Learning Lab Methodology: Materializing Critical Policy Analysis

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Ten
  In Roundtable Session: Truth and Lies: Critical Policy Analyses Around Race and Equity in Education (Table 13)

Abstract

Critical policy analysis (CPA) disrupts traditional conceptions of policy work as deliberate, neutral, positivist, and top-down. While strong in theory, CPA lacks a clear framework through which to collaboratively identify and reimagine policy at the local school level. We argue for the pairing of CPA as a strong theoretical framework and Learning Lab as a material methodology. We demonstrate how the Learning Lab methodology aligns with the tenets of CPA: 1) System as the unit of analysis; 2) Inclusive, collective policymaking to leverage agency and resistance; 3) Disruption of discrimination and stratification. We provide the case of Learning Lab, an initiative to disrupt the local level policies that disproportionate discipline Indigenous students at a high school in rural Wisconsin.

Authors

• Dian Mawene, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Morgan Mayer-Jochimsen, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Aydin Bal, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Dosun Ko, Santa Clara University
  Presenting Author

• Aaron Bird Bear, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Linda Orie, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Jahyun Yoo, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author