School Leaders' Views About Social Justice in Neoliberal Times

• In Event: Roundtable Session 56
  In Roundtable Session: Social Justice and Decolonizing Leadership Perspectives

Abstract

In this paper we critically examine the policy discourses of the neoliberal educational context of Alberta, Canada to reveal how they interact to influence local educational practices. Qualitative data were generated from 2012 to 2014 through individual interviews with 20 educational leaders working in 20 different secondary school settings in a range of locations and circumstances across the province. We illustrate how policy discourses create both limits and possibilities for educators. Specifically, in this paper we focus on the challenges school leaders face and the effects of prevailing discourses of accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness on the understandings and practices of social justice in Alberta high schools.

Authors

• Brenda L. Spencer, University of Calgary

• Rae Ann Van Beers, University of Calgary