"Cracking the Code": The Social Mobility Commission and Education Policy Discourse

Autor/in	Maslen, Joseph
Titel	"Cracking the Code": The Social Mobility Commission and Education Policy Discourse
Quelle	In: Journal of Education Policy, 34 (2019) 5, S.599-612 (14 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0268-0939
DOI	10.1080/02680939.2018.1449891
Schlagwörter	Social Mobility; Educational Policy; Foreign Countries; Social Class; Competition; Language Usage; Figurative Language; Position Papers; Poverty; Children; Neoliberalism; Low Income Students; Aspiration; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Soziale Mobilität; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Ausland; Social classes; Soziale Klasse; Wettkampf; Sprachgebrauch; Positionspapier; Armut; Child; Kind; Kinder; Neo-liberalism; Neoliberalismus; Streben; Großbritannien
Abstract	Promoting social mobility seems to be simple common sense. However, the solutions proposed in the UK under successive governments reflect a problematic individualism that is not about helping all of the poorest children, but about encouraging the poor to become as ruthless and competitive as the middle and upper classes. This article shows how the emphasis on competition is delivered in social mobility policy through the language and metaphors that are used. It examines how the problem of social mobility is represented through a critical discourse analysis of "Cracking the Code: How Schools Can Improve Social Mobility." This 2014 report, produced by the UK Government's Social Mobility Commission, uses metaphors, especially sporting metaphors, to engage the reader in its discourse. These include 'key steps' and 'marginal gains', 'walking the walk' and 'stepping up to the plate', being 'sharp-elbowed', and 'cracking the code' itself. These metaphors tell a story of competitiveness. The report exemplifies a wider climate in which we are now trying to 'crack' entrenched issues such as poverty, but still working within the neoliberal framework where the solution is yet more competition. Through metaphor, the report seeks to justify, disguise and normalise such competition, and make it seem common-sensical. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01