| Title: |
Policy in the Pandemic: Lost Opportunities, Returning to 'Normal' and Ratcheting up Control |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Brooks, Clare (ORCID 0000-0001-6511-1404); Perryman, Jane (ORCID 0000-0001-6880-8661) |
| Source: |
London Review of Education. 2023 21(1). |
| Availability: |
UCL Press. University College London (UCL), Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. email: uclpresspublishing@ucl.ac.uk; Web site: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/pages/london-review-of-education |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
15 |
| Publication Date: |
2023 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative |
| Education Level: |
Higher Education; Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: |
Foreign Countries; Educational Policy; Policy Formation; Policy Analysis; Educational Change; COVID-19; Pandemics; Preservice Teacher Education; Inspection; Power Structure; Resistance to Change; Educational Improvement |
| Geographic Terms: |
United Kingdom (England) |
| ISSN: |
1474-8460; 1474-8479 |
| Abstract: |
In this article, we examine education policymaking in England during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the period from 2020 to 2022. We argue that the pandemic, while obviously damaging materially, economically and psychologically, seemed to have provided a rare opportunity for a step change, a chance to recalibrate and reconsider values assumed as 'truths'. However, policymaking in England appears to have been driven by a desire to return to normal as soon as possible or to double down on control. Through a rigorous policy analysis of two specific areas of policy -- initial teacher education and inspection -- we review policy and ministerial speeches, as well as academic papers, media articles and social media blogs published from the start of the pandemic in England, to analyse the extent to which policy formation was reactive in an attempt to maintain a steady state and return as quickly as possible to pre-pandemic normality and to previously stated intransigent policy positions. We suggest that this policy formation reflects a broader trend in policymaking, which seeks to use power and sustain privilege, underpinned by a constructed evidence base, to present a particular 'truth' about what needs to be done to improve education outcomes. |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| Entry Date: |
2023 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1384386 |
| Database: |
ERIC |