Chapter 22
Teachers, Curriculum and the Neoliberal
Imaginary of Education
Steven Hodge
For Giroux ( 2004 , p. 44) neoliberalism is‘the defining ideology of the current
historical moment’. Neoliberalism is a family of economic, political and adminis-
tration theories that share assumptions including the self-interested nature of indi-
vidual motivation, the naturally curbing and coordinating influence of markets on
self-interest, and the vital role of government in the promotion of a pro-market
citizenry (Olssen and Peters 2005 ). Education policy shaped by these principles has
entrenched and exacerbated social inequality on an unprecedented, global scale
(Rizvi and Lingard 2010 ). Neoliberal education policy is associated with reduction
of public expenditure on education, erosion of educator autonomy, centralisation of
curriculum and a focus on high-stakes testing and league tables (Giroux 2004 ). For
many education researchers, neoliberalism is a fundamental threat to the educa-
tional project.
Rizvi and Lingard ( 2010 ) coined the term‘neoliberal imaginary’to capture the
broad acceptance and facility in neoliberal ideas and norms evident in the practices
of contemporary society.^1 They argue (in contrast with Giroux) that neoliberalism is
more than an ideology, that the grip of neoliberalism is facilitated and manifested in
ways that do not refer to ideas. Discussing the globalisation of neoliberal education
policy, they explain that
If many of the recent claims about globalisation and its implications for practice are
ideological, the question remains as to how it is that people internalize them. How do these
claims become part of their world view, shaping the ways in which they think about their
social relations and forge conceptions of their future? In short, how is ideology translated
into actual material practices steering our sense of possibilities and conceptions of the
future? (Rizvi and Lingard 2010 , p. 33)S. Hodge (&)
Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]
(^1) Marginson ( 1997 , p. 65) used the phrase‘market liberal imaginary’to refer to the utopian visions
of economists Hayek and Friedman. This usage of imaginary contrasts with the concept of social
imaginary in that it retains the sense of the productions of individual genius.
©Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017
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DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4075-7_22
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