EDUC9136 Educational Policy, Politics and Practice

Education policy in its various forms impacts the work of educational bureaucrats, teachers and leaders in schools and tertiary institutions on an on-going basis. These stakeholders need to become astute and critical readers of policy to better understand the fundamentals of ‘good’ policy design and develop understandings of how and why various policy ensembles impact their work in educational institutions. This topic will prepare students to become astute policy readers and designers in their own educational settings, ensuring that proposed policy formulations are based upon evidence-based research and informed by keen attention to policy assumptions and educational purposes to avoid inadequate policy renderings and unintended policy side effects. Understandings of the constellation of educational, economic, political, social and geographical policy factors upon educational policy practices and outcomes will increase student awareness of and draw attention to the various interpretations and enactments of policy within micro (school and university sites), mesa (educational regions and districts) and macro (national and international) educational settings.

The aims of this topic are to:

• Introduce students to interrogating policy design and logics, involving discourse analysis, critique and reflection across the education policy realm
• Enable students to forge better understandings of policy critique and construction to grow professional expertise in these areas

The topic will engage students in policy investigations of their choice and the fundamentals of policy design for improved educational outcomes in their specific areas of educational interest and aspiration.

1. Identify and explain policy design assumptions
2. Critique policy design and identify possible policy design blind-spots
3. Understand the professional practices of formulating robust policy design in the educational realm
4. Consider and articulate the factors that must be considered in policy design and rollout
5. Understand the differences between official policy, enacted policy and experienced policy
6. Critique using a form of discourse analysis called WPR a particular public policy document determined by the student