It is interesting to consider some of the fundamental values that underpin (or we hope underpin) our society and consider where Australia stands in these areas and how they relate to education.
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Probably one of the key values we like to think holds true for Australia is the idea of fairness and/or equity. After all, we pride ourselves as a country where everyone is given a fair go; Australia was built on this ideal.
As Francis Duggan wrote: “A fair go to anyone we ought not to deny, and a fair go to everyone ought to apply.”
A fair go means education is available to all, so all Australians can get a job, and have their skills and strengths recognised.
Unfortunately, we see more and more that Australia is no longer the land of the fair go. Last year, Professor Gillian Triggs, president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, told the Australian Institute for International Affairs about Australia's bid to join the 47-member UN Human Rights Council.
This attempt was met by criticism from more than 100 countries who focused on Australia's human rights record, with serious concerns expressed around the gender pay gap, the refusal of our government to oppose torture, the rates at which young Indigenous people are incarcerated (27 times higher than the national average), mandatory detention of refugees (which continues to include more than 200 children), the Border Force Act and our rates of violence against women.
How many people do you know who actively attempt to improve these fundamental inequities?
What has happened to our education system that even students, traditionally the idealists known to fight for equality, are generally silent on these issues?
I have argued in previous columns that our neoliberal political ideology creates pressure which forces compliance rather than critique. Neoliberal citizens are more focused on achieving their KPIs at work, at getting the next promotion and at earning what they need to feed their consumerism.
Neoliberal citizenship is demonstrated clearly in the millennial generation. In a 2013 article in Time magazine, Joel Stein claimed that 40 per cent of millenials believed they should be promoted every two years irrespective of performance.
Our education system is clearly very successful in creating neoliberal citizens. And neoliberal citizens are most unlikely to fight for a fair go for all – they only want (more than) a fair go for themselves.
Where does that leave Australia? And what role should we play in Armidale given we pride ourselves on being an education city? Are we leading neoliberalism, or are we leading the exploration of alternatives?
