The implementation of educational policy: A case study of the Open College of South London.

Bird, Margaret (1990) The implementation of educational policy: A case study of the Open College of South London. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

An 'Open College' system derives from a policy designed to redress educational inequalities among the inner city adult population. It is a development in the post-school sector of education which brings together different types of institutions in a quasi-federal structure. Its aim is to develop course provision for adult returners which will facilitate their progression to higher education, further education and/or into employment. Whether or not a policy achieves what the policy-makers intended, it is hypothesised, depends on the way in which it is perceived by the key people within the organisation and the action which they take to effect its implementation. Successful outcomes are dependent on there being "commitment, communication and capacity" at each level of the operation. A case study is an appropriate means of examining the relative importance of the various factors. It involves in-depth interviews with the policy-makers (the politicians and administrators), the policy-implementers (the central co-ordinators and principals in the institutions) and the policy-deliverers (the co-ordinators and tutors in the institutions). To ascertain the factors which ultimately make for successful outcomes for those concerned, a longitudinal study of adult students in one of the designated areas of course development was undertaken. An eclectic theoretical research model is adopted, because no one perspective is thought to be appropriate at all levels of the processes of policy formulation and implementation. Attention is paid to the political, social and economic context of London and Britain in the 1980s. The micro study in a macro framework also facilitates generalisation. In establishing what factors make for successful outcomes for a policy concerned with equal opportunitiees in education in a deprived inner city area, it is hoped that it might be possible to throw some light upon the factors which make for the successful implementation of policy more generally.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Education, Higher, Education, Policy
Sets:	Collections > ProQuest Etheses
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/1116

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