Translating teachers as leaders of educational change: briefcases, biscuits, and teacher participation in policymaking

Beck, A. D. (2024) Translating teachers as leaders of educational change: briefcases, biscuits, and teacher participation in policymaking. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 56(1), pp. 22-38. (doi: 10.1080/00220620.2023.2275126)

Abstract

Global policy discourse promotes teachers as leaders of educational change who should have a voice in policy formation. ‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’, a major teacher education reform in Scotland, feeds off this vision. Taking an Actor-Network Theory inspired Critical Policy Analysis approach, I unpack the participation of human and non-human actors within the National Partnership Group, a network established by the Scottish Government to plan the enactment of the reform. I utilise Callon’s four moments of translation and Latour’s concept of the token to identify and examine spaces of interest translation. Drawing on interviews with human actors from the network, I discuss the involvement of classroom teachers, and demonstrate the multiple ways that the materiality of the policy process shaped their participation in the network, limiting their ability to inform further development of the policy agenda. I consider the implications of this for education reform and democratic policymaking.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Actor-network theory, policy translation, policymaking, teacher leadership, agents of change, teacher voice, teacher education.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Beck, Dr Anna
• Authors: Beck, A. D.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability
• Journal Name: Journal of Educational Administration and History
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0022-0620
• ISSN (Online): 1478-7431
• Published Online: 30 October 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor and Francis Group
• First Published: First published in Journal of Educational Administration and History 56(1): 22-38
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy