Restructuring and governance of teacher education in Ontario, 1995--2003: Exploring global policy discourses and local practice

Social policy trends in a context of neoliberalism have emphasized continuing shifts toward adoption of market forms and mechanisms in public sector institutions. Across the world---from 'local to global'---these trends have included moves to privatize formerly public services to varying extents across various contexts and institutional sites, introduction of 'choice' and 'competition' as market forms in formerly non-marketized forms of public services, as well as shifts to reframe citizens as consumers of fee-based services in the place of free, universally accessible services conceived as social rights. Restructuring of education systems, along heterogeneous lines in various regional and local contexts, has reflected these types of shifts in a mode consonant with an overall theme of hegemonic neoliberalism in policy trends. The state continues to play a role as arbiter of these shifting policy discourses; changes have often taken the shape of increased centralization and control of education systems and directed policy and program efforts. In the realm of higher education and specifically teacher education, the government of Ontario and its newly-created teacher governance agency have worked toward such a model of increased centralization, and implemented policies in recent years which have had a substantial effect on the shape of teacher education in this province.;Given this context, this research seeks to address the case of changes and restructuring of teacher education governance under this relatively new teacher governance agency in Ontario, the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT). Specifically, this thesis research examines such changes during the time period of 1995 to 2003 with a particular focus on how they relate to neoliberal policy discourses. Further, this thesis analyzes these changes in comparison with another international case as well as with global trends reflecting similar shifts. In sum, this thesis encompasses an analysis of possible linkages between this period of local practice in restructuring at the OCT with respect to teacher education governance, and global policy discourses of neoliberalism in education. This analysis takes into account a context of government-driven restructuring in Ontario, as well as a more 'global' context in terms of discourses of policy reform reflecting neoliberalism and its constituent trends of marketization, privatization, and commodification in education. This qualitative and comparative research, conducted on a purely documentary/text analysis level without resort to any interviews or focus on/mention of individuals, fits into an overarching methodological framework of critical policy analysis. The overall aim of the research is to unpack---in the case of Ontario's particular changes to teacher education governance---the 'global' and 'local' dialectics of policy discourses and practice with respect to neoliberalism and restructuring related to the OCT.