Neoliberalism, Gender and Education Work

How does neoliberalism in the education field shape who teachers are and what they can be? What are the effects of neoliberal logic on students? How is gender at the core of what it means to teach and learn in neoliberal educational institutions? Neoliberalism, Gender and Education Work examines the everyday labour of educating in a variety of contexts in order to answer these questions in new and productive ways. Neoliberal ideals of standardisation, accountability and entrepreneurialism are having undeniable effects on how we define teaching and learning. Gender is central to these definitions, with care work and other forms of affective labour simultaneously implicated in standards of teacher quality and undervalued in metrics of assessment. Gathering research from across four continents and education settings ranging from elementary school to higher education, to popular social movements, the methodologically diverse case studies in this book offer insight into how teachers and students negotiate the intertwined logics of neoliberalism and gender. Beyond an indictment of contemporary institutions, Neoliberalism, Gender and Education Work provides inspiration with its documentation of the creative practices and selfhoods emerging in the "cracks" of the neoliberal ideological apparatus.

It was originally published as a special issue of Gender and Education.

Sarah A. Robert is Associate Professor at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), USA. Her research and teaching focuses on how to harness the power of teachers’ knowledge and education reform for education equity. Her ultimate goal is to mediate the often diverging interpretations of what "problems" a policy should address and forge a more inclusive policy making process.

Heidi K. Pitzer is an interdisciplinary scholar and teacher with expertise in the Sociology of Education. Her interests include social justice education, race and class inequality, critical and media literacies, and teacher labor. She currently teaches at Syracuse University, USA.

Ana Luisa Muñoz García is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile. She also is a History and Geography Teacher. Her investigations have focused on educational research and practice in poverty areas and the construction of knowledge in academia within the framework of internationalization policies.