STUDENTS AS POLICY ACTORS: THE TDSB EQUITY FOUNDATION STATEMENT AND COMMITMENTS TO EQUITY POLICY

Abstract

Discrimination on the basis of homophobia/transphobia in many schools is an internationally recognised problem. The Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) Equity Foundation Statement and Commitments to Equity Policy (EFS) provides an explicit mandate to schools in its jurisdiction to address such discrimination and educate about sexual and gendered diversity. This research, which draws on the work of Ball et al. (2012), examines how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) equity work was being implemented in two TDSB high schools. In particular, it illustrates how some students were more than subjectively produced by policy, but were agentic policy actors who were integral to the enactments of LGBTQ equity work undertaken in the schools.