Abstract

The expansion of neoliberal globalization has influenced the marketization of education and led the charge to shape competency-based educational policies. In Québec, Canada, public school curricula have mandated competency-based education (CBE) to address and remedy student retention rates and employability concerns. While the stated goal proposed by reform policies for instituting CBE is to eliminate social and economic inequities, teachers are concerned that it may exacerbate inequality gaps among our most vulnerable populations. A critical ethnographic methodology was employed to structure and analyze individual interview narratives of ten CÉGEP college teachers, using critical theory and critical pedagogy as philosophical underpinnings. Additionally, I examined the neoliberal marketization of education to shed some light on the conditions that influence CBE practices.

The results indicated that the conditions under which CBE persists alienate college teachers from their work and perpetuate educational, structural, and societal inequalities. Teachers’ feedback discloses that the excessive focus on CBE and the execution of its practices does not align with their beliefs of the experience education should offer students. The findings revealed disproportionate marginalizing of teachers’ voices and participation in decision-making and workplace changes due to inequalities generated by neoliberal hierarchical connections. Consequently, my research shifted teachers’ roles from reform implementers to allowing them to participate in interview dialogues about educational changes. Teachers’ voices illustrate that such collaborative initiatives could result in educational progress, equitable changes, and positive effects on professional development. These findings support the notion that more intentional collaboration among educators is critical to re-address power inequalities, eradicate undemocratic neoliberal practices and sustain educational reform. It also suggests that teachers’ involvement in critical discourse could be leveraged to work toward positive educational change. Given that little research has conducted an in-depth analysis of teachers’ views and experiences in fulfilling CBE mandates, my thesis offers insights into how teachers can deliberate and mobilize their responses to address and challenge unilateral neoliberal competency-based reforms.

Keywords: competency-based education, neoliberal, critical theory, critical pedagogy, critical ethnography