Markets and mobilities: Dilemmas facing the comprehensive neighbourhood high school

Abstract

Abstract This article explores issues of mobility in education in terms of the neo‐liberal and neo‐conservative agendas which, it is argued, are absenting the state from its democratic obligation to educate an Australian public. The neo‐liberal orientation to education legitimates ‘market forces’, placing school choice as a major driver of educational provision, while the neo‐conservative agenda supports the rationing of education so that even families of modest means can set themselves apart from those who are poor or poorly educated (Lewis, Gewirtz & Clarke 2000, Gewirtz, Ball & Bowe 1995). These new agendas represent substantial shifts from the normative commitments of the past. From their creation in the late nineteenth century, Australia's public education systems offered a free education for all, and sought to establish a common civic culture funded by the state. Most importantly, they were intended to constitute the quality, character and virtues of the democratic nation‐state. Yet the settlements that underpinned these systems contained unfortunate contradictions, setting up tensions that are still unresolved.