hea"ily on a fawed idea # that to impro"e education

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parents needed to 2get in"ol"ed2 and ser"e on boards o

trustees # rather than on the normal mechanisms of

choice and competition which consumers rely on in other

markets to deliver the services they want Kitalics mineL

5Jerr, 199E

'or the usiness -oundtable and ()!, it is competition between

teachers and between schools which will ensure that the most

eDcient methods or transerring acts to students are de"eloped

5Guanti$ed and ad"ertised through the publication o a school2s

a"erage mar0s in national exams, and it is competition between

students in the attainment o esteem through higher grades that

ensures a greater Guantity o acts will be memorised 'or the

usiness -oundtable, as or ()! and !reasury, learning is not

something to be experienced co#operati"ely or "alued or its own

sa0e

!he tacit expectation is that state schools will be unable to competewith pri"ate schools in the competition or education "ouchers

5because pri"ate businesses are understood to be more eDcient

than public ones =ne might well wonder whether the true goal o

the "oucher proposal is the ull#pri"atisation o education, with the

gradual withdrawal o a uni"ersal transer to a supplement

allocated only to those unable to pay the ull cost o their children2s

education !oday2s technology o targeted assistance ma0es such apolicy Guite easible Intil recently, there has been no eDcient

means to target school education costs on the ability to pay, but 5as

we ha"e seen with accommodation, health and amily bene$ts, the

speed o computer networ0ing and data storage ha"e put paid to

the argument in a"our o the allocation o uni"ersal bene$ts on the

basis o eDciency

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+b,ections to the maretisation o" education

(lthough the discourse o the radical -ight is rich with the promise

o parental choice, we must mo"e beyond the rhetoric and

in"estigate the practical conseGuences o such a policy riefy

stated, these are my main ob3ections to the mar0etisation o

education, especially as it relates to the "oucher proposal

51 !he proposal assumes that parents ha"e eGual access to all the

necessary inormation reGuired to ma0e "alid comparisons between

schools Ft is ob"iously the case that parents do not ha"e eGual

access to inormation"

56 !he mar0etisation o schools reGuires that they be comparable

!his comparability across schools in turn reGuires that there be a

standardisation in measures o learning outcomes # in other words #

external examination (s is the case with secondary schools, it is a

natural tendency o schools under this ramewor0 to structure

teaching more directly to impro"e the students2 success in

examination, rather than teaching in order to meet their real needs

(ssessment o learning through Guanti$able orms o examination

not only approximates the analysis o real 0nowledge, it also

changes and abstracts the ocus o teaching Fn order or schools to

attract students, they will, by necessity, ha"e to de"ise strategies

that ensure that students ha"e their chances o exam success

maximised &ith the dri"e to increase student scores in these

external exams, it is li0ely 5a that there will be less "ariation in

content and pedagogical styles across schools 5ma0ing a moc0ery

o the ideal o 2choice2, and 5b that lower socio#economic schools

will be unable to achie"e the same le"els o success as schools in

higher socio#economic areas

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5ie, in his article on the "oucher system,

argues that such a proposal would sanction the programmes rom

which the parents could chooseC sanctions which would be drawn up

'/


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by people who 0now what students need and what society needs

5*cJen>ie, 199?

5E ecause capitalist imperati"es call or control, management,

standardisation and predictability in the mar0et, model a teacher2s

autonomy is by necessity constrained !he parent, not the student,

becomes the consumer and locus in the eGuation !he teacher is

beholden to the owner or manager o the enterprise in ensuring the

retention and expansion o consumers 5parents, and only to

students in so ar as these primary obligations are satis$ed !he

ob3ecti"e changes rom one o educating children according to the

best 0nowledge and practice o the teacher, to one o teaching

according to an approximation o the understandings that the

parent has o good content and practice

5? Inder a regime o budget control and external examination, it

is concei"able that teachers may be reGuired to teach according to

pre#designed unit plans, their expertise measured according to the

students progress and achie"ement, relati"e to the national bell#

cur"e !he entire policy relies on a "ery mechanistic and outmoded

understanding o educationC that learning consists o the transer o

acts rom teacher to pupil

Inder this regime, the teacher becomes a technician # dead labour #

ul$lling, in ways measurable, the 2transmission o 0nowledge2 !he

student, in this mechanisation o what is in its ideal orm, one o

partnership, becomes 5to in"o0e @u0cs"i, the product undergoing

commodi$cation (s Alasser, an (merican management theorist

infuential in many New Zealand schools states, 5Guite

unconsciously7

Students are not only the wor0ers in the school, they are

also the products =nce they see that they themsel"es

'0


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are gaining in Guality, they will ma0e an e%ort to continue

this option, 3ust as we continue to buy the Guality products

o .apan 5Alasser, 199M74

58 &hile integral to the neo#liberal argument is the idea that the

mar0et is the best instrument to respond to parental demand, it is

also the case that the mar0et shapes consumer preerences

Aeorge Soros, himsel a prominent capitalist, states7

(s the mar0et mechanism has extended its sway, the

$ction that people act on the basis o a gi"en set o

nonmar0et "alues has become progressi"ely more diDcult

to maintain (d"ertising, mar0eting, e"en pac0aging, aims

at shaping people2s preerences rather than, as laisse>#

aire theory holds, merely responding to them 5Soros,

199?76

(lready in our 2Guasi#mar0et2 the appeal to 5and shaping o thepre3udices and assumptions o the consumer are apparent @i>

Aordon, in her analysis o the e%ects o bul0 unding, ma0es the

obser"ation that when rolls all there is a tendency or schools to

spend money impro"ing the 2loo02 o their grounds and buildings, to

increase ad"ertising, and to introduce 2niche#mar0eted2

programmes 5Aordon, 199E71


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5199M71E the popularity o management is :part o a radical

right; thrust to gain closer, and more precise control, o"er the

processes o schooling !he discourse o management plays an

essential role in achie"ing this shit and 3ustiying new orms o

control 'or 'oucault, management becomes a technical means o

control in the wor0place, exercised through punishment and

appraisal Ft is a :machinein which e"eryone is caught, those who

exercise power as well as those who are sub3ected to it; 5'oucault,

198M71E

Ft is the technology o management through the sur"eillance o

teachers and their students # through record 0eeping, reporting and

constant assessment # that ma0es modern management so

insidious (s these orms o sur"eillance become absorbed into the

machinery o computer $les and networ0s the >one that was ours

and ours alone # where we, as teachers, are let unappraised,

unscrutinised by B-= or the boss, 5or children unmonitored by the

morally outraged # is lost ore"er !here is no ree#human agency

in this 0ind o uni"erse !he panopticon has grown because these

micro#technologies ha"e de"eloped only incrementally, and or the

most part in"isibly &here more blatant, they are 3usti$ed through

the argument that the righteous ha"e nothing to hide Oet righteous

or guilty, whether our actions are scrutinised through examination,

appraisal, or the cold eye o a camera, we become the sub3ects o

power (nd in this process those in power too become distanced

rom us !hough the electronic networ0 has shortened the distance

between the technologies o sur"eillance and their operators, the

physical distance between those in power and those sub3ect to its

ga>e has become absolute

he Counter"orce

'or e"ery 0ind o "ampire, there is a 0ind o cross

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5+ynchon, 19?


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4 &e must maintain and support "ocational and collecti"e

structures such as unions and other proessional support bodies

Ft is no accident that the usiness -oundtable, ()! and the

National Ao"ernment, see teacher unions as the greatest

impediment to reorm =ur best response to educational reorm

o the 0ind ad"ocated by the -ight is through collecti"e action

@ine management does not pro"ide a suDcient means or

teachers to critically assess their teaching practice &e should

wor0 towards the de"elopment o systems, whereby teachers

can openly discuss issues relating to our teaching practice and

well#being, with teachers rom other schools # dialogue that,

ta0ing place within schools, cannot be guaranteed to be neutral

or conseGuence#ree

E &e must critically consider the core 3usti$cations or teaching

that mo"e beyond those o eDciency and "ocational training

!he obsession with these ends reduces teachers to actory

technicians, and students to embryonic wage sla"es Neil

+ostman notes7

!here can be no education philosophy that does not address

what learning is or )onucious, +lato, Puintilian, )icero,

)omensius, Brasmus, @oc0e, -ousseau, .e%erson, -ussell,

*ontissori, &hitehead, and /ewey##each belie"ed there was

some transcendent political, spiritual, or social idea that must

be ad"anced through education)icero argued that

education must ree the student rom the tyranny o the

present .e%erson thought the purpose o education is to

teach the young how to protect their liberties -ousseau

wished education to ree young rom the unnatural

constraints o a wic0ed and arbitrary social order (nd among

'&


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.ohn /ewey2s aims was to help the student unction without

certainty in a world o constant change and pu>>ling

ambiguities 5+ostman, 199671?1#6

2ionote

*i0e )rawshaw is currently completing the graduate pathway

/iploma o !eaching 5+rimary at the (uc0land )ollege o Bducation

Acnowled$ements

F would li0e to than0 /r +eter (imer, o the /epartment o +olitical

Studies at the Ini"ersity o (uc0land, and /r Bli>abeth -ata, o the

(uc0land )ollege o Bducation, or re"iewing this essay or

publication

!e"erences

all, S 5199M *anagement as moral technology Fn S all 5Bd Foucault andducation!"isciplines and #nowledge @ondon7 -outledge

)ohn, B 5199? Market $pproaches to ducation South )arolina7 Ini"ersity o South )arolina)rouch, ) 51986 Trade %nions! The &ogic of Collective $ction Areat ritain7'ontana

+aperbac0s

/ee0s, . Fntroduction7 business, go"ernment and interest group politics Fn ./ee0s and N +erry

5Bds 51996 Controlling nterests! (usiness) The State and Society inNew Zealand (uc0land7 (uc0land Ini"ersity +ress

/epartment o !reasury, 5198? Government Management! (rief to the ncomingGovernment)

*olume +! ducation ssues &ellington7 Ao"ernment +rinters'oucault, * 5198M !he eye o power Fn ) Aordon 5Bd ,ower-#nowledge.New Oor07

+antheonAlasser, & 5199M !he /uality School! Managing Students 0ithout Coercion)New Oor07 +erennial

@ibraryAordon, @ 5199E School choice and the Guasi#mar0et in New Zealand7!omorrows Schools today

12ford Studies in Comparative ducation, Qolume E, Number 1Heller ( 5Bd 5198


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Change &ellington7 usiness -oundtableJelsey, . 5199 The New Zealand 2periment! $ 0orld Model for Structural $d5ustment6

(uc0land7 (uc0land Ini"ersity +ressJerr, - 51994 !he case or accelerating the pri"atisation process Fn The 1ldNew Zealand and the

New. &ellington7 New Zealand usiness -oundtableJerr, - 54 *arch 199E !ransorming education7 the case or "ouchers, Bpsomusiness rea0ast

'orum Fn New Zealand usiness -oundtable 7899:;. 0hy not simply the


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i Notes

Data prepared by Brian Easton comparing salary levels between 1982 and 1996 shows that the vast majority of the population are earning less than they were !ccording to "eith #an$in in the New Zealand Listener % &the first 1' percent have improved and the ne(t ten percent have stood still% but the other 8' percent have gone down) * New Zealand Listener % !ugust +% 1999, 16-

ii ecause e"en this arrangement presupposes a redistributi"e monopoly 5o"er protection,No>ic0 5199476E, suggests arrangement, which he terms the ultraminimal state Inder thisstate :protection and enorcement ser"ices are pro"ided only to those who purchase itsprotection and enorcement policies +eople who dont buy a protection contract rom themonopoly dont get protected;

iii Neo#liberals see no duty to support the welare o others !here is no community in theiruni"erse, and all people are considered as strangers (s *ichael &al>er 5198ie5199?, :Bducation Qouchers7 (n Fdea &hose !ime Should Ne"er )ome; 5New Zealand =ournalof ducational Studies, Qolume

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