This dissertation examined the experiences of guidance counselors in enacting educational equity policies in one district school board and eight secondary schools in Ontario; and three school districts and eight secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). In Ontario, the enactment of educational equity policy in local district school boards is influenced by broader issues of neoliberal globalization and their impact on education equity, causing a shift in focus on reducing student gaps and increasing student achievement towards the marketization and commodification of education. Likewise in T&T, the issues in education and policy enactment are centred around the lingering effects of colonialism operating within a differentiated and segregated school system that is perceived as elitist and based on meritocratic ideologies.
In this dissertation, postcolonial, policy sociology, and policy enactment theories serve as conceptual frameworks to understand the actions/positions and roles of guidance counselors in equity policy work. Using a qualitative, cross-case policy enactment approach, interviews were conducted with eight guidance counselors in Ontario, and eight guidance counselors in T&T to investigate their work on enacting educational equity policies at secondary schools. Primary data were collected from semi-structured interviews, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis and coding strategies for inductive studies. Secondary data were collected from governments\u27 Ministry of Education policies in Ontario and T&T.
The findings revealed that postcolonial antecedents and neoliberal globalization influence education and equity work in Ontario and T&T secondary schools. In Ontario and Trinidad and Tobago educational equity policy enactment work exists within contextual dimensions impacting the different roles and positions guidance counselors assumed in their policy enactment work at secondary schools. The analysis of policy documents and interview data for Ontario and Trinidad and Tobago revealed the symbolic nature of educational equity policies.
Keywords: equity policy; educational policy; guidance counselor; policy enactment; Ontario; Trinidad and Tobago; postcolonial theory, policy sociology, cross-case analysis, context
