The Same but Different? Post-Devolution Regulation and Control in Education in Scotland and England

Abstract

When 'New Labour' came to power in the United Kingdom in 1997, one of their first major initiatives was to establish new devolved political institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Drawing upon developments in education in Scotland and England, this article explores some aspects of 'regulation', 'autonomy' and 'control' in the post-devolution context. The purpose of the article is to assess the ways in which New Public Management have influenced education policy in the two countries. Aspects of the governance of education are examined in the two national contexts. The 'modernisation' of the teaching profession is examined as a particular case, as well as more general aspects of governance. A number of similarities and differences in the two countries are identified. The themes that best demonstrate these similarities and differences are privatisation, performativity and the policy process. The conclusion seeks to identify the extent to which developments in either or both countries can be attributed to the global neo-liberal agenda. Introduction: new public management and governance in post-devolution UK Recent changes to governance within the United Kingdom (UK) offer the opportunity to explore whether new forms of 'regulation', 'control' and 'autonomy' are evolving in education policy. Considering the ways in which 'New Public Management' (NPM) has evolved within the context of constitutional change raises the question of whether new forms of 'regulation' and 'control' are being developed and deployed. The analysis of education policy gives insight not only into the 'new' post-devolution Scotland but also helps towards our understanding of the complex relationship between local autonomy and central control. The complexity of the policy environment has produced tensions in the ways in which 'regulation', 'control' and autonomy' have been pursued in education policy throughout the UK. Schools, local government, national parliaments and the UK government operate within an increasingly complex policy environment in which both internal and external pressures influence policy making and implementation. 'Globalisation' has led to a blurring of boundaries between international and local policy agendas. However, the national context remains significant, 'as "embedded" policy mediated by local contextual factors may translate policy to reflect local priorities and meanings' (Ozga & Jones, 2006, p. 1). Within the UK, constitutional change has brought added complexity to the blurring of boundaries between local and international policy agendas (Sloat, 2002). NPM has become especially complex in that its impacts on schools come from multiple sources, namely, local,

The Changing Relations between Education Professionals, the State and Citizen Consumers in Europe: Re-Thinking Restructuring as Capitalisation

“…However, what this research also points out is that although national contexts have some influence on developments (Arnott & Mentor, 2007), this is not to the extent that the development of neo-liberal reform patterns is stopped altogether or effectively transformed. Rather, in line with , Hirtt (2004), Beach (2005a), Phillips et al (2006) and Müller et al (2007), developments are above all highly consistent at a general macro-meso level, regardless of whether they have occurred in national contexts with low levels of decommoditised general service provision in Mediterranean versions of the European Social Model, as described by Diamond (2006), such as Greece, Spain and Portugal, or in the context of a mature welfare state with fairly high preceding levels of decommoditisation, such as England and Scotland (Arnott & Mentor, 2007), Belgium and France (Hirtt, 2004), or the Nordic Model (Beach et al, 2003;Diamond, 2006) in countries like Finland and Sweden (see also Foss et al, 2005;Antikainen, 2006). Thus, rather than contributing to the development of a comprehensive system of nationally varied supply and professional development, neo-liberal restructuring is leading to the creation of apparatuses through which education is objectified for economic accumulation by corporations and corporate stockholders at the expense of and off the backs of others, through an outsourcing to capitalist enterprises of activities that were formerly carried out within, first, domestic and voluntary and, then, state arrangements (Lawn, 1996;Mahony & Hextall, 2000;Rikowski, 2003;Beach, 2004;Hirtt, 2004;Beach, 2005bBeach, , c, 2006Hill, 2006;Ball, 2007).…”

“…These are now being medially belittled in preparation to be sold off to 'better' private buyers and interests (see, for example, Phillips et al, 2006). Thus, regardless of aspects of national history and identity, as claimed by, for instance, Arnott & Mentor (2007), the neo-liberal economic restructuring of education shares fundamental elements in common and possesses a global characteristic, in which education services are increasingly mediated and then finally provided as goods that are subject to market demands (Rikowski, 2003;Hirtt, 2004;Beach, 2005b, c;Hill, 2006).…”

“…This article focuses on research about welfare state restructuring in education and its implications for the teaching profession (see, for example, Roussakis, 1995;Dale, 1997;Woods et al, 1997;Grollios, 1999;Bernstein, 2000;Mahony & Hextall, 2000;Edwards & Usher, 2002;Kazamias et al, 2002;Lundahl, 2002a, b;Robertson et al, 2002;Zambeta, 2002;Moutsios, 2003;Petronikolos, 2003;Rikowski, 2003;Dovemark, 2004;Hirtt, 2004;Moss, 2004;Beck & Young, 2005;Jones, 2005;Antikainen, 2006;Rosskam, 2006;Sikes, 2006;Arnott & Mentor, 2007;Ball, 2007;Cribb & Gewirtz, 2007). However, suggestions and disclosures in three recently produced work package documents from a cross-European project are considered in particular (Beach, 2005a;Goodson & Norrie, 2005;Müller et al, 2007).…”

Deconstructing ‘Aspiration’: UK Policy Debates and European Policy Trends

“…[5] The different countries in the United Kingdom have different features regarding education policy (Arnott & Menter, 2007). Here it is assumed that the debates can be analysed together for two reasons: firstly, because their socio-economic structure is similar and they are all part of one national economy, and secondly, because many of the documents studied address the United Kingdom as a whole.…”

Education and nationalism: the discourse of education policy in Scotland

“…As a policy area education has featured in analysis of policy within the UK both before and since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 (Arnott, 2005;Keating, 2002Keating, , 2005. Research on post-devolution education policy before the SNP government was formed highlighted pressures for both convergence and divergence (Arnott, 2005(Arnott, , 2008Arnott & Menter, 2007;Humes & Bryce, 2003;Raffe, 2005). Convergent pressure followed from the fact that from 1999 until May 2007 the Labour Party was in power in Scotland and at the UK level.…”