The Discourse of Participation: A Poststructural Study of Teachers' Involvement in the Implementation of an Educational Reform Initiative

Abstract

Participation has been used as a catchword for decades in organizations and development agencies to legitimize programs and because it is seen as a vehicle to 'partnership' in and 'ownership' of programs. This study analyzed the discourse of participation in terms of power relations and how it impacts on teachers' involvement in the implementation of educational reform in the area of science education. More specifically the study sought: (a) to explore how science educators and administrators experience and value the process of participation in the implementation of educational reform and (b) to explore how participation impacts educational reform. A descriptive study was used to explore the topic in depth and detail. Data was collected using policy document review and interviews. Interviews were conducted with science teacher educators from a college of education; science teachers in primary and secondary schools; administrators from the college of education and secondary school; and officials from the ministry of education. Foucault's work on discourse, power/knowledge, resistance, and governmentality was used to analyse how and why teachers are invited or selected to participate in the implementation of educational reforms. The study showed that there was no single, unified discourse of participation in the policy texts or amongst the teachers and administrators. Instead, there were multiple definitions and practices that operated under the use of the concept of participation and hence different understandings of the term by practitioners and policy makers. Overall, the study showed that across all three schools, the first time that teachers experienced involvement in reform was when initiatives were introduced. In order to make the analysis more functional, the policy texts could be improved with clear guidelines and identification of the significant roles of speakers, as well as the impact of individual and institutional forces outside the organization. Language plays a vital role in identifying discourse ideology, purpose, and function. Therefore, concept analysis, such as that of participation, requires more in-depth study of language function relevant to Foucault's perspective.