Policy sociologists typically research at large scale. This paper presents an example of a policy analysis which illuminates how policy is embedded in single incidents, lives and places. The case in point concerns the policy fetish for "closing the gap and raising the bar". This rhetoric is taken to mean improving the learning of all students,…

Headteacher workloads are often in the news. Long hours, punitive audit regimes and excessive amounts of paperwork take their toll on many, including John Illingworth, former National Union of Teachers (UK) President, and ex primary headteacher. In this paper, I investigate a UK BBC Radio 4 human interest interview conducted with Illingworth by…

Facing difficulties in the implementation of its "standards" agenda, the English government has recently introduced a set of policy strategies and initiatives which seek to promote enjoyment, innovation and creativity in education. One such initiative is Creative Partnerships (CP). Funded predominantly from the Arts portfolio, CP brings creative…

The task of social scientists is to find ways of investigating and understanding the social, political and economic world1

Australian and English print media are actively engaged in producing reports that claim to find the 'best schools', the 'real state of education', and 'star head teachers'. This article considers the production of knights and dames, maverick heads and struggling schools. It argues that some of these stories are clearly the products of departmental…

UK educational administration scholars have undertaken a survey to redefine their field of knowledge. This is an exercise in "turf talk." The lack of regard accorded practitioners' situational and practical knowledge and headteacher associations' invisibility places the academy in an adversarial rather than a knowledge-sharing position. (Contains…