The Charter Schools Handbook- examining alternatives in Canadian education EDU6428FinalPaperForLORNAMACLEAN

EDU6428: Final Research Paper
The Charter Schools Handbook: examining alternatives in
Canadian public education
For: Prof. Lorna Maclean
By: Andrea Lagalisse (2992863)
4/8/2014

Lagalisse. A. (2014) EDU6428 Final Paper…1
EDU 6428 Final Paper:
The Alberta Charter Schools Handbook:
Examining Alternatives in Canadian Public Education
Introduction
My initial interest in charter schools arose out of an investigation into alternative education
opportunities in Canada as part of a wider desire for educational reform. To date, Alberta is the
only Canadian province or territory to try out the charter method. This study will consist of direct
textual analysis of the Charter School Handbook alongside critical discourse involving historical
contextual analysis to situate the Charter School experience in Alberta. I will attempt to discover
what place the charter school system holds in the Alberta educational system, how charter
schools in Alberta have developed and not developed, and what experts and communities are
saying about the charter school experiment in Alberta. In doing so, I hope to increase interest in
the changing norms of schooling and in inquiring into issues of authority, power, socialization,
and culture. Charter schools offer an alternative to traditionally envisioned public schools in
Canada by opening up daily teaching practices in ways that enable youth engagement, support
critical thinking and inquiry, and promote global citizenship and authentic diversity.
My research questions are
1) How does the Charter School Handbook’s authorship portray the aims, methods and
purposes of education?
2) Do these aims, methods, and purposes offer useful alternatives for education in Canada
that are authentically diverse?
Methodology

This study will consist of direct textual analysis of the 2011 Charter School Handbook and
accompanying Charter Schools Regulations. I will engage in critical discourse alongside
historical contextual analysis to situate the Charter School experience in Alberta. I will conduct
primary analysis of the Alberta Learning 2011 Charter Schools Handbook, focussing on three of
Walt Werner’s eight-point system on reading authorship into texts; the gaze, the voice, and
reflexivity (Werner, W., 2000, Reading authorship into texts, p. 193-219). Werner notes that it
important to use "authorship" rather than "author" is because the former “…does not focus
narrowly on de-contextualized individuals apart from the broader social /political / economic
practices that are also a part of authorship. Texts are produced out of, and are positioned within,
complex sets of relationships and processes (e.g., of publishing, marketing, consuming, reading,
etc.) in particular times and places” (Werner, W., 2000, p. 194). For example, Tupper and
Cappello point out that a major “goal” of schools has and continues to be “the formation of
particular kinds of subjects” (2010, p. 339), particularly citizens who are “responsible to the state
and inherently governable (Ibid., p. 348). They suggest that it is necessary to offer student
“(un)usual narratives of citizenship which subvert false universalism and draw attention to the
differential formation of subjects” (Tupper & Cappello, 2010, p. 358). When investigating the
Charter Schools Handbook, I wished to inquire as to how the provincial government’s authorship
of the document reflected or countered the perpetuation of dominance and whether they offered
an authentic alternative to current public school programs in Canada.
With this contextual and practical understanding, I analyzed the Alberta Learner Charter
School’s Handbook in order to better understand social and cultural factors that are at play in the
infancy of charter schools in Canada. I hoped to activate what Van Dijk calls the role of
discourse in the “(re)production and challenge of dominance…defined here as the exercise of

social power by elites, institutions or groups, that results in social inequality” (1993, p. 249).
This will be helpful because it will increase understanding and discussion about charter schools
in Canada, as well as offer insights on how to ensure that these schools are increasingly able to
provide authentic and accessible alternatives to traditional public and private school education in
Canada.
Situating charter schools in Canada
Charter schools in Canada are defined as “…autonomous public schools that would provide
innovative or enhanced means of delivering education in order to improve student learning”
(Alberta Learning (AL), 2002. p. 1). Charter schools receive the same funding as other public
schools, and are non-religious and non-profit, and require teachers to be certified (AL, 2002, p.
3- 4). Charter school champions argue that “…student and parent demand for the choices charter
schools provide will increase and public schools will fight for the flexibility charter schools
enjoy” (Bosetti, L. 2010, p.101). In Canada, public schools are funded and run by the provincial
governments, and attendance to school is compulsory (Clark, W., 2001, p.3).
The reality in education is that throughout the Western world, student achievement has
plummeted (Ritchie, 2010, p.5). In 1997, near the beginning of the charter school experiment in
Alberta, Canada ranked “among the world’s education leaders” in spending on education (Clark,
W., 2001, 100 Years of education, p. 7). Guo notes that increased interconnectedness and
technology, and diversity in classrooms means that the landscape of Canadian classrooms is
changing (2013, p. 8). The international trend of increasing conservatism and also of increasing
pluralism has been cited as a factor contributing to the trend in charter and other alternative
education funding (Wagner, 1999. p. 54). It is notable that as of 2010, there were 13 charter
schools (of a possible 15) in operation over 22 campuses, student enrollment has increased

consistently, and waiting lists in the thousands are normal (Ritchie, 2010, p.12-13). This
indicates that there is a place and the social will for charter schools to grow in the realm of
Canadian education. I often wondered why charter schools have been restricted to Alberta only,
and also why there was a cap on how many charter schools could be in operation in the province
at any one time. It seems to me, like Toma and Zimmer state, that
at the end of the day, we must recognize that families are choosing charter schools…the
choice is voluntary….but beyond achievement effects, our observation that the movement
is voluntary suggests that the research community should be creatively searching for
ways in which to measure the benefits perceived by families. (Two decades of charter
schools, 2012. p. 212)
Not long after the unveiling of the charter program and its vision, Global Learning
Academy, one of the largest schools, had to shut down. In an article in Macleans magazine, the
author notes the political, social and economic difficulties that led to this demise:
…no one thought that these schools would be turned into political orphans, abandoned by
a provincial government that was retrenching, hung out to dry by local school boards who
resented the charters as grant-snatchers and private-school wanna-bes. "The provincial
government had the original vision," says Lynn Bosetti, director of the Centre for Gifted
Education at the University of Calgary. "But then the minister changed and other key
people left, and it is not clear now where the ministry is going. The problems you see
now are all issues of governance." (Sheppard, R., 1998, p. 52.)

It appeared that there were significant barriers preventing the charter school experiment in
Alberta from achieving its goal to offer authentic alternatives to its students, barriers that could
not be controlled by legislation that was ambiguously written
Since the inception of the charter program in 1994, there have been several in-depth
studies and projects intended to monitor and improve charter schools. In 2009, the Alberta
Government released a concept paper that outlines how “Alberta Education envisions charter
schools as catalysts for critical thinking about education. Many people offer the Minister advice
on how to improve education; the next generation of charter schools would act as pilots or
incubators and could let the Minister test the best of these ideas” (Government of Alberta,
Charter Schools Concept Paper, 2009, p.2). In this newer vision for charter schools, teachers and
administrators could play a larger role in the professional development of others as well as in the
development of educational theory and practice. They could serve as mentors to teachers and
administrators in other schools (Ibid., p. 2-3).
This amendment shows attempts toward reflexivity in practice in line with current
discourse that encourages reflective practice that encourages active, inquiry-based learning,
fostering critical literacy, taking multiple perspectives, and providing “authentic opportunities for
students to become responsible and competent citizens in meaningful ways” (Guo, L. (2013), p.
9). By recognizing the evolving nature of the charter school experiment, with the aim of
improving rather than removing the alternatives charter schools offer, expiry on the charter
school regulations stay on the path toward creating more authentic education alternatives to
Canadian students.
In Ritchie’s “Innovation in action: an examination of charter schools in Alberta” she
outlines challenges that include but are not limited to; the restrictive nature and instability

created by the charter renewal process whereby schools must reapply for status every five years,
difficulties in acquiring premises due to restrictions on public land and building grants, and
opposition from those who believe charter schools serve niche markets and are exclusive (The
West in Canada Research Series, 2010. p. 18-19). The charter school program has shown that it
recognizes the need to change and adapt in order to achieve the true purpose of providing
authentic alternatives to its students and families. The 2012 review of the Charter Schools
Regulations recognized some the difficulties posed by the five-year renewal system and
renegotiated it to allow for a long-term renewal after an initial five-year term, noting that “with
the ability to access renewal terms of 15 years, charter schools with a demonstrated record of
success will be able to focus less on administration and more on student learning and school
improvement”
(Alberta Governments, (2012) Questions and answers: Changes to the charter school
regulations, p. 1). The 2012 amendment is indicative of the will of charter school proponents to
keep trying in spite of the setbacks encountered from various sources.
Analysis and Discussion
The Alberta Learning (2011) Charter Schools Handbook includes ten pages of text and
regulations, plus appendices incorporating the legislation pertinent to the establishment of charter
schools in Alberta, for a total of 34 pages. It is openly available online. Special attention was
paid to pages 1-10, which include the main text covering what charter schools “are”, eligibility,
governance, programs, and accountability, and the like. The Appendices are also included in the
analysis, particularly Appendix C detailing the Charter Schools Regulations, 212/2002. I also
decided to read the amended version of the regulations, as they did not appear to have been

linked into the online version of the 2011 handbook. The Charter School Regulations are slated
for reviewed again in 2015.
The charter schools handbook via Werner: gaze, voice, and reflexivity
Gaze. In this, Werner is asking us “to make visible the meaning and effects of the "gaze"
implicit within a representation. This metaphor refers to the implied attitude, value stance, or
power relationship towards the people, place or event depicted (2000), p. 199). Elements
providing evidence of this gaze and the authority implicit within it are evident in the language
that places charter schools on a sort of permanent “probation” and bases renewal “largely on the
results of regular school evaluations” that are conducted by the Minister of Education (Alberta
Learning (AL), Charter Schools Handbook (2011), p. 8, s. 12). It is also required that charter
school curricula be structured around a “basic education as defined by Alberta Education” (AL,
2011, p. 1, emphasis added). What this implies is that “traditional” notions of schooling and
curriculum design are preferable and the “benchmark” for charter schools to start at.
In Appendix A of the handbook, a section headed “Philosophy, Vision, Purpose and
Goals” explicitly asks parties interested in applying for charter school status “How do the goals
of the school relate to Alberta Education’s basic education program?” (AL, 2011, p. 21). Charter
schools are expected to meet and exceed standards that set by the provincial government. The
onus is on them to create programs, evaluation methods and provide proof of student and school
“success” to the Minister of Education (AL, 2011, p.8, s. 15) This privileges traditional methods
and structures of schooling, limiting different forms and styles of learning and understanding.
This makes authentic choice in education difficult as it often forces charter schools to conform to
the standards of ‘regular’ public schools if they wish to survive.

Another way that power relationships are evident in the gaze presented by the text is in
the requirement that teachers be certificated. This shows a preference for traditional teacher
education and delivery and reducing the potential of learning from various other sources, again
privileging traditional power hierarchies of administrator/teacher/learner/ and ignoring possible
sources of knowledge and experience.
Voice. In examining a text for voice, Werner wants us to consider who has the power to
“name the world:
Who gets to tell the stories…that speak about/ for / with/as/ to other people; it reminds us
that a text is always a speaking from somewhere, and that questions can be raised about
who it is that speaks, about what, how, under what conditions, and with what effects
(2000, p. 200-201).
Looking through the charter schools handbook, it was evident to me that the authority structure
implicit and explicitly favoured the provincial government agenda via the Minister of Education,
as well as traditional public school systems as they are entrenched. As Guo notes, Canadian
curriculum standards “vary from province to province and are strongly shaped by nationalist
orientation” (2013, p. 8). Aside from political nationalist agendas the Minister of Education must
represent, there are also his/her personal experiences and preferences that complicate decision
making. Examples of underlying authority are evident in sections giving the Minister of
Education significant leeway in decision-making, granting and repealing of charter schools as
well as processes around firing, hiring and expulsion.
The wording of clauses within the Charter Schools Regulations in the appendices of the
handbook and in the handbook’s text are often vague and undefined, giving authority literally to
the “opinion” of the Minister, allowing the Minister to make regulations regarding charter

schools respecting “any other matter the Minister considers necessary” (AL, 2011, p,. 26, s. 37).
On top of this, decisions made by the Minister in these regards are final (AL, 2011, p. 30-33, s.
3.14, 7.7, 14.4). This restricts authentic choice and since the final word will lie with the
individual who is Minister of Education at that time. Depending on their personal, political and
philosophical values, a Minister’s decisions could vary widely, leading to less authentic choice
and fewer voices of students, families, and communities coming through.
Another way the tone of authority is evident in the way the text speaks to or at those who
are interested in establishing charter schools. It is “speaking to or at others tells them what
should be believed or done…the intention is to privilege and impose a particular message”
(Werner, W., 2000, p. 203), in this case, allowing for change to the status quo, but still
privileging traditional educational patterns and sending the message that “we’ve got our eye on
you, don’t mess this up!” The layout of the handbook reads like a to-do list, and it is explicitly
stated that “all criteria required by the Regulation must be completed before final approval is
granted” (AL, 2011, p. 10, s. 28).
Reflexivity. The text does not offer much room for interpretation or reflexivity in its
body, as it acts as a literal checklist of steps to follow, telling interested parties how to navigate
the authority that governs the charter school experiment. The major exemption I found was in the
regulation’s expiry clause, which notes that it is “for the purpose of ensuring that this Regulation
is reviewed for ongoing relevancy and necessity, with the option that it may be re-passed in its
present or an amended form following a review” (A.L., 2011, p. 34). This provides evidence of
attempts towards reflexivity in practice, recognizing that the system will need to evolve and
engaging concerned parties in thinking about the text. This provides a glimmer of hope that the

charter school experiment in Canada can evolve over time to provide authentic and diverse
educational experiences for students in Canada.
Conclusion
It is important to recognize that the landscape and meanings of education are and must
continue evolving alongside Canadian populations and cultures. Educators, administrators,
parents and young people are reaching for change in the norms of education towards systems that
are reflective of authentic diversity and that support learning that is active, critically engaging of
youth, relevant and supportive of the creation of global citizenship. Charter schools can offer the
alternatives not present in current public schools if the local and regional communities support
progressive change and educational reform. Difficulties are often encountered in the form of
social, political and national resistance to change. The Charter Schools Handbook clearly looks
from the gaze and speaks with the voice of the Alberta provincial government. Thankfully the
existence of an expiry clause allows for fairly regular evolution that can slowly bring the charter
school experiment closer to its intended vision of providing authentic choices for Canadian
students who are not served by the traditional system.

References
Alberta Learning. (2002). Charter Schools Handbook. ISBN: 0-7785-2550-3
Alberta Regulation 212/2002, (2012) Charter Schools Regulations Retrieved from
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2002_212.pdf
Bosetti, L. (2001). The Alberta charter school experience. In C. R. Hepburn (Ed.), Can the
market save our schools? (pp. 101-121). Vancouver, BC: Fraser Institute. Retrieved from
http://oldfraser.lexi.net/publications/books/market_schools/7_bosetti.pdf
Clark, W. (2001). 100 Years of education. Education Quarterly Review 7(3), 18-23. ISSN 1481-
1634
Government of Alberta. (2012) Questions and answers: Changes to the charter school
regulations, Retrieved from
http://education.alberta.ca/media/6673323/charterschoolregulationchangeqa.pdf
Ritchie, S. (2010). Innovation in action: an examination of charter schools in Alberta. The West
in Canada Research Series. The Canada West Foundation. ISBN: 1-897423-61-5
Guo, L. (2013) Translating global citizenship education into pedagogic actions in classroom
settings. In L.R. Maclean & N. Ng-A-Fook (Eds.), Education Review, 3(2), 8-9). ISSN
1925-5497
Sheppard, R. (1998) A school failure. Macleans. Vol. 111 Issue 27, p52. ISSN 0024-9262
Toma, E., & Zimmer, R. (2012). Two decades of charter schools: Expectations, reality, and the
future. Economics of Education Review, 31, 209-212. Retrieved from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2011.10.001

Tupper, J. & Cappello, M. (2010). Locating citizenship: Curriculum, social class and the 'good'
citizen. Theory and Research in Social Education, 38(3), 298-327. doi
10.1080/00933104.2010.10473430
Wagner, M. (1999). Charter schools in Alberta: Change or continuity in progressive conservative
education policy? The Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 45(1), 52-66. ISSN
0002-4805
Werner, W. (2002). Reading authorship into texts. Theory and Research in Social Education,
28(2), 193-219. doi 10.1080/00933104.2000.10505904
Van Dijk, T. A., (1993). Principles of critical discourse analysis. Discourse & Society, 4(2), 249-
283. doi: 10.1177/0957926593004002006

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