A space for policy legacy: an ethnographic exploration of a secondary school’s commitment to creativity after national policy priorities have changed

ABSTRACT

To-date qualitative research in the field of policy enactment has tended to focus on investigating existing national policy discourse and the ways in which this discourse is creatively reconstituted in school-based contexts of practice. In this paper, the focus is on uncovering the ways in which a school-based commitment to a specific policy – in this case creativity – is sustained and has a legacy even after national policy discourse and priorities have changed. By focusing ethnographically upon the legacy of policy at a school-based level, the paper sets out to illuminate the social actions teachers undertake to establish, nurture and protect their institutional and professional investment in and commitment towards creativity.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy enactment
• policy discourse
• education
• legacy
• creativity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Pauline Moger http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5206-2658

Notes

1 The researcher, as Director of Arts for an Arts Centre, had responsibility for overseeing the delivery of a portfolio of cultural programmes in North and South Tyneside, Enderby was a participant in these programmes.

2 Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) is a government department that inspects and regulates educational institutions. It inspects all English state schools at least once every three years. After the inspection, Ofsted publishes a public report that contains information on the school’s performance, its pupils’ work, observation reports on lessons and views from staff, parents and pupils.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was supported by a Postgraduate Publication Bursary awarded by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health, Durham University, UK.