Rethinking US Education Policy

Abstract

Building on a critical analysis of contemporary education policy, I argue in this book that accelerating trends in economic theory now shape a particular discourse on educational reform. More specifically, I suggest that educational reform policies are based upon contradictory readings of the knowledge economy. More than mere philosophies of economy, these “paradigms” of KE represent overlapping ontologies that seek to define and explain an extensive transformation of modern industrial society. Unpacking four of these paradigms, I have argued that there is a need to reexamine the basic assumptions that now guide US education policy. More precisely, I have argued that there are substantial differences between conceptualizations of KE that in turn produce contradictory policy narratives.