The critical policy discourse analysis frame: helping doctoral students engage with the educational policy analysis

Hyatt, David

doi:10.1080/13562517.2013.795935

Cited by 44 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…To understand policy drivers, it is helpful to consider the ways in which policies are justified or warranted (Hyatt, 2013). Key themes in the justification for educational policy were identified by Cochren-Smith and Fries (2001) as being accountability, evidentiary and political warrants and I will return to these themes in relation to early years curriculum policy shortly, but Ietcu-Fairclough (2008) likens the strategy of political policy legitimation to 'strategic manoeuvring' as policy makers attempt to meet differing political demands and also appeal to the electorate.…”

Section: Post-structural Policy Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These socially constructed discourses and modes of legitimation are presented as being neutral, 'taken for granted' or 'common sense' and through a process of 'naturalisation', policy comes to define what is regarded as 'normal' or morally right and what else is considered marginal or deviant (Hyatt, 2013, 840). However, these discourses represent particular value positions and are powerful policy drivers that are created and sustained through various policy texts and practices (Hyatt, 2013;MacNaughton, 2005). Therefore, it is important to critically analyse policy discourses to uncover the relations of power that shape the ways in which children are constructed within society.…”

Section: Post-structural Policy Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Curriculum policy is often presented as following a rationalist paradigm based on logic, facts and reason, whereas Hyatt (2013) argues that policy making can also be seen as a value-laden process in which meanings are socially constructed and can therefore be deconstructed and reconstructed (McKenzie, 1992). As an early years teacher and lecturer who has experienced the implementation of policy initiatives in practice and seen their often unintended consequences for young children, I wanted to analyse the different interests that are served by early years curriculum policy, the intentions of policy makers and how policy levers and drivers (Ball, 1990) impact on children and practitioners.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Policy and the image of the child: a critical analysis of drivers and levers in English early years curriculum policy

Lewis

2018

Early Years

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Using a post-structuralist framework, this article seeks to analyse the ways in which English early years curriculum policy has led to different constructions of young children. Although policy is often presented as being logical and factual, policy making can also be seen as a value-laden process in which meanings are socially constructed and can therefore be deconstructed and reconstructed. In this article, I analyse the different interests that are served by curriculum policy, the intentions of policy makers and how policy levers and drivers might combine to produce potentially conflicting images of the child. I conclude that these conflicting images create tensions between policy makers' pursuit of cost efficiency and the rights of young children in early years settings. However, poststructural analysis suggests that these are political decisions and things do not have to be this way. Those working in early years can challenge policy makers' constructions of young children, to adopt a more ethical rights-based approach to early education.

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Section: Post-structural Policy Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Post-structural Policy Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Policy and the image of the child: a critical analysis of drivers and levers in English early years curriculum policy

Lewis

2018

Early Years

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“…The tools employed to investigate the self-professed beliefs, values and interpretations of the Scottish Government and the means (language, image, practice) employed to propagate a social democratic vision of welfare policy and governance are drawn from the Critical Policy Discourse Analysis framework (CPDAF) developed by Hyatt (2013). Informed by a broader reading of critical discourse approaches (Hyatt, 2013: 837), the CPDAF disaggregates investigation into two distinct, but related, processes of analysis -contextualisation and deconstruction (table 1).…”

Section: Skills and Employability Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using a Critical Policy Discourse Analysis Framework (Hyatt, 2013) the article examines how ideas drawn together by the Scottish Government represent a re-weaving of threads of the social democratic tradition in response to new policy and governance challenges and opportunities. The study also unpacks how various discursive techniques are employed in the construction of this social democratic welfare imaginary to contest, disrupt, de-legitimise and displace UK Government representations of fairness, social justice, welfare dependency' and hence austerity and welfare reform (Garthwaite, 2011;Author, 2012;Briant et al, 2013;Garland, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contesting the austerity and “welfare reform” narrative of the UK Government

Wiggan

2017

IJSSP

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Edinburgh Research ExplorerContesting the austerity and 'welfare reform' narrative of the UK Government Citation for published version: Wiggan, J 2017, 'Contesting the austerity and 'welfare reform' narrative of the UK Government: Forging a social democratic imaginary in Scotland' International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 37, no. 11/12, General rightsCopyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policyThe University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact openaccess@ed.ac.uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. The narrative of successive UK Governments is that austerity and punitive welfare reform is necessary. This paper examines how the Scottish Government has articulated and communicated a counter hegemonic welfare state imaginary and unpacks the concepts and traditions it draws upon. Design/methodology/approachThe study draws together a decentred governance perspective that emphasises ideational tradition for understanding (re)construction of governance (Bevir, 2013: 27) with a Critical Discourse Analysis method to examine how particular welfare interpretations and representations are carried into the policy and public arena. Scottish Government documents are deconstructed to interrogate the ideas and form of the emergent social democratic discourse and its relation to the Independence Referendum and shifting welfare governance. FindingsIn response to changing socio-economic-political contexts the Scottish Government has developed a distinct discourse of welfare modernisation. Fusing (civic) nationalism with social wage and social investment concepts rooted in British and Scandinavian social democratic traditions, their discourse conjures up imaginaries of a credible prosperous, egalitarian welfare state future. Depictions of poverty and weak economic performance as originating in welfare structures and claimants' agency are reinterpreted as consequences of the maldistribution of power and resources between groups and constituent countries of the UK. Originality/valueThe paper provides original analysis of the discourse used to communicate the ideas and traditions underlying the Scottish Government's welfare state vision. It is of value to those interested in how a social democratic governing party within an ostensibly liberal welfare regime has renewed its approach through weaving together particular social democratic concepts.1

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Who must adapt to whom? Contested discourses on human–wolf coexistence and their impact on policy in Spain

Pettersson,

Holmes,

Quinn

et al. 2023

People and Nature

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Emerging nature restoration agendas are increasing the pressure on rural communities to coexist with expanding wildlife, including large carnivores. There are different interpretations of coexistence, stemming from divergent ways of conceptualising and relating to nature. Yet there is limited understanding of how and why certain interpretations become dominant, and how this influences conservation policy and practice. This question is highly relevant for the management of wolves in Spain. Until recently, the national strategy allowed certain regional autonomy in creating and enacting coexistence policy, including through culling and sport hunting. However, in 2021, the national government declared wolves strictly protected throughout the country, despite strong contestations about whether and why it was necessary. We studied the discursive processes that co‐produced this policy shift. First, we explored interpretations among communities that share, or will share, space with wolves, using qualitative field data. Second, we triangulated local interpretations with framings in public media to identify prominent discourses about coexistence. Third, we traced how these discourses interacted with Spanish conservation policy: who was heard and why. We highlight three prominent discourses: wolf protectionism, traditionalism and pragmatism, each proposing a distinct pathway to coexistence with wolves. Through our policy analysis, we illuminate a dominance of protectionism within national politics, which justified a centralised technocratic pathway while downplaying place‐based approaches. The resulting coexistence policy was highly contested and appears to have increased social conflict over wolves. Our findings reveal knowledge hierarchies within Spanish policy frameworks that promotes ‘mainstream’ conservationists' narrow interpretation of what nature and coexistence should be. This has perpetuated an apolitical approach that is focussed on mediating direct impacts from wolves, rather than conflicting worldviews, and that undermines efforts to promote dialogue and local stewardship. While our research is centred on Spain, the findings are of broad relevance since they reveal structural barriers that constrain the incorporation of diverse knowledge systems into conservation policy, and subsequent transformations towards socially just and locally adapted coexistence programmes. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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The critical policy discourse analysis frame: helping doctoral students engage with the educational policy analysis

Cited by 44 publications

References 22 publications

Policy and the image of the child: a critical analysis of drivers and levers in English early years curriculum policy

Policy and the image of the child: a critical analysis of drivers and levers in English early years curriculum policy

Contesting the austerity and “welfare reform” narrative of the UK Government

Who must adapt to whom? Contested discourses on human–wolf coexistence and their impact on policy in Spain

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