Visual Mythologies in Education

Deconstructing the School Prospectus in An Age of Neoliberal Inequality

By: Stuart Bracewell

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eText | 25 May 2026 | Edition Number 1

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Visual Mythologies in Education examines how schools reproduce privilege and disadvantage through an analysis of the visual imagery in their promotional materials.

The core argument presented in this volume is that the class, race and gender distinctions embedded in school imagery - such as uniforms, architecture, and curriculum depictions - appeal to parents engaged in the neoliberal practice of school choice. These visual signs, interpreted by parents, contribute to social segregation and the legitimisation of middle-class interests within education. The book's objective is to deconstruct these common visual tropes using a semiotic approach, drawing on theories like Barthes' Mythologies. This unveiling of ideological work aims to help those seeking a more equitable system to understand and challenge the mythologies that perpetuate inequality, shifting the focus from technocratic fixes to the critical analysis of visual culture. The book is unique in its focus on schools' promotional material and its timely reclamation of semiotic techniques against the backdrop of the neoliberal education system in England and the digital media age. It synthesises Marxist and Postmodern concepts to provide a novel, provocative analysis of inequality in schools.

A unique and cutting-edge study, it will appeal to scholars, faculty, graduate students and researchers with interests in visual culture, education and neoliberalism, visual methodologies, critical theory, critical pedagogy, cultural capital and school choice.