The Spatial Politics of Standardized Reporting for Educational Accountability

• In Event: Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: National Policies in Multiple Contexts

Abstract

In Alberta, Canada, educational achievement and improvement of schools, districts, and the province are published in Accountability Pillar reports. This research asked: What are the local effects of Pillar reporting? Document and interview data were collected over three years in ten communities across Northern Alberta. Orientation to analysis combines Foucault’s (1991, 2007) concepts of governmentality and spatiality. I argue that the Pillar reports are representations that fix bodies in place and map educational success and failure in geopolitical terms so that certain populations and spaces are made intelligible in particular ways. This is problematic in a region where most of the student population identify as Aboriginal or Métis, and providing socially just and equitable education in underserved communities is challenging.

Author

• Brenda L. Spencer, University of Calgary