A Comparative Analysis of K-12 International Education Policies of Ontario and Manitoba

Abstract

This paper utilizes critical policy analysis framework to examine provincial policy documents in K-12 international education. Adopting Ball’s (1994) three policy contexts framework – 1) the context of influence; 2) the context of policy text production; and 3) the context of practice - this paper provides a comparative analysis of the international education policies of Ontario and Manitoba. The paper shows that policy documents are not simply linear government directives but they are rather processes driven by local stakeholders including schools, school boards, non-government organizations and educational administrators.Through this comparison, informed by document analysis and stakeholder interviews, we provide an understanding of what factors have led to K-12 international education impetus, and discuss the potential outcomes in terms of (under) privileging of certain values, its effects on (in) equity, and its long-term implications for a publically funded educational system in Canada.