Teachers and Administrators Speak! Examining the Concept of Social Justice in Education in a Neoliberal Age

In this paper I explore the meaning of social justice for teachers and administrators in Australia. I take the concept of social justice from its theoretical isolation and put it in the immediate context of material disadvantages of rural schooling (e.g. lack of resources, high staff turnover) within the dominant neoliberal context in Australian education. Within the neoliberal project I focus particularly on the impact of three policy technologies –performativity, accountability and marketization- on the work of administrators and teachers. Drawing on the work of Iris Marion Young (1990) and Nancy Fraser (2008) I apply three dimensions of social justice: distributive, recognitional and participation to construct a plural model of social justice that overcomes the shortfalls of the liberal-egalitarian model -which usually equates social justice solely with distribution of resources. By examining administrators and teachers’ voices, I offer an important contribution to understanding what is going on in rural schools, which dimensions of social justice are being applied and what the real needs are. These voices also reveal the contested nature of the concept of social justice and its context-dependence, highlighting tensions between the different pressures in schools of neoliberal policy technologies, and its impact in the morale and work of school staff. Moreover, exploring the subjective element of social justice can make an important contribution to understanding how social injustices are experienced, tolerated and perpetuated in disadvantaged settings. It can also assist in outlining an agenda for change.