TY - JOUR
T1 - Feminist dilemmas
T2 - an Australian case study of a whole‐school policy approach to gender reform
AU - Blackmore, Jill
AU - Kenway, Jane
AU - Willis, Sue
AU - Rennie, Leonie
N1 - Funding Information:
In terms of theories of change the study suggests that certain conditions may be more conducive to change. In this instance, change was initiated by key actors in formal and informal positions who provided planning and coordination skills. It was further stimulated by the legitimating and enabling factor of the AA designation and additional funding and time allocation; by the existence of a nucleus of active gender workers within the school; and by the support from the administrative Region, Steering Committee and School Council. Furthermore, the existence of 'strong' national and state EO policies legitimated activities already underway. A major source of many problems of the AA project, such as the failure to communicate more widely the successes of the gender reform efforts, lay in the lack of adequate time and funding for professional development and time and technology for sharing ideas within and across schools. The study also confirms what various policy analysts already know about the gap between policy and outcomes. McLaughlin (1987: 172), in summarizing the history of policy implementation in the us, emphasizes that 'implementation dominates outcomes'. That is, 'even the most promising policy initiatives depend finally on what happens as individuals throughout the policy system interpret and act upon them'.
Funding Information:
This paper is based on one case study in a project funded by the Australian Research Council, EOPolicy: Its Reception andEffect onGender Reform inAustralian Schools undertaken bytheauthors. Wewish to thank the anonymous yes reviewers for their critical, insightful and constructive responses to this paper.
PY - 1996
Y1 - 1996
N2 - Although Australia is unique for the level of state intervention and the extent of school‐based activity by feminist teachers in gender reform policy initiatives, the implementation of gender reforms has been partial, fragmented, and generally ‘addon’. By contrast, this is a case study of the integration of gender reform as a whole‐school approach. The study shows that assumptions about the nature of policy developments are as important as the substantive nature of policy, as are the ways in which feminist teachers grapple with dilemmas emerging out of their professional and personal lives. We present a feminist poststructural reading of the policy process as an alternative (and we believe better) way of understanding what happens to policy in schools‐‐how, why, and with what effect.
AB - Although Australia is unique for the level of state intervention and the extent of school‐based activity by feminist teachers in gender reform policy initiatives, the implementation of gender reforms has been partial, fragmented, and generally ‘addon’. By contrast, this is a case study of the integration of gender reform as a whole‐school approach. The study shows that assumptions about the nature of policy developments are as important as the substantive nature of policy, as are the ways in which feminist teachers grapple with dilemmas emerging out of their professional and personal lives. We present a feminist poststructural reading of the policy process as an alternative (and we believe better) way of understanding what happens to policy in schools‐‐how, why, and with what effect.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=1842830538&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0022027980280302
DO - 10.1080/0022027980280302
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:1842830538
SN - 0022-0272
VL - 28
SP - 253
EP - 279
JO - Journal of Curriculum Studies
JF - Journal of Curriculum Studies
IS - 3
ER -