Education policy, in practice so singularly an experienced phenomenon, may be irreconcilable to single forms of academic interpretation. The questions and possibilities raised by this proposition animate the core of this study. Why, given the volume of noise generated by the multiplicity of agents and agencies with critical interests in education policy and practice, do some voices dominate while others are unheard or silent? What might this mean for those being educated and for art and design education? Responses, rather than being articulated as a series of arguments in a traditional research format, are presented as a series of imagined texts comprising dialogues and monologues. The texts fuse a wide range of sources into a series of performed analyses of education policy and creative practice. Primary, secondary and archival sources bring together the voices of: artists; designers; other creative practitioners; educators; researchers; politicians; policy makers; national agencies; social theorists; and art and design undergraduates who were part of a three-year longitudinal field study. The theoretical and methodological formations underpinning the analysis are woven into the content and form of the texts themselves. Normal citation conventions are suspended until after a performance or reading, in order to aid unfettered interpretation. This study, undertaken over six years, draws on creative arts practice and dramaturgy to formulate alternative platforms for the articulation of critical discourses on education policy and creative development. Volume One contains a series of re-constructed monologues and imagined dialogues created to be intelligible to those inside and outside academia. Collectively they represent a series of enactments of the impact of policy on the everyday lives and creative development of individual art and design students. Readers are politely invited to read all of Volume One before reading Volume Two. The temporal separation of text from source provides a space for those who are willing to reflect on the forces that might be at play when reading (or writing) texts such as these.

This thesis uses the personal narratives of six long-serving former Tutor Organisers to explore the impact of the state's educational policy on the WEA and its special educational mission. Although this historic mission has changed many times since its creation in 1903, its core values still maintain a commitment to provide educational opportunities to those who need them most and through socially purposeful adult education, achieve, 'a better world, just, equal and democratic' (WEA, 2013a). These rich biographical accounts - which span over 20 years - offer fascinating insights into the identities and practices of some of the WEA’s key agents, and in doing so, they reveal much about the organisational identity itself, and how over time and under certain conditions, these identities have been subject to change. Using Archer’s theory of human agency to analyse the narratives, a meta-narrative emerges to illustrate the importance of the structure/agency relationship between the WEA and its agents: a relationship which appears to have altered since the WEA's reorganisation in 2004. Based on a critical realist approach which appreciates the formation of identity over a lengthy timeframe, the findings of this study reveal that the WEA's identity has always been a contested site of struggle, and subject to powerful internal and external influences that result in an organisation that is not so much in crisis, as in contradiction. The evidence also suggests that the recalibration of the Association’s structure/agency relationship following the radical restructure of 2004 may be compromising its agents' practices and the WEA’s distinctive identity.

Orientador : Prof. Dr. Vera Karam de Chueiri / Anexo Cd-rom com entrevista com Isaac Pipano e Clarissa Nanchery e Patrícia Barcellos / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciencias Sociais Aplicadas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Políticas Públicas. Defesa : 29/01/2016 / Inclui referências: f.96-101 / Resumo: A implementação da política pública do Plano Nacional de Educação em Direitos Humanos (PNEDH) é analisada a partir da primeira edição do projeto inventar com a diferença, em 2014, ocorrida em escolas públicas de todos os estados brasileiros e o distrito federal. No primeiro capítulo, compreende-se um dos sentidos dos direitos humanos e da educação em direitos humanos. No segundo capítulo, a educação em direitos humanos é abordada como política pública. São expostos o conceito de políticas públicas e os documentos internacionais e nacionais que compõe a política. No terceiro capítulo, apresenta-se a concepção, a descrição e a análise do projeto. A concepção traz a interseção entre cinema, escola e direitos humanos. A descrição expõe a estrutura do projeto. A análise se dá a partir da comparação entre a realização do projeto e as previsões do PNEDH. Palavras-chave: direitos humanos, educação, plano nacional de educação em direitos humanos, política pública, projeto inventar com a diferença / Abstract: The National Plan on Human Rights Education (PNEDH) public policy implementation is analyzed from the first edition of "Projeto Inventar com a Diferença" in 2014, held at all brazilian states and the federal district public schools. The first chapter is about the meaning of human rights and human rights education. In the second chapter, human rights education is presented as a public policy. The concept of international and national documents that composes this politic are exposed. In the third chapter, the conception, the description and the project analysis are presented. The conception brings the intersection between cinema, school and human rights. The description exposes the project structure. Analysis comes from comparison between the project performance and forecasts of PNEDH. Key words: human rights, education, human rights education plan, public policy

Contemporary discourse in the related fields of education and development are increasingly dominated by notions of the knowledge economy, global competition, market compatibility, privatisation, performativity and entrepreunership. These dominant notions or imaginaries, proliferating through discourse across the world, impact on how we think about education and development and how thoughts are materialised in our everyday actions. Drawing on a Foucauldian approach to discourse analysis, this thesis problematises these inconspicuous, taken-for-granted notions, to make them visible and tangible, and to interrogate their role as mechanisms of discourse formation. It traces how such notions are manifested through the rhetorics, structures and trajectories of some instances of ‘education for development’. It works towards a better understanding of how the apparent post-WW2 neoliberal consensus has framed, transmitted and ratified these globalised and globalising discourses, and changed the dynamics of our social construction as citizens of a [post]modern globalised world, through the constitutive power of governmentality. Recent developments in ICT and digital education technologies have contributed to transfers or mobility of global education policies and a widening technologisation of educational systems. The thesis argues that these changes have been fuelled by transnational development programmes, such as Official Development Assistance funding, public-private partnership funding, and large scale philanthropy - under the rubric of bridging the digital divide. It further argues that these changes at the level of discourse are formed and sustained through relations of knowledge and power, which serve to legitimate the discourse and, in a kind of strategic game, make its dominant imaginaries appear more real. International policy makers, researchers and consultants are positioned at the centre of production and reproduction of the dominant discourse/s, and the consequent formation of policy and governance. The empirical data for this study comprises interviews with 51 such global knowledge workers, together with the texts of some key national and transnational policy documents. The study shows how these actors have themselves been constructed as subjects in the process of educational globalisation, and how the logic of the knowledge economy has been objectified and naturalised through this technology of the self.

What is social democracy in the Latin American and what has been its impact on public policy. I argue that it is a government's origins and its use of the state and related institutions that shape the nature and content of social democracy. To illustrate this, three cases using governments and their approach to educational policy to 2007 are presented: the Concertacion (since 1990) in Chile and the Cardoso (1995-2002) and Lula (since 2003) governments in Brazil. The first part situates social democracy within the Latin American context. First, social democracy is defined ideologically and sociologically in relation to the wider Left-Right divide. Second, social democracy is distinguished between two models: the Third Way (which is more tolerant of inequality resulting from difference, the market and less associated with class concerns) and the Participatory Left (which has deeper roots in socialist ideology, state intervention and social movements). The section establishes that despite differences between each. Third Way and Participatory Left social democrats adopt elite-based policymaking in government. The second part analyses the impact of Third Way and Participatory Left social democracy on public (education) policy. The findings reveal broadly similar policy approaches, including a broader role for the state, curricular reform within the prevailing economic/education paradigm; increased (targeted) public spending; extensive use of evaluation/assessment mechanisms; and adoption of more representative means of participation with (organised) stakeholders. At the same time, policy content and relations with particular stakeholders (i.e. private interests, teachers and students) was also shaped by the institutional constraints and historical contexts faced by each government.

In the early 1990s, the Conservative Government made grant maintained schools the flagship of their education policy, while the Labour Party pledged to abolish them if elected to power. However, during the run-up to the 1997 general election, it was evident that New Labour's attitude towards GM schools was changing. This was confirmed in the 1997 Labour Government's first White Paper on education which proposed that, within a new framework for all maintained schools in England and Wales, opted out schools would have the option of becoming 'foundation' schools, a category that was closely aligned to GM status. The research reported here is concerned with the views and perceptions of GM headteachers and chairs of governors about the future of their schools during the period following the election of a Labour Government. Thus, it documents the final chapter in the GM story. The data were generated through twelve interviews with the headteacher and chair of governor of six GM schools and a questionnaire survey using the same categories of informants in 126 schools. The findings suggest that, while there were some concerns about the effects of the changes on respondents' individual schools, these managers and governors generally adopted a pragmatic attitude to New Labour's education policy. In the final chapter, attempts are made to move beyond the data and develop a theory to describe the approach adopted at both government and school level. In doing this, it is suggested that the New Labour's strategy in respect of GM schools represents an example of its 'Third Way' politics, an approach that is not based on a particular ideology but rather adopts a pluralist, pragmatic outlook in its attempt to modernise the notion of government at the end of the 20th century.

This investigation adds to the research base by focusing on the impact of widening participation education policies that are designed to deliver social mobility over the period 2001 to 2010 at a college within the sixth form college sector. The methodology is based on the case study practice set out by Yin (1994). The research is a micro study using quantitative techniques of the effects of social inclusion policy on one college, considering the changes in various student inputs and outcomes and whether the investment was efficient and effective, using the educational production function as its theoretical basis. The creation of a college and student level database which includes a consistent measure of socio-economic background and real expenditure per student over a 10 year period has added to understanding by allowing a coherent analysis of the changes that took place; institutions need to be aware of definition changes and the importance of using consistent measures when evaluating developments over time. Perhaps the clearest signal that widening participation educational policies have not been delivered is that, although the College has been successful in attracting a greater number of less advantaged students, it has not been successful in increasing the percentage of less advantaged students in the overall cohort if the consistent measure of socio-economic background is used. The findings on progressing to higher education, although mixed, are more positive, but there is no evidence that funding has had a positive effect, which adds support to the findings elsewhere in the literature for other sectors of a lack of a value for money for such policies. The finding that Russell Group participation fell considerably for all groups of students over the period, even those students with high prior achievement, leads this research to question whether policy intervention in the form of top-down directives, with the provision of additional finance, is an efficient and effective use of resources. It may be more appropriate to direct resources targeted at social mobility to programmes that: increase parental engagement, develop the role of ‘supportive adult’ in colleges and generally assist in breaking down perceived or actual social barriers. In terms of professional development, the analysis suggested careful attention was necessary in the use of appropriate statistics: there were problems with Chi-square if the concern was with trends, but simple time series regression, although having limitations, may be more useful as a quick and easily conducted tool for management assessment of performance in some situations. Multiple regression, although more complicated, gave a detailed examination that may produce some useful management information, with the simpler linear probability model (LPM) often, but not always, preferable to logistic regression, given its easier presentation to non-specialist audiences.

This research project is a study of organisational decision-making in higher education. It attempted to address three main topics. The first, and the major concern, was a multiple case study of how two English polytechnics dealt during 1982 and 1983 with the first national planning exercise of the National Advisory Body for Local Authority Higher Education. This exercise was intended to determine the overall numbers of students in the local authority sector in 1984-85 and their distribution between institutions, programme areas, levels of study and modes of attendance. The study assessed the applicability of models in the description and explanation of the colleges' decision making processes. It also examined the ways in which the eventual policy outturn was implemented. It was therefore a study of organisational decision-making and policy implementation in the context of a new, national policy initiative which placed the colleges under stress. The second topic was an analysis of the context of the organisational study and provided a description and interpretation of the 1984-85 planning exercise. This assumed that the policy development could only be studied from subjective ideological perspectives on the distribution of power in society and the role of education within those perspectives. The third topic, which it was only possible to touch upon, was to explore the link between the analysis of organisational decision-making and theories of societal power distribution. The main conclusion was that there was no single model of organisational decision-making which provided a satisfactory explanation of the decision-making processes. Rather, a number of models are appropriate to describe different stages of a complex process. The research identified the political model of organisational decision-making and the pluralist model of power distribution as having particular relevance for these case studies.

This thesis examines the development of Anglesey’s pioneering scheme of comprehensive education between 1935 and 1974. It scrutinises the contributing factors that permitted Anglesey to become the first local authority to introduce a fully comprehensive system of secondary education in 1953. The political process behind educational developments is analysed, with particular focus on the relationship between local and central government. Due to the island’s prominent role as a pioneer of comprehensive schooling, this local case study is also positioned within the wider educational context of the time. The broadly chronological approach of the study shows the Local Education Authority’s (LEA) early support of multilateralism, and its successful resistance to the desires of the Board of Education (BoE) throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s. The implementation of the pioneering scheme in 1953 demonstrated continuity rather than change. It is emphasised that the exceptional circumstances which existed on Anglesey was the predominant reason why such an experimental scheme was allowed to go ahead. The early introduction of a comprehensive system guaranteed Anglesey a prominent place within the broader educational debate during the 1950s and 1960s. The thesis evaluates the significant interest and scrutiny the education system engendered, and the interrelationship between local developments and the wider educational debate. This work reveals how issues were emerging in Anglesey’s comprehensive schools during the latter half of the 1960s and the early 1970s. It analyses how Anglesey’s comprehensive scheme was becoming a cause for concern locally, at the very time that central government expressed its official support for comprehensive schools. Paradoxically, the LEA’s reservations also coincided with Anglesey’s case being used in the national press to justify and strengthen comprehensive reform, showing the discrepancy between the focus of the national debate and the reality of comprehensive schooling in Britain at this time.

This research investigates the reasons why there is so little public expenditure on education in Peru at a time when the economy has been growing very rapidly. Although different possible causes have been identified, the study focuses on the role played by Peru´s rising middle class (RMC) with its increasing opting out of state services in education as a complementary hypothesis. Drawing on the multilevel explanatory scheme proposed by Bourdieu, who makes explicit the connections between system properties, the nature of habituated dispositions to act held by social members, and the effective practices they adopt (Nash 2010), the study explores how the disposition (habitus) to assume individual responsibility in the provision of education services has been formed in a sample of RMC families that have chosen private schools for their children. I argue that the structures of RMC life, specifically their historical relationship with the Peruvian state characterized by its weak and exclusionary practices, the political and economic neoliberalism that has prevailed in the last decade, has influenced the adoption of the RMC´s rejection of state education through the incorporation of a dominant „common sense‟ in relation to the withdrawal of the state as guarantor of education provision, and this social group‟s view of itself as self-enterprising citizens. The research found that the assumption of this RMC position has also been strongly influenced by the rapid transformation of this rising sector characterized by upward social mobility, where the preference for private schools strengthens their position within a highly segmented social hierarchy. A diverse range of conceptual tools are utilised mainly from Bourdieu´s theoretical framework, with habitus as the central explanatory concept and its interaction with the concepts of capital and field, for a better understanding of school choice and class formation processes. Likewise, the research explores the potential of the Foucauldian approach to structuring subjectivities, expressed in his concept of governmentality, to explain the effect of the prevalence of a neo-liberal discourse in the construction of habitus. The study is qualitative using discussion groups and in-depth interviews with a sample of Peruvian RMC parents in order to explore the habitus formation process. An intergenerational perspective that takes into account the narratives of educational trajectories of RMC grandparents, parents and children offers a unique opportunity for a dynamic study of the process of structuring and re-structuring of habitus for education provision that shows relative malleability throughout this group‟s trajectory. In turn, the use of a comparative approach regarding two fractions of the rising group allows us to arrive at an understanding of the field as a whole.