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Accountability in American education as a rhetoric and a technology of governmentality

Accountability in American education as a rhetoric and a technology of governmentality Accountability is one of the most advocated and controversial topics in US education. Since the early 2000s, the federal government has produced a vibrant discourse on accountability, which emphasizes quality, efficiency, and equal opportunity in education. As part of the larger phenomenon of new managerialism, the dominant forms of accountability are currently based on the power of the manager and the market rather than the bureaucratic or professional authority. This study draws on classic rhetoric and the Foucaultian concept of governmentality to analyze the rhetorical construction of accountability in the US Department of Education speeches and examine the role of accountability in governing educational institutions and subjects. The author demonstrates how as a rhetoric, accountability in education operates as a ‘sacred language’ to propagate neoliberal values and how as a technology of governmentality, it works to maintain the neoliberal political rationality, enforce the openness of educational institutions to government oversight, and enable entrepreneurial subjectivities through responsibilization and moralization of consumer‐style choice‐making. The author argues that centered on the market‐oriented forms of accountability, federal education policies have a limited potential for meeting its officially promoted goals, particularly with regard to equalizing opportunity for minority‐ and low‐income students. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Education Policy Taylor & Francis

Accountability in American education as a rhetoric and a technology of governmentality

Suspitsyna, Tatiana
Journal of Education Policy , Volume 25 (5): 20 – Sep 1, 2010
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References (103)

Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1464-5106
eISSN
0268-0939
DOI
10.1080/02680930903548411
Publisher site
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Abstract

Accountability is one of the most advocated and controversial topics in US education. Since the early 2000s, the federal government has produced a vibrant discourse on accountability, which emphasizes quality, efficiency, and equal opportunity in education. As part of the larger phenomenon of new managerialism, the dominant forms of accountability are currently based on the power of the manager and the market rather than the bureaucratic or professional authority. This study draws on classic rhetoric and the Foucaultian concept of governmentality to analyze the rhetorical construction of accountability in the US Department of Education speeches and examine the role of accountability in governing educational institutions and subjects. The author demonstrates how as a rhetoric, accountability in education operates as a ‘sacred language’ to propagate neoliberal values and how as a technology of governmentality, it works to maintain the neoliberal political rationality, enforce the openness of educational institutions to government oversight, and enable entrepreneurial subjectivities through responsibilization and moralization of consumer‐style choice‐making. The author argues that centered on the market‐oriented forms of accountability, federal education policies have a limited potential for meeting its officially promoted goals, particularly with regard to equalizing opportunity for minority‐ and low‐income students.

Journal

Journal of Education Policy – Taylor & Francis

Published: Sep 1, 2010

Keywords: discourse/analysis; actors institutions; accountability; rhetoric

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