Open AccessCritical policy analysis in education: Exploring and interrogating (in)equity across contexts
Author(s) -
Sarah Diem,
Jeffrey S. Brooks
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
education policy analysis archives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.727
H-Index - 46
ISSN - 1068-2341
DOI - 10.14507/epaa.30.7340
Subject(s) - equity (law) , oppression , social justice , sociology , education policy , leverage (statistics) , political science , policy analysis , critical theory , public administration , positive economics , public relations , higher education , social science , economics , politics , law , machine learning , computer science
This article is the introduction to a special issue of Education Policy Analysis Archives entitled, “Critical Policy Analysis in Education: Exploring and Interrogating (In)Equity Across Contexts.” The special issue presents contemporary critical policy analyses from the United States, Canada, and Australia, which collectively represent methodological, contextual, and theoretical diversity. Individually, they offer incisive critiques of policy processes and outcomes that shape the way equity, and indeed inequity, are manifest in situ. The articles represent a spectrum of approaches to understanding (in)equity in education and point out various ways that educators, scholars, policymakers, and activists can engage with systems to leverage change. In the article, the co-editors identify key themes that distinguish the special issue’s contribution and explain the importance of critical policy analysis as a relevant and necessary alternative to policy analyses that ignore issues of equity, social justice, and oppression.