Education Policy: Process, Themes and Impact

Education policy is high on the agenda of governments across the world. Global pressures focus increasing attention on the outcomes of education policy and on their implications for economic prosperity and social citizenship. The experience of each individual learner is therefore decisively shaped by the wider policy environment. However, there is often an underdeveloped understanding of how education policy is formed, what drives it and how it impacts on schools and colleges. This book explicitly makes these connections and links these to the wider challenges of educational leadership in a contemporary context. Education Policy: Processes, Themes and Impacts is divided into three sections and explores and links three key aspects of policy: "Policy and Education" focuses on the development of policy at the level of both the nation state and the individual institution. "Themes in Educational Policy" explores the forces that shape policy with a particular emphasis onthe themes of human capital theory, citizenship and social justice and accountability. "The Impact of Educational Policy" illustrates how policy develops in practice thorugh three research-based case-studies, which highlight the application of policy in a range of situations from the development of school based policies in multi-ethnic communities to the formulation and implementation of strategic policy and planning in international contexts. The book develops a powerful framework for policy analysis and seeks to apply this to the formulation and implementation of policy in a range of international settings. In so doing the authors make an important connection between theoretical frameworks of policy analysis and the need to anchor these within an evidence base that is grounded in empirical research. Education Policy: Processes, Themes and Impacts is part of the Leadership for Learning series that addresses contemporary and major themes within Educational Leadership andManagement, including: Policy, Leadership, Human Resource Management, External Relations and Marketing, Learning and Teaching, and Accountability and Quality. The series aims to provide a valuable resource for students, practitioners, middle managers and educational leaders in all sectors, both in the UK and internationally, who are engaged on masters and doctoral degrees, or undertaking leadership training and preparation programmes.