A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Refutation of neoliberal educational policies based on Millian principles
Authors: Honkanen Jaakko, Huttunen Rauno
Publisher: Sage Publications
Publishing place: London
Publication year: 2022
Journal: Policy Futures in Education
Volume: 20
Issue: 1
First page : 98
Last page: 119
eISSN: 1478-2103
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14782103211031345(external)
Web address : https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14782103211031345(external)
This article attempts to start an in-depth consideration and analysis of modern neoliberal education policy through its philosophical roots. To achieve this, the article considers the ideology and philosophy of the classical liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill and the relationship of his philosophy with the modern-day neoliberalist education policy. The purpose of the article is to discuss the philosophical groundwork that drives Mill’s ideas on the establishment of education and compares it to the philosophical groundwork and implications present in modern neoliberal education policy, and through this begin to assert what neoliberalist education policy is. The paper asserts that while Mill’s version of classical liberalism holds similar views and forms of occurrence with modern neoliberalist policies, in many cases Mill’s philosophical groundwork seems to disagree fundamentally with that of neoliberalism. The study is based on literature detailing both the philosophical as well as polity aspects of both Mill’s ideas and modern neoliberalism from the viewpoint of education, and it presents considerations for the nature of neoliberal education policy and its future analysis.