Imagining a wilder policy future through interstitial tactics

Abstract

This paper takes as its central concern the concept of wilding education policy and explores implications for systemic change in education. It starts from shared premises with wild pedagogies, namely, that current human operations are unsustainable and require deep transformation, and that education is (or should be) a partner in this transformation. The arguments herein focus on the relationship of the institution of formal schooling to the ‘wild,’ and posits that, because of the inherent tensions between the two, interstitial policy tactics are required. This paper proposes five working principles of interstitial tactics and examines these against a meta-synthesis of recent research on transformative environmental and sustainability practices in schools.