The Regulated Education Market Has a Past

Overview & Synopsis

In many countries, neo-liberal education policy has embraced the concept of a regulated education market. In Australia, for example, the federal government is seeking to create one education market by pursuing policies that blur the distinction between public and private education. There is a growing body of research examining the operation and effects of education markets, using a range of perspectives and approaches. However, historical perspectives have rarely been used in relation to this research programme. This is surprising given that the education market is not just a contemporary phenomenon: it has a past. This paper explores the insights that can be gained from an historical perspective by undertaking an historical sociology of a period of South Australian education history (1852-1875) when there was a regulated education market in operation. The paper focuses on one aspect of the effects of regulated markets, that of teachers' work.