Cracking the Code: the social mobility commission and education policy discourse

Promoting social mobility seems to be simple common sense. However, the solutions proposed in the UK under successive governments reflect a problematic individualism that is not about helping all of the poorest children, but about encouraging the poor to become as ruthless and competitive as the middle and upper classes. This article shows how the emphasis on competition is delivered in social mobility policy through the language and metaphors that are used. It examines how the problem of social mobility is represented through a critical discourse analysis of Cracking the Code: How Schools Can Improve Social Mobility. This 2014 report, produced by the UK Government's Social Mobility Commission, uses metaphors, especially sporting metaphors, to engage the reader in its discourse. These include 'key steps' and 'marginal gains', 'walking the walk' and 'stepping up to the plate', being 'sharp-elbowed', and 'cracking the code' itself. These metaphors tell a story of competitiveness. The report exemplifies a wider climate in which we are now trying to 'crack' entrenched issues such as poverty, but still working within the neoliberal framework where the solution is yet more competition. Through metaphor, the report seeks to justify, disguise and normalise such competition, and make it seem common-sensical.