Researching the Implementation of Educational Policy: A backward mapping approach

Misjudging the ease of policy implementation is recognised as one of the most common planning mistakes. If implementation is not planned and structured, effective management of change may give way to ad hoc adjustments and short-term strategies for coping, with a subsequent dilution of policy efficiency. Developing countries can ill afford the wasted resources that result, but little research attention has been directed at providing information about implementation processes that policy makers can draw on. This article discusses a model of 'backward mapping' that was applied in India, and generated a variety of useful insights which have contributed to learning for policy. In contexts where comparatively little is known about the implementation process, the use of such models to generate this kind of learning can improve our understandings of the 'black box' of implementation, and open up new options for policy strategies to achieve policy goals.