Jenny Ozga

Governing education through data in England: from regulation to self‐evaluation

This paper explores the relationship between changing forms of the governance of education and the growth and uses of data in the context of England – a context that can be described as the most ‘advanced’ in Europe in terms of data production and use. The paper links the shifting relations between the central department of education (variously known between the 1980s and the time of writing as the Department of Education and Science [DES], Department for Education and Skills [DfES] and the Department for Children, Schools and Families [DCSF]), the local education authorities and the schools to the growth and development of data‐based systems of inspection and performance management, and suggests that the massive growth of data has unbalanced the relations of governing and created highly centralised system steering. Recent attempts to ‘rebalance’ steering through ‘intelligent accountability’ invoke network principles and self‐regulation through self‐evaluation, and thus give the appearance of deregulation, but the centre maintains control through its management and use of data, and local government remains peripheral.

Undergraduate Non-Completion: Developing an Explanatory Model

This paper presents an explanatory model of undergraduate non-completion based, primarily, on the findings of a qualitative case study. Previous research in the field of non-completion is briefly reviewed. Such work is somewhat limited in its explanatory usefulness because it tends to focus on the student as the problem. The causes of non-completion can only be fully understood as the culmination of a complex social process of student-institution interaction which operates within the context of change in higher education. From this sociologically-informed theoretical framework an explanatory model has been devised that shows how the process of withdrawal for conventional students (i.e. students who enter HE through the traditional academic route) is markedly different from that for mature students. For conventional students the factors which appear to be of central importance are student preparedness, compatibility of choice, and time of exit. In contrast, mature students are often forced into non-completion because of external circumstances. Following a detailed description of our explanatory model of undergraduate non-completion, we present a number of strategies for intervention at both national and institutional levels and outline the implications for higher education policy.

Travelling and embedded policy: the case of knowledge transfer

Knowledge transfer (KT) has entered the higher education arena in the UK as the ‘third sector’ of higher education activity—along with research and teaching. Its antecedents lie in the commercialization and technology transfer of the late 1980s and 1990s, and this business‐like orientation remains dominant in the KT policy discourse. This paper explores the extent to which policy for KT may be understood both as ‘travelling’ policy shaped by globalizing trends in pursuit of successful competition in the new knowledge economy (KE) and as ‘embedded’ policy mediated by local contextual factors that may translate policy to reflect local priorities and meanings. In considering evidence of ‘embedded’ policy the paper develops its arguments through preliminary analysis of KT policy in Scotland where—at least at the level of discourse—there is an attempt in post‐devolution Scotland to encourage KT in the broader public interest. However, KT’s antecedents may continue to shape the engagement of academic staff in Scotland, as may the wider context of UK policy steering in higher education.

National policy brokering and the construction of the European Education Space in England, Sweden, Finland and Scotland

This paper draws on a comparative study of the growth of data and the changing governance of education in Europe. It looks at data and the ‘making’ of a European Education Policy Space, with a focus on ‘policy brokers’ in translating and mediating demands for data from the European Commission. It considers the ways in which such brokers use data production pressures from the Commission to justify policy directions in their national systems. The systems under consideration are Finland, Sweden, and England and Scotland. The paper focuses on the rise of Quality Assurance and Evaluation mechanisms and processes as providing the overarching rationale for data demands, both for accountability and performance improvement purposes. The theoretical resources that are drawn on to enable interpretation of the data are those that suggest a move from governing to governance and the use of comparison as a form of governance.

Fabricating Quality in Education : Data and Governance in Europe

This book argues that data and their use constitute a form of governance of education. It highlights the ways in which education is steered and managed so that a European education policy space is ...

Policy Research and Policy Theory: a comment on Fitz and Halpin 1

This short paper was produced in response to David Halpin and John Fitzs ‘Researching Grant Maintained Schools’, which is seen as indicative of a trend within education policy research towards the accumulation of detailed case study and the relative neglect of theoretical analysis. The different ‐ and sometimes conflicting ‐ research traditions in education policy are briefly summarized, and the factors contributing to the encouragement of pluralist approaches discussed. The paper concludes by arguing the case for analysis of education policy from within a state‐centred perspective, in combination with detailed investigation of policy implementation. 1. Fitz, J. and Halpin, D. (1990) ‘Researching Grant Maintained Schools’, Journal of Education Policy, 5 (2), pp. 167‐180

Governing Knowledge: Research Steering and Research Quality.

This article argues that the ‘quality’ debate in education research is not so much about quality as about creating the conditions in which research and knowledge production in the field of education can be managed and steered. The criticisms of research in education have destabilised the field and promoted its closer dependence on and alignment with policy. The paper connects changes in the nature of knowledge to developments in the governance of education, suggesting that experts and techno-scientific research are increasingly necessary not only as sources of information but as ways of ‘doing’ governing, especially through quantification and comparison.

The entrepreneurial researcher: Re-formations of identity in the research marketplace

This article seeks to consider the nature and impact of managerialism on Higher Education with particular reference to research. Managerialism will be addressed here primarily as a transmission system of economic rationalism into the body politic of the university, by that it is meant that competitiveness is assumed to improve performance and only the financial calculation of benefit is recognised. This agenda is developed through consideration of the changing management of research work and draws on the wider literature on work and organisations to look at the impact of changing material conditions and social relations on the identity formation of researchers. In general, the article seeks to promote reflexivity both in the style of presentation and in the focus on research and managerialism in Higher Education. The salience of Barry Troynas strictures about reflexivity (Troyna, 1994) is acknowledged but it is suggested that if we seek to understand how the values and cultures of the public sector are b...

Education and nationalism: the discourse of education policy in Scotland

The paper draws on critical discourse analysis to examine and discuss some of the key developments in the governing of education in Scotland since the election of the Scottish National Party (SNP) government in May 2007. It analyses these developments, drawing on a study of key policy texts and suggests that discourse analysis has much to contribute to the understanding of the governing strategy of the minority SNP administration as reflected in its education policy. We suggest that there is a self-conscious strategy of ‘crafting the narrative’ of government that seeks to discursively re-position ‘smarter Scotland’ alongside small, social democratic states within the wider context of transnational pressures for conformity with global policy agendas. Thus the paper connects to current debates on the relationship between an emergent global education policy ‘field’ and the capacity of ‘local’ contexts to develop and sustain particular, embedded assumptions and practices.

Modernizing the Education Workforce: A Perspective from Scotland.

This article argues that there are global pressures for modernization of the education workforce that produce broadly similar policy responses and pressures on the teaching profession. It suggests, however that these ‘travelling’ policies are mediated by the ‘embedded’ practices and cultures of different systems to produce particular ‘local’ versions of policy. These contribute to tension between decontextualized agendas for modernization and embedded practices and cultures. Recent policy developments in work organization, pay, professional development and career progression for the teaching profession may provide illuminating examples of the co‐existence of ‘travelling’ UK policy and ‘embedded’ (Scottish) policy and may also provide evidence of growing policy divergence. Such inter‐UK policy divergence is significant in itself and also helps to identify the circumstances and resources that sustain mediation of, or resistance to, ‘travelling’ policy in education.