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This paper explores how advocates in Ontario have resisted neoliberal restructuring in education since the 2018 general election, which marked an intensification of market-oriented reforms. Shaped by the insights of 23 participants, this paper shows how resistance has been accessed through multiple entry points and has been spatially heterogeneous, replete with internal contradiction. It also highlights the cost of resistance for participants whose relationship to systems engender oppression and harm. Broadly, this paper calls for vulnerable reflection on fantasies of a "good life" shaped by a normative neoliberal order that interferes with collective flourishing. Through emergent strategy, which aligns action with a vision for social justice, this paper values the non-linear and manifold ways individuals are embedded in systems; the fractal nature of change, which takes place at all scales; and a love ethic, which sustains relational the spiritual growth necessary for solidarity.

We use the metaphor of building a plane while flying to describe the enactment of educational policies by teachers during COVID-19 and the impact of these policies on their ability to meet the needs of their students. Drawing from a series of three one-hour focus groups with seven teachers in Alberta, we apply critical policy analysis to describe the transition of public schools to pandemic education, especially in urban centers. This paper will begin by reviewing the dynamic policy context of school closures and reentry strategies and proceed to outline the diverse ways school boards interpreted guidelines from the Ministry of Education. We discuss the frustration with and variation of policy enactment during the pandemic, especially with respect to priorities and barriers to addressing student wellbeing and access to educational and social supports. Finally, we describe the consequences of teaching through crisis as it emerges in a political context that has failed to respond to educator’s professional needs.