“But Money Makes It Real!”: Problematizing Capitalist Logic in Project-Based Learning

Abstract

In an effort to boost engagement while also nurturing 21st century skills such as collaboration and critical thinking, a growing number of U.S. public schools have expanded opportunities for students to engage in applied learning experiences via projects. This conceptual article explores the under-examined relationship between such experiences and the logic of neoliberal capitalism. The author explores how project-based learning, despite its potential as a lever for equity, sometimes takes up neoliberal capitalist tropes such as individualism, competition, profit maximization, the commodification of learner-made artifacts, and market-based solutions to social problems. The article suggests that until the field embraces approaches to project-based learning which include a Freirian emphasis on criticality and praxis, capitalist logic will persist as a mechanism by which “real world” learning can perpetuate all-too-real systems of oppression.