Over the last 20 years, technology and education policy discourse in Alberta, Canada has been philosophically polarized and dominated by value-neutral ways of thinking about technology (Brooks, 2011). While technology policy implementation has significant ramifications for schools and systems, for much of this time, system leaders, specifically the College of Alberta School Superintendents, (CASS), did not engage the discursive circle. This paper identifies a probable rationale for the historic lack of engagement in technology and education policy by CASS. Concluding discussion offers reasons for and early impacts of CASS’ first formal move into provincial technology policy discourse System Leadership for Learning Technology Success.
Foucault's concept of governmentality frames a critical discourse analysis of Grade Level of Achievement (GLA) Reporting in Alberta. GLA requires teachers to report to the provincial government a whole number that represents their judgment of each student's achievement in meeting the mandated curricular outcomes in grades 1 to 9 language arts and mathematics. Foucault's notion of governmentality guides the analysis as results are illuminated within three prominent themes: homogeneous, efficient effects of power; visibility; and identity. GLA is of interest and import due to the scope of the project, the unique requirements, not solely test-based, and the myriad of ways the data gathered could be used to influence future directions. GLA is significant, micropolitically, in the way it distributes power by involving the subjects directly. The results of this analysis will serve to provide teachers, administrators and policy makers with a way to reconsider their professional agency and identity within a culture of accountability.
While professional development (PD) has always been central to the teaching profession, increasingly traditional models of PD are out of step with contemporary ways of learning. Commiserate with the literature, we see the field moving along a continuum which reflects changes in what, how and when teachers learn. Following a brief sketch of the online teacher professional development (oTPD) field, we identify important considerations of emerging models of technology-mediated professional learning (TMPL). We posit the catalyst for the transformation of education, as envisioned by countless educational leaders, may lie in reimaging professional development as professional learning in a networked age.
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