1 2717-1426 Ali Khorsandi Taskoh (Ph.D.) 148 Special Editorial Note: December Issue Abbaspour Abbas Khorsandi Taskoh Ali 1 12 2021 2 4 2 5 30 12 2021 30 12 2021 Editorial Note: December Issue 2021
149 Special A Critical Policy Analysis of the Ontario Equity and Inclusive Strategy: The Dynamics of Non-Performativity Rezai-Rashti Goli Zhang Bailing Abdmolaei Shirin Segeren Allison 1 12 2021 2 4 7 25 06 10 2021 23 12 2021 Institutions of higher education across Ontario are increasingly expressing their commitments to diversity and inclusion through the development of various initiatives, including the implementation of policies that elucidate institutional promises of equity. Few studies have examined such policy efforts in Canadian higher education, but we suggest that insights into school board policies can help to inform a critical analysis of equity policies in universities. This paper is part of a larger project that investigates the enactment of Ontario’s equity and inclusive education strategy across all school boards in the province. In 2009, the Ontario government mandated all 72 school boards to develop a policy on equity and inclusive education. Drawing on theories of critical policy analysis, this paper provides an analysis of the policies drafted by eight school boards in southwestern Ontario during 2019-2020. Our analysis suggests that these policies largely follow verbatim transcriptions of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s equity policy, and fail to construct localized policies that include procedures, enactment strategies, and evaluation methods that respond to existing challenges within each local context. Drawing on the work of Sara Ahmed (2012), and based on our review of policy documents, our analysis suggests that equity policies function to protect the institution and its image rather than challenging institutional inequities. Ultimately, we argue that these policies are “non-performative” and fail to address systemic inequities in the education system. The implications of this for higher education will be discussed. 150 Special Praxis-Poiesis: University–Community Relationship in an Epoch of Uncertainty and Disruption Moore Shannon A. Ciotti Sarah 1 12 2021 2 4 27 51 08 11 2021 24 12 2021 This paper presents findings from a critical ethnographic study that spanned 3 years from 2018 to 2021 in a Canadian post-secondary context and engaged transdisciplinary quantum feminisms as a conceptual framework. The purpose of the study was to formulate an ethical frame of reference that could facilitate exchanges within university–community partnerships. This study was ongoing as the global COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, a time frame that also paralleled heightened social and political awareness of racial disparity in Canada, the United States, and around the globe. These factors prompted the authors to expand the scope of the project midway to also consider the impact of COVID-19 on university–community partnerships. Given this, a main research question guides this study: What qualifies university–community partnerships as ethical? It is contextualized by a secondary question: What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university–community partnerships? Findings from this study led to the development of an ethical frame of reference for university–community partnerships entitled Praxis-Poiesis: Intentional Allyship, Reciprocal Relationships, and Transilience. 151 Special Towards an Acculturation Framework for K-12 Educators who Live and Work Abroad: The Role of Teacher Training Institutions Stroud Stasel Rebecca 1 12 2021 2 4 53 75 06 10 2021 26 12 2021 The demand for teachers overseas far outweighs the supply. International teachers become sojourners, or “between-society culture travelers” (Ward, et al., 2005, p. 6), but how do they manage to thrive once in their host country? Culture shock presents ubiquitous challenges for teachers. Policyscapes, metaphorical pools of diverse policies converging and sometimes clashing, are sure to add more challenges. This study explored factors affecting teacher thriving overseas. To date, research on expatriate teachers is scarce. Psychological acculturation theories have not covered teachers, which is significant because teachers guide students who are also acculturating. I developed a preliminary educator acculturation framework to inform my three-phase narrative qualitative study on educator acculturation, which explored the experiences of K-12 teachers and school leaders whose educator certification was completed at Anglo-Western institutions of higher education, and who were employed at international schools in Southeast and East Asia, and later sojourning school leaders. This article provides analyses of data from the study’s first phase. Findings include evidence of acculturative stress, as well as personal and professional growth from sojourning. Propositions from the study include beginning a scholarly dialogue about educator acculturation, developing an educator acculturation framework, and translating acculturation understandings to praxes by means of reflection and professional development. 152 Special Anti-Critical Race Theory Movement in Postsecondary Education: Faculty Expectations Confronting Emotionalities of Whiteness Liou Daniel D. Alvara Raquel 1 12 2021 2 4 77 98 24 12 2021 28 12 2021 This self-narrativization study investigates two university faculty members’ perceptions of their online classroom in the context of the anti-critical race theory (CRT) policies in the United States. After one semester of data collection and analysis, three thematic narratives emerged showing faculty perceptions of online students’ behaviors in a graduate course where anti-CRT sentiments had an influence on student learning: (1) Sense of white victimhood; (2) Race deflections, control, and emotional detour, and (3) Faculty response to students’ ideological echo chambers. Faculty perceptions suggest that these patterns of online learning were the consequence of emotionalities of whiteness, where White anti-CRT students actively resisted the course curriculum in an effort to default into an emotional state of race-neutrality, reinforcing the racial contract as the basis for their preparation as future PK-12 school principals. Leaders of postsecondary education must confront the emotionalities of whiteness. Inactions to stand firm on antiracism can embolden racism deniers to weaponize CRT to arbitrarily stop intellectual pursuits related to social injustices. 153 Special Planning Coherence Rationales: The Case of the Cameroonian Higher Education Programmes Development MBELLA MBAPPÉ Robert ZAMO AKONO Christian NDJEBAKAL SOUCK Emmanuel 1 12 2021 2 4 100 119 10 08 2021 08 12 2021 This study discusses programmes planning at the level of the Ministry of Higher Education in Cameroon. It aims at showing the coherence it implies in a context of mismatch between policies and facts. After having shown that coherence follows a rationale, theories used in the field of planning were explained: rationalist theory, incremental theory, contingency theory, ex-post rationalist theory, sensemaking-sensegiving theory, resource dependence theory and discursive theory. Based on this theoretical framework, seven coherence rationales have been highlighted: rationalist coherence, incremental coherence, contingent coherence, post-rationalist coherence, sense coherence, resource dependence coherence, and discursive coherence. Relying on practice-based theorizing methodology, this study used documents as data. The analysis reveals the dominance of the rationalist coherence rationale. This result expresses organization rigidity, which does not allow sufficient interaction with its environment. 154 Special A Case Study of Teacher Candidates’ Experiences: Writing the Pilot Math Proficiency Test in Ontario, Canada Eizadirad Ardavan Holm Jennifer Sider Steve 1 12 2021 2 4 121 139 29 11 2021 25 12 2021 The focus of this article is on the introduction, justification, and enactment of the Mathematics Proficiency Test (MPT) by the provincial government in Ontario, Canada as a mandatory certification requirement for newly certified teachers. This article contextualizes the socio-political factors leading to the enactment of a MPT for newly certified teachers, developed and administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), which was ostensibly to mitigate the trend of declining math scores in elementary schools. It then shifts to examine the experiences of the first cohort of teacher candidates from a Canadian university who participated in writing the pilot MPT in February and March of 2020. Data was collected via survey responses administered through Qualtrics software. Survey invitations were sent to all teacher candidates who graduated in 2020 or 2021 with 50 of the 130 eligible teacher candidates responding. A thematic analysis of survey responses was conducted to discuss emerging findings about teacher candidates’ experiences before, the day of, and after writing the MPT as a case study. On December 17, 2021 the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled the MPT unconstitutional due to having an adverse impact on entry to the teaching profession for racialized teacher candidates. 155 Special The Impact of Covid-19 on Organizational Culture: Sultan Qaboos University Case Study AL-Omari Aieman Ahmad Al’Abri Khalaf Marhoun 1 12 2021 2 4 141 153 29 11 2021 22 12 2021 The present study aimed to explore the impact on working culture due to pandemic caused by Covid-19, and whether there were statistically significant sex and experience differences in Sultan Qaboos University staff perceptions. The current study used a questionnaire that applied to a sample consist of 156 staff, of whom 100 were males, and 56 were females. The results of the questionnaire indicated that staff perception the organizational culture during covid-19 pandemic with moderate level. According to sex variable, (13) items of organizational culture during covid-19 pandemic had significant differences from staff perceptions on organizational culture during covid-19 pandemic referred to male, while (3) items had no significant differences. Regarding to staff experience, five of 16 items were significantly differences according to staff experience. 156 Special Assessing the Role of International Offices in Indian and European Universities: Drivers or Facilitators Kirloskar Pranjali Inamdar Neeta 1 12 2021 2 4 155 168 13 12 2021 23 12 2021 The international higher education space is characterized by the need felt by higher education institutions to invest in international cooperation. To compete globally, the universities strive to formulate pro-active, long-term, and sustainable internationalization strategies. Considering the direction that strategic planning at the institutional level may offer, the university management and staff in turn may look for resources and personnel to execute the internationalization vision. The role of the international office, in this regard, is instrumental in facilitating the implementation of international activities at the university.  The extent to which international offices are involved in the decision-making of internationalization may be shaped by the organizational culture and management at the university. This paper largely explores if international offices play a role of a mediator or driver for international collaborations at the university. An in-depth study was conducted in two universities in India and Europe, to understand the nuances of the functioning of international offices in two diverse contexts. The method of participant observation was employed and researchers further analyzed the field notes. The findings of the study revealed that though both the international offices were involved in similar tasks, they differed concerning the organizational structures and about decision-making on internationalization. 157 Special Coordinating “Internationalization at Home” Hoff Joseph G. 1 12 2021 2 4 170 173 14 12 2021 25 12 2021 Highlights     Discussion on the issues surrounding the coordination of “Internationalization at Home”. A focus on how all of the internationalization pieces fit into a “Global Learning Ecosystem”. Providing the framework for assessment of internationalization learning outcomes.   158 Special Student Affairs and Services in Higher Education: Emerging from the 19th and 20th Centuries to the Present Ludeman Roger B. 1 12 2021 2 4 175 178 01 12 2021 25 12 2021 Highlights     Student Affairs and Services (SAS) in tertiary education. Changes in the purpose of higher education from education of the elite to education of all who are qualified, regardless of one’s lot in life. This article follows that progression and gives the reader an idea of what the SAS field does and how it is essential to student learning and success both as students and as graduates. By providing essential services to students, they are enabled to progress through the maize of higher education. By offering personal development programs that complement the more traditional classroom learning experiences, students are encouraged to grow and develop as human beings ready to assume roles as citizens in their ever changing communities and in settings around the world.   159 Special International Education Leadership During COVID-19: An Interview with Dr. Wing-kai To To Wing-kai 1 12 2021 2 4 180 188 07 12 2021 21 12 2021 Interview with Dr. Wing-kai To 160 Special Book Review: Universities in the Knowledge Society: The Nexus of National Systems of Innovation and Higher Education Jefferson Alison Elizabeth 1 12 2021 2 4 190 195 28 11 2021 25 12 2021 Author: Timo Aarrevaara, Martin Finkelstein, Glen A. Jones, & Jisun Jung (Eds.) Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: Switzerland Year of Publication: 2021 ISBN: 978-3-030-76578-1 Pages: IX-434