Connectivity As Praxis: (Re)Thinking Critical Policy Analysis with Theories of De/coloniality

• In Event: Whose Histories? Whose Futures? Coloniality, Control, and Counterstories in Schooling

Abstract

This paper introduces the “policies as storytelling” approach, which rethinks critical policy analysis (CPA) with theories of de/coloniality and global white supremacy. I used Rhee’s (2021) decolonial feminist concept of “connectivities” as an analytic bridge between CPA and these theories in order to remember and then trace the forgotten, ignored, or fragmented connections within and across educational policies. The approach, which consists of gathering, re/listening, and re/telling stories, was designed to identify, historicize, and interrupt colonial and racist logics within educational policies, as well as notice how educators and others counter these systemic harms. To illustrate this approach, I share stories from a research project focused on teacher recruitment, education, and employment policies for elementary teachers in Senegal.

Author

• Rachel Lockart, Augustana College