Open AccessThe Gap Between Text and Context: An Analysis of Ontario’s Indigenous Education Policy
Author(s) -
Jesse K. Butler
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
in education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1927-6117
DOI - 10.37119/ojs2015.v21i2.220
Subject(s) - indigenous , identification (biology) , content analysis , context (archaeology) , plan (archaeology) , baseline (sea) , christian ministry , action plan , indigenous education , political science , public relations , public administration , sociology , social science , geography , management , law , ecology , botany , archaeology , economics , biology
This paper analyzes the 2007 Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework, alongside its 2014 Implementation Plan. Content analysis is used to determine what specific actions are prioritized in each document, first through a quantitative analysis of the various strategies put forth, then a qualitative analysis of what larger purpose these strategies might indicate. The findings suggest a significant shift in the 2014 document away from substantive action and toward data management, specifically in regard to encouraging Indigenous student self-identification. Coming just two years before the 2016 target date for the original plan laid out in the Framework, it seems unlikely that this belated emphasis on self-identification is for the originally stated purpose of establishing baseline data to implement and evaluate specific programs, but could instead be used as a type of symbolic policy, to obscure the absence of substantive change. Conversely, it is suggested that the Ministry of Education should establish a new baseline and strategy, beginning in 2016, to implement specific, targeted programming for Indigenous students.Keywords: Indigenous education; educational policy; content analysis; document analysis; Ontario