This is Punk Rock Time
The election season in Alberta has brought about a lot of controversy and divisiveness between folks across the province. I’m no political commentator but there is no doubt in my mind that a Jason Kenney led UCP government would be a disaster for the province and especially within my own profession.
The UCP’s education platform is filled with policies that are driven by a neo-liberal ideology that has been gaining momentum both in Canada and across the world over the last 30 years. Pasi Sahlberg has termed this movement the Global Education Reform Movement or G.E.R.M. The UCP education platform steals ideas from this movement liberally as they advocate for school choice, increase standardized testing, testing for teachers and a larger emphasis on “accountability” within the profession. In jurisdictions around the world that have embraced these tenets more ferociously, we have seen the detrimental impacts to students, teachers and the system at large. There is no credible evidence or research to support these policies and we have to recognize the damaging ideology that is driving this reform movement in education.
And let’s not kid ourselves, this ideology has impacted our system regardless of the political party running governments around the world. Although folks embracing these ideas and an overall deficit ideology towards students (i.e: grit, resilience, etc.) may have good intentions, we need to challenge the ideological underpinnings of education policy in our province. I would argue that interrogating the ideology that drives decisions in education policy as well as decisions made locally in schools and classrooms is an integral part of shifting our system to be more equitable and just for all students. I agree with Paul Gorski that shifting from a neo-liberal/deficit ideology towards a structural ideology can help us understand the systemic issues within education to help close the academic opportunity gaps that many of our students in the margins face.
Although the election of a UCP government would provide our profession with immense challenges, we need to consider our actions as professionals in how we support and advocate for our students when policies are damaging them and their futures. A colleague and friend put me on to this clip from Henry Rollins when Trump was elected in the United States and I think we can take a few lessons from it:
I remember listening to The Clash for the first time as a teenager and being blown away. It gave me a language and a lens for understanding our world in a way that I never had before. Joe Strummer’s music has trained us for these moments of despair when we feel that all that is bad around us is too much and too overwhelming. For those of us with the capacity to do so, and as Henry Rollins says, now is not the time to be dismayed. It is times like these where we find ways to neutralize harmful policies that impact our students and collectively come together to maintain safe and welcoming spaces for students in our schools. Now is the time to move forward in our schools with love and kindness and a determination to advocate for those students who are in the margins of our education system. We will organize, support and do everything in our power to advocate for our students and profession.
And even if the UCP doesn’t come to power on Tuesday, we should still operate as if it is “punk rock time” as it is moments of “normalcy” that can often make us complacent towards ensuring that our classrooms, schools, and education system are as equitable and just as possible. The work and road ahead is long. If social justice education has taught me anything in ten years it is that our own personal and collective journeys will be laden with victories and defeats and a whole lot of learning. With an open heart and mind, using our collective energy and work will ensure that regardless of policy our students will remain safe and protected as we engage in our life-long journey of teaching for equity and social justice.
