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…

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…

This article uses social movement theory to analyse campaigns against a new type of government-sponsored school--the Academy--in four areas of England. It seeks to identify the social composition of anti-Academy campaigns, to track their encounters with proponents of the new schools and to describe the characteristic forms of their campaigning…

Summarizes recent political and theoretical presentations of partnership and networking, discussing their relevance to the understanding of contemporary education policy. Focuses on the first stages of the establishment of Education Action Zones in two areas of England, describing their patterns of governance and the relationship between public…