Problems and Possibilities of Neoliberal Education Reforms - by Mustafa Toprak (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Neoliberal education reforms promise (but often don't succeed) to improve student outcomes and provide more equitable educational opportunities to students with different backgrounds.

They hold schools accountable for their performance through high-stakes testing and linking performance to rewards and sanctions, and by empowering parents. This book presents a critical and objective appraisal of these neoliberalist education reforms. Mustafa Toprak considers the practical elements of neoliberal reforms, including voucher systems, choice, accountability, competition within and between schools, educational inequalities, and high-stakes testing, and in doing this, contributes to social justice debates and the idea of education as a common good. He uses reforms in Chile as a case study and offers a critique of its neoliberal educational reforms. Rather than discrediting all the central tenets of neoliberal education, Toprak considers the pros and cons of these reforms for students, teachers, schools, and societies and proposes new reforms to ensure that policies accurately and responsively address the needs of all stakeholders.

Review Quotes

"Toprak unveils the drivers behind neoliberal education reforms, analyses their failures, and charts an alternative pathway that inspires hope. This book is essential reading for educators, and everyone invested in the future of education." --Melanie C. Brooks, Edith Cowan University, Australia

"Unlocking the nuanced complexities of neoliberalist education reforms, this book pioneers a balanced approach, dismantling the simplistic good/bad dichotomy. It offers a valuable resource for educators and scholars navigating diverse ideological landscapes in the current educational discourse." --Mehmet Karakus, Coventry University, UK

About the Author