ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the nature of policy and policy-making both as practical and theoretical matters. An appreciation of the need to analyse the work of government and the ways and means by which policy and legislation interact to influence the educational agenda is now considered to be de-rigueur on any education studies course. Analysis of policy is an academic endeavour in its own right, as is analysis for policy. It is sufficient to note that actions are, therefore, part of the policy cycle and should be considered in any analysis. Stagist approaches assume that the policy-creation cycle follows a set pattern even if the actions and outcomes at each level are not always determinable. Social constructionist line policy is often described as discourse. Discourses do not just represent reality, they help to create it and in so doing they deny us the language we need to be able to think about it and describe alternatives.
