ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an institutional perspective, with teachers, students, and their parents conceived of as individual agents working within the constraints of their schooling context. Private schools, encouraged by conservative politicians and education policy think tanks, promote their institutions as a means to assist students in the increasingly competitive global job market. Such schools purport to offer a more enriched academic environment for students who excel within the public system, and a more tailored, individualized, and responsive atmosphere for students who struggle. Whereas critics of this neoliberal educational agenda argue that it leads to greater inequities and disparities in society, those in favor of privatization contend that such initiatives embody positive moves toward "innovation" in education. The interviews presented in this chapter provide the perspectives of four teachers on how the transnational connections of their students affect their professional practices and experiences in Toronto secondary schools.
