This article begins from the assumption that educational policy and practice are the result of hegemonic struggles and that these struggles are particularly intense during periods of economic change. The study therefore examines the positions of various educational "stakeholders" with respect to educational reform in Ontario, Canada, during two periods of capitalist crisis. The first period, in the late 1800s, involved efforts to establish industrial education programs in Ontario public schools. The second period, from approximately 1970 until the present, involves more recent business-led reform activities. The analysis compares the mobilizing campaigns and rhetoric of business groups, as well as the response of other educational stakeholders, and suggests implications for interventions into policy-making processes.
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