Teachers’ Opinions About the Reflection of Neoliberal Individiualism on Students

The individualism understanding of liberalism gives importance to the individuals who see their benefits as their priority, and who act freely against external barriers. The indivual is defended against the state and the society. The notion of freedom and the community of free market are the key elements in the individualism understanding of neoliberalism. It is expected from the individuals that they should care about their benefits, be competitive, have an entrepreneur vision and build their relationships in accordance with competition and benefits. Happiness that can be measured by material and quantitative values are important. In the society where neoliberal individualism dominates, every individual are responsible for their own success and failure. This study examines the notions that constitute neoliberal individualism and contracting neoliberal individualism. Besides, the study seeks to find out how these notions affect the students’ individual preferences and their attitudes, behaviours, thoughts within and across their social networks. The study is also interested in the level of this effect and potential sources. The research is conducted by a basic interpretive design which focuses on qualitative data. The study group was formed by 10 volunteer teachers working in high school and secondary school in Eskişehir, during 2016-2017 academic year. The qualitative data, covering the teacher s observations on students, was collected via the semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed through inductvie analysis technique. The findings show that even though the students have collectivist attitudes and behaviours, these attitudes and behaviours are declining. At the same time, it was found in the analysis that the students have neoliberal individualist attitude, opinion and understanding, and these attitudes are becoming more powerful over time. Family, social environment, media, internet and formal and informal interactions at school are effective in the formation of students’ neoliberal individualist attitudes and behaviours.