A Decade of Promises: Discourses on Twenty-first-Century Schools in Library Policy and Research

Prior to the mid-1970s, policy simply meant planning. Over time, policy studies have shifted from predominantly empirical approaches to more diverse methods emanating from postmodern and critical perspectives. More recently, the themes of equity, school choice, and social background (rather than meritocracy) have mixed with current discourses of centralization/decentralization, diversity/uniformity, and curriculum standardization in policy debate. The knowledge base of information technologies and resources held by school librarians can play a positive role in establishing successful policy frameworks for technology planning and implementation at school and district levels.