A case of Intention Deficit Disorder? ICT policy, disadvantaged schools, and leaders

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, government policies in the USA, Canada, England, and Australia have promoted the need to produce an ICT skilled workforce in order to ensure national competitiveness in globalised economic conditions. In this article, we examine the ways in which these policy intentions in 1 state in Australia were translated into a techno-determinist and technocentric plan which focused primarily on getting wired up and connected. We summarise the findings from 2 projects: an investigation of a state-wide principals' professional development programme and an action research study investigating literacy, educational disadvantage, and information technologies. We found significant differences in the distribution of the physical and human capabilities between schools which made the task of engaging with ICT harder for some than others. Nevertheless, we suggest that some school leaders did develop innovative practice. We suggest that policy deficits made it difficult for school leaders to grapple with the dimensions of and debates about the kinds of educational changes that schools and school systems should be making.

Notes

1. For stories of de-industrialising South Australia see Peel (1995) and Thomson (2002). For graphic narratives of how this scenario plays out in the lives of poor Australians, see Peel (2003).

2. Mioduser, Nachwais, Tubin, and Forkosh-Barush (2003) also note a progression from assimilation through to transformative ICT practices.