A New Mode of Control: An Actor-Network Theory Account of Effects of Power and Agency in Establishing Education Policy

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15

Social Theories; Power Structure; Educational Policy; Policy Formation; Ethnography; Educational Change; Educational Practices; Foreign Countries; Mathematics Education; Mathematics Instruction; Educational Finance; Federal Aid

10.1080/00220620.2023.2258827

0022-0620
1478-7431

In this paper, I argue that power promised to England's teachers by the 2010 'Importance of Teaching' white paper has rather played out as a reformulation of methods of policymaking to more indirect modes of government control. I trace the growth of government control in English schools, promised front-line power in 2010 and a rise in non-statutory guidance after this point. Taking an actor--network theory approach to ethnographic data I then describe how a school takes up one such non-statutory educational initiative -- 'Maths Mastery'. Focusing on early stages of the school's adoption of the initiative, I trace associations of actors which problematize existing practices for the teaching of maths and how the initiative is imbued with authority in relation to these. I argue that the ways in which certain actors -- statutory education policy and government funding -- associate with the 'optional' initiative reveals a 'back door' control of teacher agency.

As Provided

2024

EJ1406859