Résumés
Abstract
Students are experiencing high levels of stress and mental health distress and are at greater risk of suicide, resulting in calls to provide appropriate mental health supports in schools. In response, provincial governments are outsourcing K–12 mental health supports to private organizations (both non- and for-profit). Through a review of Manitoba education documents, we traced over 50 private organizations recommended by the provincial government and over $8.9 million of public money spent on these programs. Situated within the broader neo-liberal trend of the privatization of public education, we then used a critical policy analysis approach to analyze these programs’ content, explicating the ways in which these outsourced programs endorse the deprofessionalization of the teacher and the self-responsibilization of students while enlisting problematic content. We argue that outsourcing ultimately undermines education as a public good and recommend holding governments accountable, developing research-informed mental health supports, and implementing a critical assessment process when considering outsourcing to private organizations.
Keywords:
- outsourcing,
- privatization,
- public education,
- public good,
- mental health
Résumé
Dans un contexte où les élèves ressentent des niveaux élevés de stress et de la détresse psychologique, augmentant ainsi le risque de suicide, des appels ont été lancés afin de fournir un soutien adéquat en matière de santé mentale dans les écoles. En réponse, les gouvernements provinciaux confient les services de soutien en santé mentale destinés aux élèves de la maternelle à la 12ᵉ année à des organisations privées (à but lucratif ou non). À travers une analyse des documents éducatifs du Manitoba, nous avons repéré plus de 50 organisations privées recommandées par le gouvernement et plus de 8,9 millions de dollars alloués à ces programmes provenant des fonds publics. S’inscrivant dans la tendance néolibérale plus large de la privatisation de l’éducation publique, une analyse critique des politiques a permis d’évaluer le contenu de ces programmes externes, et d’expliquer la manière dont ils favorisent la déprofessionnalisation des enseignants et la responsabilisation individuelle des élèves, tout en intégrant des contenus problématiques. Les auteures soutiennent que l’externalisation compromet ultimement l’éducation en tant que bien public, et recommandent de responsabiliser les gouvernements, de mettre en place des mesures de soutien en santé mentale fondées sur la recherche et d’établir un processus d’évaluation critique des programmes en cas d’externalisation vers des organisations privées.
Mots-clés :
- externalisation,
- privatisation,
- éducation publique,
- bien public,
- santé mentale
Parties annexes
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