Accidental paradiplomats? The curious case of Ontario school board budgets and Canadian soft power projection

From the earliest studies of soft power in International Relations, the importance of educational exchanges has been well-established. Studies of international education in the context of Canadian soft power often draw on cases from the higher education sector. This article argues that greater attention should be paid to the K-12 level, especially as budgetary pressures in Ontario's education system are leading school boards to rapidly expand their international student recruitment efforts. Although this is not an example of intentional soft power projection, it nevertheless represents an important reminder that subnational actors may accidentally become paradiplomats whose actions have consequences on the international level. Further, this case reveals the importance of paying attention to actors typically overlooked by IR scholarship. Drawing on Joseph Nye's theory of soft power and in conversation with prior research on international education as a mechanism of soft power projection, this article traces the thread between budgetary pressures in Ontario school boards and the broader context of soft power projection.

What's in a Name? Re-Branding and Re-Framing School Health Education to School Boards and Legislators as Education for Health Literacy-A Commentary

BACKGROUND

Branding involves "labeling" (for identification) and "meaning" (for understanding) to a product, service, person, idea, or other entity. We are familiar with "brands" of soft drinks, automobiles, mobile phones, soups, cigarettes, and sports teams, and some brands have greater "market share" than others.

METHODS

In this commentary, we review some of the ways that school health has been branded over the past 50+ years.

RESULTS

The brand we know as school health education has failed to compete successfully with other school subject areas (eg, the so-called STEM subjects) for the attention of school board members, administrators, legislators, and other policymakers. Perhaps more importantly, school health education advocates have lost the market share game to subject areas that school board members and legislators see as ones with better return on investment, at least politically speaking. In short, we have failed to make the sale.

CONCLUSION

An alternative is to re-brand and re-frame school health education as education for health literacy. Literacy as a brand commands the attention of education gatekeepers, and may be more strongly related conceptually to what gatekeepers see as education-centric programs deserving of funding. Adopting a marketing mindset may elevate education for health literacy to a place where key stakeholders are more likely to "purchase" it as a relevant school "product."