Seminar 12
Date: 27th May, 2014
Time: 4 - 5.15pm
Venue: Building 24, Copland, Room 1171, LJ Hume Centre

Speaker: Jenn Wallner is an assistant professor of public policy in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa.  A political scientist studying education and fiscal federalism from a comparative and historical perspective, she has published a book (Learning to School: Federalism and Public Schooling in Canada, University of Toronto Press, 2014), co-edited two volumes, written 8 book chapters, and has published articles in peer-reviewed journals including Comparative Political Studies, Publius, Canadian Journal of Political Science, and Policy Studies Journal. Her latest project examines the evolution of Australian, Canadian, and American education. jennifer.wallner@uottawa.ca
@wallprof

Paper Title:  Unraveling Substate Policy Collaboration: Canadian Schooling Reforms in the 1990s.

Paper Abstract:  In the 1990s, a wave of reform swept across the Canadian provincial elementary and secondary education systems that swept across virtually every aspect of the education policy sector. It was the initiatives in curriculum, however, that proved to be particularly intriguing. For the first time in their history, the provinces attempted to formally coordinate in the development of elementary and secondary subject materials. These efforts unfurled in three different initiatives with three different outcomes: full harmonization, sustained coordination, and limited coordination. This presentation will answer two questions: What factors encouraged the provinces to craft common standards and attempt harmonization? Why did the results vary so dramatically? Answering these questions sheds new light on the drivers and dynamics of substate policy activity in federations.