ABSTRACT
It has been argued that the educational policy is extremely complex. This is refl ected in Table 9.1 which provides a summary of the discourses that can be identifi ed in the socio-political environment and which shape the strategic directions of the educational policy considered in this volume. These discourses cover a wide range of issues from economic utilitarianism and urban regeneration to social inclusions and integration or assimilation. The text of educational policy frequently refl ects a variety of discourses that compete within the socio-political environment, an arena within which, by defi nition, a range of ideologies are struggling for supremacy. Such discourses will not only refl ect differing values perspectives, but also the differential access to power since those with the power resources to mobilize can more readily shape policy debates. These discourses are therefore contested and often generate sets of expectations that cannot all be met and problems that cannot all be resolved, not least because resources are limited and some alternatives are mutually exclusive. Market accountability, publicprivate partnerships, multi-culturalism and a citizenship agenda are just a few examples considered in this book. Thus, although strategic direction
of policy is largely a product of the dominant discourse within the sociopolitical environment, it is often subject to different interpretations that, in turn, produce alternative organizational principles which might include competition in the market place, cross-school collaboration and valuesdriven leadership and a battery of institutional practices and procedures such as performance management, teacher engagement and community participation.
