Investigating the Impact of K-12 International Recruitment Policyscapes through Neoliberal and Anti-Colonial Frames

Abstract

While Canadian public schools do not charge students tuition the same way post-secondary institutions do, we are increasingly seeing neoliberal pressures contribute to a lucrative market for tuition-based international students in K-12 education similar to higher education. This study focuses on how neoliberalization is shaping and contributing to the international recruitment policyscape in Ontario’s K-12 education system. Theoretically informed by neoliberalism and anti-colonialism, this paper examines the case study of international student programming in Ontario (and Canada’s) largest school board, the Toronto District School Board. Using “What’s the Problem Represented to Be?” as a methodological approach, we conducted a policy analysis of various documents published by the board with respect to their international student program. Our analysis shows how overarching neoliberal pressures imposed by provincial governments contribute to the creation and maintenance of this particular policyscape, along with a discussion of how this impacts public education in Ontario.