Where Critical Policy Meets the Politics of Education: An Introduction

Abstract

The study of educational politics and policy through a critical frame allows for a more nuanced, holistic understanding of the complexities associated with education policy, from creation through implementation to evaluation. The contributions to this special issue of Educational Policy illustrate the work of critical education policy scholars engaged in research focused at the federal, state, and local levels. In this introductory article, we introduce basic elements of critical policy analysis (CPA), including fundamental ontological and epistemological claims and their implications for investigating educational policy. From this foundation, we preview the articles included in this collection, highlighting their frameworks, methods, and focus.

Safe Zones, Dangerous Leadership: Decolonial Leadership in Settler-Colonial School Contexts

“…In total we collected seven district policy texts, which fused federal and state policies such as outlining district level specifications for allocating Federal Impact Aid. 4 4 Federal Impact Aid concerns funds allocated to districts who cannot draw resources from local property taxes due to their tax-exempt federal status. For each policy, we examined how language authorized relations of power and might constrain local talk and practices within the particular district and school contexts Cummins worked (Diem et al, 2019).…”

“…We approached this study from an Indigenous paradigm; as an opportunity to enter into a conversation about the idea of decolonial leadership and deepen our own accountable relations to Apsáalooke families, youth, and community members and to our work with aspiring school leaders and decolonization projects broadly (Wilson, 2008). Drawing on “safety zone theory” (Lomawaima & McCarty, 2006, 2014a, 2014b) and Critical Policy Analysis (CPA; Diem et al, 2019; Diem et al, 2014), we sought to specify the immediate contexts and structuring influence of educational policies that constrain, but do not determine, the creative work of educational administrators like Cummins. Data includes federal and district education policy texts, 18 interviews with Apsáalooke tribal members, and collaborative auto-ethnographic interview data.…”

Troubles, transformation and tension: Education policy, religious segregation and initial teacher education in Northern Ireland

“…Critical policy analysis (CPA) provides a methodological engagement with policy which doesn't view policy as a single entity or a set of directives or mandates from a central governing body (Diem, Young and Sampson, 2019). Rather, policy refers to: a multiplicity of 'material' and 'technical' forms such as specific programmes, practices and institutions…alongside, for example, practices of advocacy, sponsorship, strategic support and finance which, enable and shape such material and technical forms (Bailey, 2013).…”

“…This article applies a critical policy analysis (Diem, Young, and Sampson, 2019), drawing on hard to access initial teacher education student profile data, to explore the potential tension between the consociational Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (1998), the continued divided and segregated nature of education, including the delivery of initial teacher education, and the implications for social equality and peace in Northern Ireland.…”

The Politics of K–12 Local Control Funding and Accountability for Latinx and ELL Students: Lessons Learned From California

“…Historically, education scholars have underscored the notion that education and politics are implicitly and explicitly intertwined (Chubb & Moe, 1990;Tyack, 1974). Accordingly, policies are viewed as both explicit and implicit expressions of values and a discursive process entwined in a complex web of ideologies and diverse political actors (see Diem, Young, & Sampson, 2019;Edelman, 1971;Malen, 2006;Scribner & Layton, 2003). Moreover, this lens is a departure from conventional examinations of education policy that focus on whether such systems work to more broadly include issues of governance, power relations, and values (see Jacobsen & Young, 2013).…”