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Neoliberal ideology has transformed education into a market model as competition, deregulation, stratification and the spread of market discourse and market ideology seep into public educational institutions, causing potentially negative social consequences and threatening their democratic nature. This study examines the processes by which neoliberalism seeks to reframe the context of public education by promoting market-based principles and values through the implementation of educational policies and reforms; principles and values that have become so firmly embedded in the vision of education, they subsequently operate as mechanisms for upholding and reproducing the asymmetrical power relations in society. / Theoretical, Cultural and International Studies in Education

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This research uses an antiracism theoretical framework, arising from Stanley’s (2011, 2014) anti-essentialist antiracism and Dei’s (1996) anti-racism praxis, to focus on the four documents that comprised the Ontario Ministry of Education’s 1993 Antiracism and Ethnocultural Equity initiative (the initiative). The initiative required school boards to develop and implement policies to identify and eliminate racisms within their systems and schools. I used a methodology of constructivist grounded theory to trace the origins and content of the initiative through the lens of my 44-years of lived experience, during which I was a teacher, principal, superintendent, associate director of education, and ministry education officer. This thesis poses the overarching question: What happened to antiracism and ethnocultural equity? I find that although the initiative was a genuine antiracism project, it was destined to fail due to certain deficiencies. I conclude it had two critical deficiencies. First, it did not consider the four discrete cultures located in school boards (made up of supervisory officers, trustees, principals and teachers). Second, it did not provide these cultures with suitable pressures and supports to generate the individual and organizational changes envisioned. Finally I consider what the Ministry would need to do for such an antiracism reform to succeed? I argue systemic policy reform must be based on what I call strategic antiracist education. It would provide the members of the culture of supervisory officers with the necessary knowledge, authority, resources and supports, including professional development, to enable them to lead the members of the other school cultures in antiracist educational reform.

The Aboriginal people of Cape Barren Island and other Furneaux Islands have been selected for this historical analysis of Aboriginal education and racial policy, in order to ascertain the extent to which Tasmania has followed or diverged from the political and educational trends of other Australian States or Colonies, with respect to Aboriginal policy. It is found that Tasmania has influenced the development of Australian policies of Aboriginal repatriation, protection and segregation, and closely followed the national policies of assimilation and, to a lesser extent, integration. Yet the development of Tasmanian policy towards Aborigines and Aboriginal descendants, while clearly affected by national trends, has also been obfuscated by a prevailing belief, ideological in nature, that Tasmanian Aborigines have been extinct since 1876. The legacy of one century of supposed "extinction" is inherent in present Stale policy which, while at last recognising the right of individuals of Aboriginal descent to identify as Aboriginal, does not accord such persons the status and rights of indigenous Tasmanians called for by the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and its supporters, and has no expressed commitment to the current Federal policy of Aboriginal self-determination.

The immense value of the arts has long been recognized by diverse cultures and such recognition has mostly guaranteed their inclusion in educational and school curricula the world over. The arts are considered valuable for numerous reasons, but their inclusion depends on particular interpretations of their merits that may sometimes have failed to realise their full or real potential. Although some ways of valuing the arts date back to antiquity, debates about the value of arts certainly deserve no less consideration in the modern context. Plato was sceptical about the moral value of the arts and regarded them as of dubious educational significance. He thought the arts were more a matter of rhetoric than reason. However, taking a more positive view of the moral power of the arts, Aristotle defended both the arts and rhetoric as potentially contributory to personal formation and the development of moral virtue. At all events, if the arts are to remain educationally defensible, it is arguable that educational theorists and policy makers need to demonstrate their capacity for: (i) objective aesthetic judgement; and (ii) the communication of knowledge and/or truth. Both of these are contentious, as artistic and aesthetic value judgements have often been said to be subjective or personal. In this context, the distinction between judging something as good (which requires reasons) or simply liking it (which does not) is crucial. Here, establishing the objective rational character of the arts seems to be a precondition of demonstrating their potential for knowledge or truth. Arguably, however, there are different respects in which arts may be said to contribute to the development of understanding and appreciation in human agents of themselves, of their relationships with others and of the world, e.g.: (i) aesthetic (sensory) appreciation; (ii) development of imagination; (iii) understanding of aspects of human psychology; (iv) education of the emotions; (v) and moral understanding. In this essay, various philosophical defences of the ‘intrinsic’ (personally formative) educational value of the arts will be drawn from the literature of philosophy and education. Following discussions of ancient arguments for and against the arts, the thesis will discuss at some length defences of the educational value of the arts offered by the American great books tradition, British literary and cultural critics and more recent educational philosophers and theorists. In the final ‘conceptual’ chapter of the thesis, two contemporary works of cinema are discussed to reinforce the key arguments of the thesis. However, having explored the nature and potential of the arts and arts education from a philosophical perspective, this study then seeks to enquire into recent Scottish educational policy developments with reference to the role of arts in arts education and in education more generally through: (i) the exploration of policy documents and official guidelines; and (ii) the voices of interviewees and other research participants involved in Scottish policy making. The thesis will conclude from this enquiry that the educational value and significance of the arts is not adequately appreciated in contemporary Scottish (and perhaps other) educational policy and practice. The study concludes by advocating a return to Aristotle’s conception of the arts as contributory to phronesis (the practical wisdom of virtue), rather than techne (the technical knowledge of skill). Narrow specialisation in forms of training are liable to leave people uninitiated into the wisdom and moral power of the arts –benefits that should ideally be available to all. From the perspective of this thesis, only a broad educational approach that encompasses thorough arts education will result in well-rounded, emotionally intelligent and truly educated human beings.

This research enquiry examines the extent to which managerialism has permeated the headship role in England. It analyses the literature pertaining to the changing role of headship in England, managerialism, the marketization of education and the impact that these elements have had on the headship role in England, as well as the manner in which they have impacted upon schools in general. The study also explored England’s National College for School Leadership, its headship standards and its generic headship training. The research was conducted by way of semi-structured interviews with six headteachers, two of whom were new to headship, two of whom had more than five years of experience and two of whom were retired. The sample included a mix of state school and independent school headteachers. The data revealed a stark contrast between the professional experiences of state school headteachers and independent school headteachers. The state school headteachers cited pressures of governmental interference and also noted the pressures posed by the socioeconomic background of the given school’s intake. The headteachers also expressed feeling insecure from one day to the next and there was an overriding sense of confusion predominantly due to constant changes in government directives. By contrast, any impact on the independent school headteachers from government intervention and interference was demonstrably absent.

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