New Academies, Old Problems: An Analysis of Dominant Discourses and their Effects on Equity in English Education Policy Making

Abstract: This thesis addresses the influence of discourses of globalisation, the knowledge-based economy and neoliberalism on the position of equity in English education policy making. It departs from the assertion that discourses are constitutively important in creating certain rationales for policy reforms within the field of education. The paper switches empirical attention in this area away from New Labour in favour of examining the Conservative Party’s proposals for school reforms – although New Labour policy is also considered in order to address whether these discourses have produced a degree of consensus amongst English policy makers. Theoretically, the paper draws on a number of conceptualisations of discursive trends in education policy, in addition to theories of educational equity. Methodologically, a discursive analysis of the Conservative’s policy is carried out following Bacchi’s (2009) WPR approach. On account of this analysis, it is argued that the dominant discourses of globalisation, neoliberalism and the knowledge-based economy are producing a narrow conceptualisation of equity in English educational policy making, based upon notions of economic instrumentalism. Additionally, it is also concluded that these discourses have created a strong political consensus in English education around conceptualisations of equity and a reform agenda aimed at expanding ‘choice’ in compulsory schooling.