A new mode of control: an actor–network theory account of effects of power and agency in establishing education policy

Unsworth, Ruth

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that power promised to England’s teachers by the 2010 ‘Importance of Teaching’ white paper has rather played out as a reformulation of methods of policymaking to more indirect modes of government control. I trace the growth of government control in English schools, promised front-line power in 2010 and a rise in non-statutory guidance after this point. Taking an actor–network theory approach to ethnographic data I then describe how a school takes up one such non-statutory educational initiative – ‘Maths Mastery’. Focusing on early stages of the school’s adoption of the initiative, I trace associations of actors which problematize existing practices for the teaching of maths and how the initiative is imbued with authority in relation to these. I argue that the ways in which certain actors – statutory education policy and government funding – associate with the ‘optional’ initiative reveals a ‘back door’ control of teacher agency.

Citation

Unsworth, R. (2024). A new mode of control: an actor–network theory account of effects of power and agency in establishing education policy. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 56(1), 54-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2023.2258827

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 8, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jan 9, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-01
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 23, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Educational Administration and History
• Print ISSN: 0022-0620
• Electronic ISSN: 1478-7431
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 56
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 54-68
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2023.2258827
• Keywords: Sociology and Political Science; Education
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2162001