Situating subjectivities in the macrosocial policy context: critical/queer multifocal policy research

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay serves as a reflexive account of a multifocal approach to policy analysis that employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative study examined the relationship between principals’ perceived levels of instructional influence and teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions using a nationally generalizable sample. The qualitative study employed critical ethnographic methods to study the subjectivity of teachers and leaders and their relationship to one another as they work within a neoliberal policy regime. Theories of subjectivity employed in the qualitative study reveal that policies are contextually and individually dependent, which was particularly useful for making sense of both studies. In this paper, I reflect on my multifocal policy project and draw on queer and critical theory to argue for the re-appropriation of traditional methods of policy analysis in an effort to challenge marginalization of critical voices in scholarship, and to enhance the critical, multifocal approach to policy analysis.