The Market Value of Knowledge and Academic Failure
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14689/enad.44.1923Keywords:
Academic Failure, School Choice, Neoliberal Policies, Akademik Attainment, PhenomenologyAbstract
As in many countries, neoliberal policies have affected the field of education in Turkey. The competitive school ranking system and its meritocratic narratives have shaped student aspirations and understanding of the sources of success and failure. This study reveals the resonance of these policies on individuals. Through in-depth interviews with high-school students in Istanbul, this phenomenological qualitative study contacted with 29 students intensely. It is founded that individuals aspired to reach the top positions in the neoliberal system. Often influenced by parents who helped to deliver the system’s messages, students themselves ignore their abilities and strive for the promising positions in the market. They viewed themselves as solely responsible for their academic failures. However, this article suggests that student failure results from an educational system that encourages all students to strive toward the same goal while ignoring their unique talents and predispositions.
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