Commercial triage in public schooling: COVID-19, autonomy and ‘within system’ inequality

Abstract

The importance of commercial products increased in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as leaders grappled with school closures. Pre-COVID principals viewed their schools as mainly procuring commercial services for administrative support and teacher professional development. After school closures, principals came to emphasise commercialisation as technological infrastructure, online learning platforms, video conferencing software and/or digital tools for community engagement. This shift was borne out of necessity as principals found themselves having to make ‘snap decisions’ as to the products that could best support their school communities. This is a specific form of ‘triaging’ as the pandemic required leaders with pedagogical and curricular expertise to make technical decisions. In systems where increasing autonomy has been offset by decreasing central support, the concern is that issues of access and utility of commercial products can be pernicious in rewarding the privileged and effectively punishing the least advantaged within public systems.