Education Policy Analysis for a Complex World | 5-6 February, 2014
Vancouver, Canada
University of British Columbia
An invitation-only workshop sponsored by a Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Connection Grant and
hosted by Dr. Amy Scott Metcalfe (UBC) and Dr. Kalervo Gulson (UNSW)
Re-framing education policy analysis from a post-structural perspective
This workshop will explore post-structural policy analysis as it relates to the future of education policy studies in a complex world. In the past decade, post-structural policy analysis in education has evolved, primarily focusing on disrupting dominant narratives about education policy research, development and implementation, and the aims and outcomes of the policy-research nexus. Yet, we suggest the potential of post-structural analysis is still to be fully explored. Our over-arching question is: To what extent can post-structural theories offer innovative policy analyses, and contribute to new forms of policy development and implementation?
Objectives of the workshop
We want to examine the “use value” of post-structural policy analysis, and as such, the significance of this workshop is first, to conceptually and empirically, outline and interrogate the current, cutting edge contributions of post-structural theory to policy studies, and, second, to examine whether there are and if so what might be, continuing impediments to its acceptance as a legitimate contribution to policy issues – including curriculum policy, school choice, higher education policy, and urban policy. Thus, in light of the changing global policy context for education and our desire to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing dialog surrounding education policy in Canada and elsewhere, the workshop presenters are asked to address the following sets of questions throughout the two-day workshop:
1. How do you use post-structural policy analysis in your current research on education policy? Which theories and methods do you find the most innovative and salient? Where would you like to see post-structural policy studies move in the future?
2. Do you think post-structural policy analysis is possible and/or present in some places – countries, regions, types of universities – rather than others due to funding structures, the political climate that gives preference to particular types of educational policy research, or concentrations of researchers? In other words, are there constraints and barriers to the further development of post-structural policy analysis in education? What supports have permitted it to flourish where it has?
3. How has post-structural policy analysis informed the development and implementation of education policy? How are the tenets and findings of post-structural policy analysis best communicated to non-academic audiences? What can be gained by knowledge exchange rather than knowledge transfer in this regard?
