Policy Assemblage of “Choice and Hope” at the Afrocentric Alternative School in Toronto

• In Event: Problematizing Discourse: Examples From Micro- to Macro-Levels

Abstract

This qualitative research examines the discourses and values of choice and hope that were assembled during the development of the Afrocentric Alternative School (AAS) in 2009 in Toronto, Canada. The idea of a policy assemblage is used to discuss how education policy discourses and values interact with each other. We argue that assembling discourses and values together alters initial policy meanings. We conclude that policy assemblages are distinct from the traditional “silver bullet” policies that offer single logics to initiate change. In the case of the AAS we argue that the idea of assemblages helps identifies the different discourses surrounding policy implementation, and, importantly, the role of policy actors in marketised educational policy implementations.

Authors

• Viviana Olga Pitton, University of New South Wales

• Kalervo N. Gulson, University of New South Wales

• Taylor Webb, The University of British Columbia