Students ‘at‐risk’ policy: competing social and economic discourses

Abstract

Within a context of global reform agendas that promote economic ideologies in education the discourses surrounding ‘school failure’ have shifted from ‘individual risk’ to ‘a nation at‐risk’. Enhancing the quality of schooling through improving educational outcomes and standards for all, and thereby reducing ‘school failure,’ is simultaneously constructed as enhancing both social justice and a nation’s economic advantage in the global marketplace. Within this broader context, this research explores the complexity of issues related to policy for students at educational risk through an analysis of the Education Department of Western Australia’s ‘Making the Difference: Students at Educational Risk Policy.’ This research adopted a theoretical framework of a ‘policy cycle’ (that allowed for an exploration of power relations within the policy process. Primarily, consideration is given to the competing social and economic discourses found within the policy text and subsequent tensions reflected and retracted throughout the policy process from macro (system), to meso (district) and finally to micro levels within the schools and classrooms.

Keywords:

• at‐risk
• education policy
• critical policy analysis
• social and economic discourses

Notes

1. At the time the SAER policy was initiated, in 1997, the Department Education of WA was called the Education Department of Western Australia (EDWA). However, during the implementation of the SAER policy there were several interim name changes. Throughout this research, the term ‘Education Department’ will be used to cover the period since 1997 when the SAER policy was proclaimed to overcome this issue of name change.

2. The SAER resource file consisted of several documents that included: Policy and Guidelines for Students at Educational Risk; A Report on Successful Practice for Students at Educational Risk; A Framework for Successful Practice for Students at Educational Risk; a research paper entitled ‘Students at Educational Risk – Who are they?;’ a pamphlet entitled ‘Making the Difference;’ a poster that presented an overview of the Students at Educational Risk Strategy; and a video and booklet on Successful Practice in Schools.

3. An H index score is a numerical figure, formulated from eight criteria based on social factors, which include parental occupation; education; income; family stability; tenancy; accommodation; English competency; and Aboriginality. The lower the ‘H’ Index figure the more disadvantaged a school is considered.