The Policy-Makers Tool Kit: Education Policy as an Art Form

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Stephanie Hagen


Is education policy-making a science or an art? If you work for your national education ministry, how would you attempt to create reforms in your country's school system? It would be tempting to take a scientific approach by analyzing the various policy-approaches used around the world, eliminating those deemed ineffective enough until one “end all be all” approach stands which can be applied to your national school system. However, a policy-maker who neglects to consider context will be as fruitful as a painter without a brush. Professor Pont called education policy-making an  “art of the possible,” it is what one can do in a constrained environment with the data, evidence and actors available to him or her. It is diverse, dynamic, messy and very much embedded in its context.
According the PISA 2015 Education Policy Outlook there are five primary governance approaches which are summed up in the table below. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages and not one can be considered superior to the rest. For example, while a “central with local” approach has an advantage in all schools having a national curriculum, there is often a disconnect and lack of communication and coordination between the creation of policy at a national level and the implementation of this policy at the local level.  Meanwhile an argument can be made that an autonomous-based approach is better and schools should have more control over curriculum and resources, However schools still need a certain amount of support to function and so leaving a school to its own devices may also end in disaster if it does not have capacity to deliver. The right fit for any country very much relies on the state and education system infrastructure in place.



Policy-makers also need to make a serious effort to reach out to and engage with a wide variety of actors who are influential in the policy-making processes. For example, teachers' unions can be utilized for so much more than negotiating rights, salaries and benefits, they can also be called upon to set standards and provide professional training for teachers. Employers are another group of actors who have too often been overlooked. Countries are facing widening transition gaps between education and employment and a lack of coordination can be partially to blame. Employers should be consulted as to which skills are needed to successfully enter the labor market and these skills should be seriously considered when creating policy or writing curricula.

Finally, international organizations are another key actor who can also be engaged from the beginning of the policy-making process. As was covered by our Guest Expert for the course, Yael Duthilleul, a Technical Adviser for Education to the Council of Europe Development Bank, there are three primary functions provided by international organizations in education:

  1. Analysis and technical support (OECD, UNICEF, UNESCO, European Training Foundation)
  2. Financing (World Bank, CU Commission, regional banks, national agencies such as DFID)
  3. Agenda setting (European Union, United Nations)

Each of these organizations can provide extremely valuable insight in developing policy and again, context comes into play concerning which organization(s) a policy maker should work with. A policy-maker must ask him or herself the crucial question of “what is my country's capacity to implement reforms and policy?” For example, if your central ministry wishes to engage in a conversation with a wide range of stakeholders an “analysis and technical support” organizations could help you to facilitate this critical communication. If you are in need of additional funding and resources then you could approach a “financing” organization for assistance.

Above all, for education policy-makers to successfully practice their art, it is important that they are aware of all the resources available in their toolkit, whether this relates to policy approaches, actors and stakeholders or international organizations. Once all the options are on the canvas, the crucial element of context needs to be applied in order to design and implement successful education policy or reforms.

Pictures from:
https://coopcatalyst.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/artscience.jpg

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