FEMINIST DILEMMAS - AN AUSTRALIAN CASE-STUDY OF A WHOLE-SCHOOL POLICYAPPROACH TO GENDER REFORM

Australia is unique for the level of state intervention and the extent of school-based activity by feminist teachers in gender reform policy initiatives, the implementation of gender reforms has been partial, f ragmented, and generally 'add-on'. By contrast, this is a case study o f the integration of gender reform as a whole-school approach. The stu dy shows that assumptions about the nature of policy developments are as important as the substantive nature of policy, as are the ways in w hich feminist teachers grapple with dilemmas emerging out of their pro fessional and personal lives. We present a feminist poststructural rea ding of the policy process as an alternative (and we believe better) w ay of understanding what happens to policy in schools-how, why, and wi th what effect.