In ‘obey’-ance: one principal’s critically reflexive engagement with research in a culture of compliance

The systemic neoliberal colonisation of higher education: a critical analysis of the obliteration of academic practice

“…Themes and patterns in this study were identified by drawing upon insights from Orwell ( 1949 ) and subsequently theorised using Habermas’ ( 1984 ) concepts of system and lifeworld. While not the dominant research paradigm, reclaiming autoethnography and the critical analysis of experience as methodological strategies have something valuable to offer to educational research (Howie, 2020 ). In this case, the inquiry generated new insights into the insidious and destructive colonising neoliberal technologies operating in higher education and contributes to the unmasking of these technologies, which provides a critical analytic framework for academics to ‘engag[e] in counter-conduct and resistance to the practices of neoliberal governmentality’ (Selkrig et al, 2021 , p. 733).…”

“…The stripping back of critical theory to emphasise the technical aspects of teaching felt in Hil’s ( 2012 ) words: ‘antithetical to intellectual practice’ (p. 108). It moves teaching away from the realm of artistry, knowledge co-creation for transformative learning, and connection with others, to the domain of standardising procedures that seek to implement a ‘pre-determined approach to learning … directly linked to "learning objectives" … [that]… act as a kind of pedagogical straight jacket’ (Hil, 2012 , p. 114; see also, Howie, 2020 ). As stated elsewhere: The tyrannical influence of learning objectives has been referred to by some academics as the ‘death of teaching’; burdensome administration reducing creativity and spontaneity, controlling pedagogic practices, and excluding and/or invisibilising everything that does not conform to a template.…”

“…This article provides an example of this unsustainable situation by critically analysing dominant discourses within contemporary Australian university cultures. Inspired by Howie ( 2020 ), who critically reflects on his experience as a principal within a secondary school to critique and engender ‘grassroots’ contestation among educational leaders against the ‘bureaucratic managerialism in discourses of educational leadership’, I similarly reflect on my experience of attaining ‘recognition’ as an educational leader from a prestigious international institute, with the hope of cultivating resistance among academics (p. 279). While one could imagine successful recognition would value educational contributions; conversely, this critical enquiry highlights the invisibilising processes that obliterate academic practices.…”