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Ability-Grouping and Rights-Based Education in the Neoliberal Era: An Irresolvable Combination?

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Children’s Rights from International Educational Perspectives

Part of the book series: Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Educational Research ((TPER,volume 2))

Abstract

Ability-based groupings have long been a contentious issue within schooling. Neoliberal imaginaries, which position parents as ‘consumers’ within the education marketplace, however, have intensified the development of school structures that use student assessment data to determine student “ability”. These categories are used group students by ability so that teaching can be directed at improving publicly-reported student outcomes on high-stakes standardised tests. This chapter uses a critical theoretical approach, informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 29) to examine implications of ability-based groupings in one regional secondary school in Australia. A vignette, based on a range of data from this school, illustrates how these kinds of school structures influence pedagogical practices, access to knowledge and expectations for students. In so doing, we identify how these school structures (re)construct inequities for students and limit some students’ opportunities to ‘develop their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Nerida Spina

  2. University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

    Jess Harris & Felicia Jaremus

Authors
  1. Nerida Spina
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  2. Jess Harris
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  3. Felicia Jaremus
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Correspondence to Nerida Spina .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

    Jenna Gillett-Swan

  2. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

    Nina Thelander

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Spina, N., Harris, J., Jaremus, F. (2021). Ability-Grouping and Rights-Based Education in the Neoliberal Era: An Irresolvable Combination?. In: Gillett-Swan, J., Thelander, N. (eds) Children’s Rights from International Educational Perspectives. Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Educational Research, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80861-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80861-7_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-80860-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-80861-7

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