Neoliberal educational free choice versus the conception of education as a common and public good

Abstract

This article analyzes the concept of educational freedom in Spain, focusing especially on two of its manifestations, freedom of education and free school choice, as well as its relationship with a conception of education as a common and public good. The objectives have been to analyze the future of its meaning, the main theoretical approaches, its reconstruction in the current social context and the way it relates to a cohesive educational system that extends and guarantees rights and opportunities for all. For this, a systematic review of the literature (SLR) has been carried out, between 1976 and 2020, according to the PRISMA model. Of the 1159 texts reviewed, we have worked on the 47 scientific articles published in open access and that focused specifically on the subject under investigation. The validation was given with the extended criteria of the University of York. The findings reflect that the current notion of educational freedom, linked above all to free educational choice, is closely tied to the defense of the "à la carte" choice of center and teaching model, within the framework of market logics binded to a neoliberal ideology. Thus, freedom of education appears increasingly unrelated to equal opportunities for all and educational equity, and more associated with 

a tool to avoid social mixing and obtaining socio-labor competitive advantages. In the discussion and conclusions, the way in which the results connect with dynamics of educational neoliberalization is analyzed and the need to continue investigating the deep elements that underlie this experience of freedom is pointed out. There is also the opportunity to explore a republican-oriented approach to educational freedom linked to the common and public good of all and for all.

Keywords: educational freedom; educational equity; educational neoliberalism; common benefit; public good.