Managerialism and Market Forces in Vocational Education: ‘Balkanizing’ Education in the ‘Banana Republic’

In contemporary Australia the role of technical and vocational education, as a focus for social and cultural education, is under challenge in a wave of educational reforms designed to address a national economic crisis. The rhetoric of these reforms has incorporated the language and ideology of the ‘self-managing’ school, stressing the need for autonomy, the devolution of decision-making, the need for flexibility and the participation of stakeholders from the ‘real world’ of industry and commerce.