Introducing a Market Element into the Funding Mechanism of Public Education in British Columbia: A critical policy analysis of the School Amendment Act, 2002

This policy study explores origins of part 6.1 of Bill 34 (School Amendment Act, 2002) and its impacts on the institutional behaviour of two public school districts in British Columbia. Part 6.1 permits school districts to raise funds through for-profit school district business companies (SDBC). The analysis found several consequences of the policy: lack of accountability of SDBCs, increased fiscal inequity among school districts, and greater responsiveness of school districts to the needs of a globally rather than locally situated community of students.Cette étude est une analyse critique qui examine l’origine de la section 6.1 des modifications apportées à la loi scolaire en 2002 (School Amendment Act, 2002) et ses répercussions sur la culture organisationnelle de deux conseils scolaires en Colombie Britannique. La section 6.1 permet aux conseils scolaires de créer des organismes à but lucratif dans le but de générer une partie du financement de leurs opérations. L’analyse démontre plusieurs conséquences de cette politique : la faiblesse de l’imputabilité de ces organismes à but lucratif; la diminution de l’équité entre les conseils scolaires en matière de financement; et la propension des conseils scolaires à s’intéresser davantage aux besoins de diverses clientèles internationales au détriment des clientèles locales

Devolution, Choice, and Accountability in the Provision of Public Education in British Columbia: A Critical Analysis of the School Amendment Act of 2002 (Bill 34)

This critical policy study provides an understanding of the different actors—individuals, interest groups, and other organizations—involved in influencing and defining, through their narratives what public education in BC ought to be, thus capturing the core intellectual dispositions that informed and determined the kind of policy problems that were posed, the kinds of explanations that were offered, and the kinds of policy options suggested as solutions in the restructuring of public education in BC. The study provides an account of the manner in which policy problems were posed, of the explanations constructed, of the policy directions formulated, and of the policy issues to which policy makers ultimately paid attention with enactment of Bill 34.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE: MANUFACTURING CONSENT FOR THE PRIVATIZATION OF EDUCATION IN CANADIAN CONTEXTS

The contributors to this special issue expose, in their respective work, the existence and dynamics of privatization in many different forms. The constitutive articles represent varied contexts (e.g., national and provincial, K–12 and post-secondary) and focuses (e.g., social finance, school fundraising, co-op education, personalized learning, and international education), resulting in a rich and comprehensive discussion. Each contributes important insights concerning discursive practices utilized to legitimize and normalize privatization in education and the means through which public consent for the privatization of education is discursively manufactured. Indifferent ways, these articles explore how individual and collective actions of public, private, and not-for-profit actors generate and use systems of meanings through which privatization is presented as common sense in thinking about and addressing challenges in public education.The seven articles are organized according to institutional context (post-secondary institutions and K–12 institutions). The first article spans these institutional boundaries; the next three articles focus on post-secondary education, followed by three articles centred around K–12 education.

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SELF-GOVERNANCE AGREEMENTS ADDRESSING FIRST-NATIONS CONTROL OF EDUCATION IN CANADA

This paper reviews the meaning and content of various First-Nation selfgovernment discourses that have emerged over the last 40 years. Based on a detailed thematic analysis of policy papers, reports, and self-governance agreements on this issue of First-Nations control of education, this paper presents a coherent and defensible understanding of the current state of First-Nations rights to control education while mapping institutional arrangements or internal principles of organization for self-determination that have emerged over time in discourse on First-Nations rights and education in Canada

NOTIONS OF LITERACY IN THE K–12 SCHOOL SYSTEM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA EDUCATION SINCE 2002: A CONTESTED TERRAIN

Developing literacy competencies has become a central component of educational policy in British Columbia (BC), with policies calling for province-wide assessment and school accountability. Based on the critical policy analysis (Blaikie & Soussan, 2000) of provincial and school district documents, complemented by semi-structured interviews of senior government officials, district-based administrators, and literacy coordinators, this article discusses how the synergistic effect of the policy discourses of accountability and assessment framed the ways of thinking, conceptually and practically, about literacy mainly in terms of its instrumental value in holding public schools accountable to performance indicators. The article concludes by discussing the necessity of redefining literacy to challenge the view of literacy as a mere set of technical and human skills for economic growth to shift the dialogue toward policy alternatives that view literacy as set of capabilities for sociocultural and political change.

IN QUEST OF INDIGENEITY, QUALITY, AND CREDIBILITY IN ABORIGINAL POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION IN CANADA: PROBLEMATIC, CONTEXTS, AND POTENTIAL WAYS FORWARD

Learning involves conceptual frameworks embedded in worldviews and values. The overarching problematic of Aboriginal post-secondary education is complex and multifaceted. Normative and institutional forces as well as the credentialing and certification agenda of post-secondary education limit the degree to which Aboriginal education at any level can simply go its own way. To what degree and in what ways should Aboriginal post-secondary education differ from mainstream post-secondary education— and can it? The parity paradox (Paquette & Fallon, 2010, p. xii) prevails in post-secondary as in lower-level education. Education that purports to be meaningfully “Aboriginal” must fulfill two seemingly opposing purposes: provide education that is grounded in Aboriginal cultures but also provide a reasonable degree of parity with the content and quality of mainstream education. In short, Aboriginal post-secondary education is situated at the nexus of colliding epistemic universes of hugely unequal power. What can and should be Aboriginal in Aboriginal post-secondary education? What is the Canadian experience to date in that respect—with particular focus on the British Columbia case example—and what can be learned from it?

Second-language education policy in Quebec: A critical analysis of the policy of English as a compulsory subject at the early primary level in Quebec

This is a critical policy study of language planning and policy in Quebec regar

MANUFACTURING CONSENT FOR PRIVATIZATION IN PUBLIC EDUCATION: THE RISE OF A SOCIAL FINANCE NETWORK IN CANADA

Multiple forms of privatization are emerging in the Canadian public sector, including public–private partnerships. This article focuses on one approach to public–private partnerships called “social finance,” and a network of public, private, and not-for-profit organizations that promotes social finance as a means of funding public services, including education. The authors employ social network analysis to identify key members of this network, and critical discourse analysis to examine the discourse the network produces. Findings reveal a number of discursive and extra-discursive practices the network uses that legitimize social finance approaches to funding public services. These practices manufacture consent for increased privatization in the public sphere, and this has important implications for public education.