Pathways of pathology and promise in alternative education

This dissertation investigates the ways that pathologization, deficit model thinking, and negative school labels (i.e., learning disabled, at-risk, problem behaviour) are given institutional life within the relationships between students, staff, administrators, and policy makers at various levels of the alternative education hierarchy in British Columbia, Canada. The research design is a narrative inquiry into a specific case, and methods employed to gather the interwoven stories of the case include interviews, program observation, document collection, and focus groups. Data was analyzed using a three-tiered process of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. Findings consist of a series of paradoxes in relationships operating on multiple levels of the alternative education system: between students and staff at an alternative program, and within the language and labels used by professionals working in managerial/administrative positions at the high school, alternative program, local school board, and provincial ministry of education. Educational professionals in the province are seen to accept and resist processes of youth marginalization, such as deficit model thinking and pathologization, within the alternative education system. These contradictions, suggested by Ivan Illich to be inherent to large, modern social institutions, imply deeper ideological problems within the educational endeavour and the society at large. Implications for the educational institution, educators and administrators, students, and alternative programs are discussed in the final chapter, along with suggestions for future research and conclusions about ‘promise’ for alternative education, educational professionals, and students.