ABSTRACT
In 1988 and 1989 there was political intervention into education on a scale never seen before in New Zealand. While the culture and traditions of educational administration had been able to withstand an earlier bipartisan challenge from parliamentarians, an electoral backlash in 1987 triggered major political intervention. In 1988, as part of the Labour government’s wide-ranging social reform program, broader social values were deployed against ‘provider capture’ in education—where the providers of a service have captured their terms of service. The Picot taskforce recommended the radical devolution of power, resources, and responsibilities to education institutions and local communities. 1 The effects were dramatic. A large Department of Education (D.o.E.) was replaced by a new compact ministry, a national review agency was established to provided systemic accountability, and the terms of professional service, leadership, and governance in education were redefined.
