Metaphors, Worldviews, and the Every Student Succeeds Act

• In Event: 14.045 - Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: 14.045-6 - Markets and Accountability: Critical Examinations of Business Principles in Success Measures in Educational Policy and Practice

Abstract

A chasm appears to have emerged between the conceptualizations of learning held by researchers in education and those held by those involved in the development of education policy. This problem may be simultaneously reflected in and impacted by the language in and around education policy and the conceptual system from which such language arises. This study investigated the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 and surrounding policy analysis to uncover the underlying metaphors and worldviews. Findings reveal this policy to be grounded in the transfer/acquisition metaphor of learning and the business/management metaphor of education, with no indication of the construction metaphor of learning in which much educational research is grounded.

Author

• Jonan Phillip Donaldson, Drexel University