Tumultuous times of education reform: a critical reflection on caring in policy and practice

Abstract

This article examines ‘caring’ in the context of radical education reform in one Canadian province and school district. Historical provincial policy documents set the context for the district analysis. Drawing on our experiences both as participants and researchers, we use theories of care, critical policy, and the tools of critical discourse analysis to interrogate how care is manifested in district policy and practice as well as the extent to which competing discourses, contradictions and multiple perspectives exist. We confront passive compliance to dominant global discourses and identify critical spaces for negotiation, intervention and creativity in order to maintain humanistic and caring values and relationships in everyday work in education.