"Inclusion" policies and head teachers as policy actors and subjects in two secondary schools in the City of Buenos Aires.

MEO, ANALÍA INÉS

Brnó

Exposici�n; Seminario de investigación - Departamento de Sociología - Masaryk University; 2014

Universidad de Masaryck

In this presentation, I argue that the head teachers of two secondary schools (Escuelas de Reingreso) in the City of Buenos Aires are both policy actors and policy subjects. As policy actors, they interpret and translate their schools´ policy mandates within specific contexts. My analysis shows that these HT have antagonistic takes on "educational inclusion". I call them the "educational" and "socio-educational" approaches. These interpretations of what a school is and what teachers and students should do shape key aspects of their schools´ logics of action. However, this paper also argues that HT are "policy subjects" and as such they are spoken by policy discourses and they take up positions constructed for them (Ball 1993). In this sense, HT interpret and translate policies in discursive circumstances "that they cannot, or perhaps do not, think about" (Ball 1993: 15). Central aspects of this presentation were developed in June 2012.