Low-profile policy: the case of study support in education policy ensembles in England

Abstract

This paper presents the case of a relatively low-profile policy initiative that has been successively reframed as part of larger policy ensembles within UK schools over a six-year period, and translated during this time at national and school levels. The policy examined is that of study support or out-of-hours learning. The trajectory of this policy is traced as it is first launched within an educational policy ensemble around the raising achievement agenda and then re-framed as part of the then New Labour government’s major educational and social policy agenda of Every Child Matters. Drawing on interview data from head teachers and teachers, the ways in which study support policy was translated in two contrasting schools over this period is explored, highlighting different tensions with national policy and local agendas. The ‘fate’ of study support as an initiative is questioned following a change of government in the UK and in the context of global education policy developments. This analysis of the re-framing of a low-profile policy adds to our understanding of the cycles of policy ensembles and their translation by different agents in different sites over time.

Keywords:

• policy
• ensembles
• schools
• study support
• out-of-hours learning
• Every Child Matters

Acknowledgements

This article uses interview data from evaluations of study support provision in a midlands city conducted by the author, Paul Thompson and Colin Harrison, all of the University of Nottingham, funded by the City Children and Young People’s Services. The author is responsible for the analysis presented here and the writing of this article.