ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I explore the question of how rules about rules impact on school reform. I refer to these ‘rules about rules’ as meta-rules. I begin by outlining the development of this concept in fields other than school education. I then investigate the usefulness of the construct in explaining how people make judgments about which rules or sets of rules they will apply when confronted by the demands created by school reform initiatives. I give an account of a school’s attempt to obtain an exemption from a regulation as an illustration of how meta-rules act to maintain the status quo. I also use the construct of meta-rules to explain the results of the Australian National Schools Project.
