Commercialization of Schools

Over the past two decades, business leaders have gradually instituted commercial logics and practices across the educational landscape for the purposes of making a profit, attracting a generation of loyal customers, and creating a positive image of the corporate involvement in social affairs. The commercial involvement in schooling has had a profound influence on how educators, students, and the general public view the purpose of schooling, on the state's role in relationship to its citizens and institutions, and on the nature of life inside classrooms. This entry examines the constitutive forces behind the commercialization of schools; documents how commercial imperatives are altering institutions of higher education, specific programs such as teacher education, and K-12 schools; and documents how educators, socially conscious students, and concerned ...