The New CAAT: (Dis)illusions of Freedom and the New College Charter in Ontario

Abstract

In 2002 a new Ontario college charter signaled a new era for higher education in Ontario. The charter was presumed to usher in a new way of doing higher education, one that provided greater freedom for Ontario colleges and presumably greater access for communities to higher education. Coupled with the Post-Secondary Choice and Excellence Act of 2000, which provided colleges the opportunity to offer degrees, the colleges appeared well set for the freedom they sought. With the decentralization of approval for curriculum comes an appearance of greater autonomy and authority at the local level; however, with steering mechanisms of funding, performance indicators, and discourses of the marketplace, globalization and performativity permeating curriculum processes, “freedom” remains strongly tempered. This paper uses Foucauldian and critical discourse analysis as a means of considering power and higher education in Ontario, and the limitations and opportunities for “freedom” within our existing discourses.