Paradigms and Methods of Policy

This subject will overview a range of ways of understanding policy and of doing research on and for education policy and governance. It will cover a range of paradigms or orientations to policy, as well as how those are reflected in differing methodologies and methods of policy research. Approaches to researching policy and governance covered in the subject will include critical policy research, comparative policy research, evidence use framings, and collaborative governance approaches. Through the subject, students will better understand education policy and governance from different framings, including how policy problems are framed, how evidence is engaged in education governance, how policy enactment is approached, and whether and how policy outcomes are evaluated. Research on a range of sites of education policy and governance will be engaged, including from early childhood education, schooling, vocational education and higher education. The subject will enable critical analysis of key contemporary education governance debates and develop professional skills in policy analysis.