The Detail and the Bigger Picture: the use of state‐centred theory in explaining education policy and practice

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to understand recent changes in schools through the use of state‐centred theory. It does so in the light of concerns expressed by Jenny Ozga that much research on education policy and practice ignores the ‘bigger picture’. Through using case study material, this paper argues that state‐centred theorisations of education policy may provide little help in explicating what is going on in schools. The paper suggests that, rather than denigrating the ‘empiricism’ of research, we should reconsider the usefulness of such macro‐analtyical frameworks. It argues that these may be based on a priori assumptions which are undemonstrable and oppositions which are untenable.