Consultants, consultancy and consultocracy in education policymaking in England

Abstract

The role and contribution of consultants and consultancy in public services has grown rapidly and the power of consultants suggests the emergence of a ‘consultocracy’. We draw on research evidence from the social sciences and critical education policy (CEP) studies to present an examination of the state of the field. We deploy a framework that examines functional, critical and socially critical research and theorising, and we identify the emerging interest in CEP studies. In particular, we identify the potential for consultocracy but acknowledge that there is a need for more detailed research where we argue for more attention to be given to the political sciences in theorising knowledge exchange processes.

Keywords:

• consultant
• consultancy
• consultocracy
• critical education policy studies
• networks
• state
• hierarchy

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge funding by the British Academy Consultancy and Knowledge Production in Education Project (SG121698). In addition, we drew on intellectual work undertaken as part of two ESRC funded projects: Knowledge Production in Educational Leadership (RES-000-23-1192); and Distributed leadership and the social practices of school organisation in England (RES-000-22-3610). We would like to thank our colleagues in the Critical Education Policy and Leadership network at Manchester University and the Curriculum Studies, Leadership and Educational Governance network at the University of Oslo, for their valuable insights in earlier drafts of this article.