NOTIONS OF LITERACY IN THE K–12 SCHOOL SYSTEM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA EDUCATION SINCE 2002: A CONTESTED TERRAIN

Oct 15, 2026

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Developing literacy competencies has become central to British Columbia’s K–12 educational policy, emphasizing province-wide assessment and school accountability tied to performance indicators. Using critical policy analysis of provincial and school district documents and semi-structured interviews with senior officials, district administrators, and literacy coordinators, the study examines how accountability and assessment discourses frame literacy conceptually and practically. The analysis argues for redefining literacy beyond technical skills toward capabilities for sociocultural and political change.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages38

Reading Time1 h 36 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Methodology

Data Sources and Coding Approach

NOTIONS OF LITERACY IN THE K–12 SCHOOL SYSTEM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA EDUCATION SINCE 2002: A CONTESTED TERRAIN Jeff Park, University of Saskatchewan, and Gerald Fallon, University of British Columbia Developing literacy competencies has become a central component of educational policy in British Columbia (BC), with policies calling for province-wide assessment and school accountability. Based on the critical policy analysis (Blaikie & Soussan, 2000) of provincial and school district documents, complemented by semi-structured interviews of senior government officials, district-based administrators, and literacy coordinators, this article discusses how the synergistic effect of the policy discourses of accountability and assessment framed the ways of thinking, conceptually and practically, about literacy mainly in terms of its instrumental value in holding public schools accountable to performance indicators. The article concludes by discussing the necessity of redefining literacy to challenge the view of literacy as a mere set of technical and human skills for economic growth to shift the dialogue toward policy alternatives that view literacy as set of capabilities for sociocultural and political change. Introduction Across Canada, literacy has become a social and political focus. It is now a central component of provincial government educational policy. Canadian initiatives connect on a national level with the Pan Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP), and on an international level with the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) . British Columbia’s Literacy for the 21st Century (ReadNow BC, 2011) reflects the recent spate of provincial initiatives to develop literacy competencies. In addition, literacy initiatives connect with an overarching framework of assessment and accountability. The results of these large-scale assessments in reading and writing are used to compare achievement at the provincial, national, and international levels and to determine how well individual schools are meeting the objectives set in their accountability plans. Yet literacy is a complex and contested concept that is not always fully acknowledged in policy documents. Street (1984, 1993, 1995) identified two competing models of literacy: autonomous and ideological. The autonomous model conceptualizes “literacy in technical terms, treating it as independent of social context”(Street, 1993, p. 5) . Seen from this perspective, reading and writing become a set of neutral skills for decoding and encoding printed text. The ideological model of literacy acknowledges the complexity of the social context of literacy, and is “inextricably linked to cultural and power structures in society”(p. 7) , including political and economic influences. However, all models of literacy are basically ideological, and are attributed different societal purposes in policy discourses. For this reason, various interpretations of literacy have been integrated into policy discourses: “viewing literacy as a simple process of acquiring basic cognitive skills, to using these skills in ways that contribute to socio-economic development, to developing the capacity for social awareness and critical reflection as a basis for personal and social change”(UNESCO, 2005, p. 147) . As researchers, we wish to gain a comprehensive understanding of how and for what purposes literacy issues came to be at the forefront of the provincial policy agenda in British Columbia, and how these issues reflect the wider agenda to hold public schools accountable to performance indicators. This policy study is warranted because educators must investigate these questions: Does a credible argument for public school systems to shift to policy alternatives include a vision of the purposes of literacy to reduce literacy solely to its instrumental dimensions, focusing mainly on basic skills and job preparation? Are there other perspectives of literacy that offer wider soci

FAQs

How does the study explain the role of assessment and accountability in shaping literacy in British Columbia?

It shows that accountability and assessment discourses frame literacy mainly through its instrumental value for holding public schools accountable to performance indicators.

What competing models of literacy does the article discuss?

It compares the autonomous model, which treats literacy as technical skills independent of social context, with the ideological model, which links literacy to cultural and power structures.

What conclusion does the article reach about redefining literacy?

It argues that literacy should be redefined to challenge the view of literacy as only technical and economically driven skills, shifting policy dialogue toward sociocultural and political change.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Muffet