A Critical Policy Analysis of the Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy: A Case Study of Ontario, Canada

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Two
  In Roundtable Session: Persistent Barriers to Liberation: Critical Examinations of Policies in K–12 Settings (Table 10)

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of the 72 equity and inclusive education policies that were drafted by eight school boards across southwestern Ontario in response to the Ministry of Education’s mandate. Drawing on the theoretical work of Sara Ahmed (2012), our analysis of the policy documents suggests that these policies function to protect the institution and its image rather than seeking to challenge social and educational inequities. Our findings demonstrate that these documents fail to construct localized policies that include procedures, enactment strategies, and evaluation methods that respond to existing challenges within each local context, and ultimately function as “non-performative” that fail to address enduring systemic inequities in the Ontario education system.

Authors

• Goli Rezai-Rashti, Western University
  Presenting Author

• Shirin Abdmolaei, University of Toronto - OISE
  Presenting Author