Numéro 202, 2023

EN :

In Saskatchewan, school divisions have been largely tasked with creating classroom-based assessment policy as, until very recently, the province lacked a current, Ministry-produced guiding document. Using an inductive and qualitative approach to summative content analysis, informed by a policy analysis framework, this project focused on school division administrative policies (n=26) to ascertain their alignment with contemporary assessment principles. Three principles—standards-based assessment, reliability and validity, and fairness and equity—and seven sub-principles—ongoing/continuous, transparent, (involves) stakeholders, (excludes) extraneous/arbitrary factors, triangulation, differentiation, and inclusion—served as the focus of analysis, with particular attention given to how clearly and consistently principles were addressed.

EN :

Despite data increasingly being used to advance equity in education, students with and seeking refugee protection (SWSRP) are largely invisible in education data. To equitably include SWSRP in national education systems as envisioned by global refugee education policy, data on their needs are required. The purpose of this study was to source, organize, and analyze data on the needs of SWSRP in primary and secondary education in Canada. This needs assessment involved the use of experts, a selective review of empirical literature, and a review of publicly available data. Five common areas of need were identified among SWSRP globally and across Canada’s 13 primary and secondary education systems: access to education, accelerated education, language education, mental health and psychosocial support, and special education. Rates of needs varied by a range of student experiences and circumstances. These data can inform efforts to responsively support SWSRP in Canadian education systems.

EN :

Learning Leadership is a framework that addresses the complex actions and decisions made by principals. Harris and Jones (2021) declared the need to deepen an understanding of how educational leaders support conditions inherent to learning organizations. This study sought to better understand how principals learn and support growth as a strategy for leading. Findings are presented from seven Alberta, Canada high schools where principals were asked to reflect on learning leadership. Open interviews generated data about learning as both an outcome and a method of leading.

Interview data was analyzed through van Manen’s (2016) three step interpretive scheme and yielded themes describing how high school principals mediated in-school realities with external expectations. Study findings indicate that principals who lead for learning and achievement were able to identify growth-minded solutions characterized by ethical and wise approaches.

EN :

The market-based imperatives driving economic growth in Western societies have, in ways, both been acknowledged and implicitly used to reorient public institutions - academia dramatically so. This article deals with upending of post-secondary academic hiring priorities, and the impact on the adjunct or sessional lecturers implicated in the change. Over half of the courses offered by academic departments and programs in Ontario, Canada, are now taught by part-time faculty members (Pasma & Shakes, 2018). Their use in post-secondary education is underpinned by a notion of just-in-time course delivery in a free market of untenured PhD holders. This study assessed 26 adjuncts in Ontario, Canada, equally divided between male and female. It found working conditions, development of research dossiers, and health and work-life balance to be characterized by gendered differences and hardships. Although the hardships of post-PhD adjunct work have been abundantly documented, this work brings to light components of the experience that have not been previously studied, most significantly, its health effects and gender nature. It concludes with policy recommendations to support adjuncts in Ontario and beyond, including mentorship, longer term contracts, institutional research funding, extended health benefits, and affordable childcare.

EN :

The authors present findings that emphasize a need for trauma-informed policy to mitigate vicarious trauma transmission for teachers who work in English language learning (ELL) classrooms. Qualitative data was collected from 10 stakeholders in Canada using an interpretive-phenomenological methodology. Findings assisted to better understand the impact of institutional policy, or lack thereof, on trauma-informed practices within English language teacher work. Themes that emerged were settlement factors, roles, and responsibilities (personal and professional), and organizational policies. A scan of publicly available information on trauma-informed policy suggested a gap for English language teachers. Current literature on vicarious trauma stresses that trauma-informed practice necessitates an individual and systemic approach to mitigating its effects. A basic scan of potential trauma-informed frameworks was discussed as potential institutional approaches to reduce the impact of vicarious trauma on teachers.

FR :

La crise de la COVID-19 représente une rupture susceptible d’avoir un impact structurant sur le système scolaire québécois. Quelle est la dynamique de prise de décision en contexte de crise au moment de la première vague de la COVID-19 au Québec, du point de vue des directions et des directions adjointes d’établissement ? Notre étude s’inscrit dans le champ théorique de l’analyse des politiques éducatives. La réalisation d’entretiens semi-dirigés avec douze directions et directions adjointes d’établissement scolaire public permet de saisir la dynamique de prise de décision en contexte de crise au moment de la première vague de la COVID-19 au Québec. Les résultats permettent de réfléchir aux dispositions législatives et réglementaires actuelles et potentielles facilitant le travail de gestion de crise des leaders scolaires. Ils permettent aussi d’observer une certaine insatisfaction des directions interrogées quant à leur rôle décisionnel au moment de la gestion de crise.

EN :

The crisis of the COVID-19 is presented as a rupture event likely to have a structuring impact on the Quebec school system. What are the political and pedagogical issues that emerge from the management of this crisis in the Quebec school system, from the point of view of school principals, key players in school governance? Our study is part of the theoretical field of educational policy analysis. The analysis of scientific literature, the monitoring of current events in the education sector and the conduct of semi-directed interviews with school principals are the research strategies used to map out the events and measures related to the management of the crisis in the Quebec school system from February 2020 to August 2020. We discuss the reported impact of these events and measures on school organization and learning. We present some findings that relate to organizational learning.

FR :

Le plan d’enseignement individualisé formalise l’aide fournie à des élèves dans un contexte de reddition de comptes. L’objectif est de comprendre le rôle et les tâches de directions scolaires en lien au plan et à un éventuel contrôle exercé sur les enseignantes. Les données analysées dans cet article sont issues d’une recherche internationale menée de 2015 à 2020. Les entretiens de sept cadres et huit directions ayant participé au projet sont analysés ici. Les résultats montrent que le travail de direction entourant ce dispositif, en Belgique, tente de responsabiliser le personnel enseignant ainsi que de coordonner leurs efforts. Au Québec, l’objectif est d’accompagner et d’inciter à la réflexion en vue de favoriser une reddition de comptes. En Ontario, la responsabilisation du personnel enseignant passe par un contrôle plus serré qui prend la forme du monitorage qu’exerce parfois la direction, tandis qu’en France, cette dernière mise sur la réflexivité du personnel.

EN :

This study illuminates the current policy and practice dynamics and tensions of school internationalization in the province of Ontario generated by the increasing presence of international students at the secondary school level, identified as early study abroad (ESA) students. It conducts a comparative thematic analysis of a set of interviews with school- and board-level stakeholders of internationalization alongside a critical policy analysis of a key provincial policy text. We find that ESA-based internationalization is largely run out of internationalization offices resourced to focus on student recruitment and administrative support, with oversight of homestay and custodianship being significant components. The more idealistic visions of school internationalization emphasized in provincial policy and some school discourse occur in a more reactive fashion. On-the-ground educational support of these newcomer ESA students is shouldered by schools and educators within their existing and limited capacities, while the intercultural dimensions and benefits remain largely aspirational.

EN :

It is a widespread practice among Canadian school districts to assess the French language proficiency of candidates applying for French as a Second Language (FSL) teaching positions. This pan-Canadian study used surveys, interviews, and website data to examine the French language proficiency assessment practices and processes used by Canadian schools when hiring FSL teachers. The findings show that almost 90% of Canadian school districts assess French language proficiency when hiring FSL teachers and that the most common form of assessment is to ask one to three questions in French (with candidates responding in French) during the employment interview. Evaluation of the candidates’ responses is rarely informed by a language proficiency framework or rubric; instead, evaluators’ decisions are informed by their overall impressions of the candidate’s language proficiency. Other promising assessment practices are described, along with suggestions about how districts may improve their French language proficiency assessments when hiring FSL teachers.

FR :

Presque tous les districts scolaires canadiens évaluent les compétences en français des candidats lors de l'embauche pour des postes d'enseignants en FLS. Ces évaluations sont conçues pour s'assurer que les enseignants de FLS qu'ils embauchent possèdent les compétences linguistiques requises pour enseigner le français d'une manière efficace. Cette étude a recueilli des données auprès de 112 districts scolaires (situés dans les 10 provinces) et a révélé que bien qu'il existe une gamme d'outils et de processus d'évaluation à travers le pays, la méthode d'évaluation la plus courante consiste pour un administrateur scolaire à poser une ou deux questions en français (avec la candidat répondant en français) lors de l'entretien d'embauche. Nous posons des questions sur la justesse de ces évaluations pour prendre des décisions d'emploi à enjeux élevés et offrons des preuves que les districts scolaires commencent à utiliser ces informations d'évaluation à des fins formatives ainsi que pour les décisions d'embauche.

EN :

The recent criminal negligence case against an Ontario teacher in the death of a student identified pertinent outdoor education administration and policy issues. This comparative case study examined this case and two additional high profile Canadian outdoor education fatalities, identifying common factors and issues. Using Accimaps to illustrate the multiple contributing factors for each event, the case studies all exhibited contributory administrative factors of undefined risk tolerance, risk creep, lack of oversight, and issues regarding parental consent. Conclusions were drawn as preventative lessons that can inform school or board-level outdoor education policy and practice.

EN :

This paper reports on curriculum analysis of climate change expectations in Canada’s provincial curricula. The research is focused on curriculum policy in Canadian provinces; however, it pertains to an international audience as Article 12 of the Paris Agreement, the international treaty on climate mitigation, adaptation and finance, calls for signatories to “enhance climate change education,” and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have called for environmental education to be a core curriculum component by 2025, which will require all countries to evaluate and improve their curricula globally. Curriculum policy within Canada has not yet been aligned with these policy calls, and our analysis showed fractured and uneven inclusion of climate change. Data findings present explicit climate change education curriculum expectations for each province according to grade, subject, and mandatory versus elective courses. The review shows uneven inclusion of climate change topics, themes, and units within grade 7 – 12 curricula, with most expectations occurring in elective senior secondary courses. A second level of analysis with a ranking tool indicates shallow inclusion. The paper concludes with recommendations for addressing gaps.