Conflicts of Control and Equality: Performativity versus Empowerment in a Welsh Initiative/Policy
(Dr. Jan Bardsley, University Of Wales Newport, BERA Conference, Warwick, 2006)
Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Warwick, 6-9 September 2006
Abstract:
This paper is derived from the work of an unpublished PhD entitled ‘Modularisation and the Credit Framework in Further Education in Wales: A Study of Policy and Practice’. The research’s main aim was to reveal the perception/reactions of various Further Education stakeholders to this initiative/policy – students, staff, managers and elite personnel. Policy formation during the period studied conformed in many respects to the model propounded by Broadfoot (1996; 1999). Hence the main themes and conceptual threads revolve around issues of social control in conflict with issues of equality: needs perceived for the growth of the economy in conflict with individual needs and the resulting change in qualification structure. This conflict of control and equality was explored using various policy models – the theoretical framework (Berkhout and Wielemans, 1999; Taylor and Rizvi et al, 1997; Ball, 1990, 1994). However, this study also examined a number of issues surrounding management of change and identified a number of barriers to policy implementation and adoption within the Post Compulsory/Further Education sector.
The research was completed in two stages using a mixed methodology. Seven FE colleges throughout Wales were presented as case studies and ten elite individuals representing a number of different agencies were involved through individual interviews. Although this research took place in 1995/96 many issues are still relevant today. Indeed the Credit Framework is still ongoing (ELWA) and many of the themes of the original initiative can be seen in Welsh policy documents such as the Learning Country (Welsh Office, 2001), and in the recent preliminary report, 14 – 19 Learning Pathways (WAG, 2005).
This paper will focus on the findings from the elite interviewees, the second stage of the research. It will address the qualitative data collected through elite interviews to examine whether consensus or conflict between different elite stakeholders existed. It will investigate whether the perceptions of these stakeholders regarding the initiative lean towards performativity or empowerment, or both. It will also explore if potential implementation problems were identified and how these could influence the initiative thus, addressing the management of change (or resistors to change); as relevant today for other initiatives/policy pending implementation.
The analysis categories, codes, patterns and themes which have emerged from the interview information itself, will be presented under narrative themes - in the form of ‘telling a story’. In order that the narrative can be told in a logical but effective manner, three main headings or ‘story telling’ themes will be used - ‘assumptive worlds’, ‘jostling for position’ and ‘tail wags the dog’.
Results indicate that the initiative was seen in a positive light, encompassing, in the main, both empowerment and performativity elements. However, not all individuals shared the same assumptive world (Young and Mills, 1978). Conflict and tension was apparent between the majority of policy actors interviewed. The ten elite individuals representing different agencies all jostled for positions of power and prestige in order to obtain political ‘clout’; aiding the formation of barriers regarding the development and implementation of policy. Issues of concern revolved around political influences exerted through factors such as policy reports, funding and assessment; in other words government control. Senior FE managers were not perceived as effective change agents but effective change resistors. Therefore, government intervention could be argued to be necessary to ensure change is effected; a case of policies managing change. Thus a main conclusion drawn from the study is that we still find conflict and confusion emanating from the inherent tensions between performativity and empowerment.
Introduction
This study seeks to explore the perceptions of policy actors (elite interviewees) involved in developing the All-Wales Modularisation and Credit Framework initiative and the reactions of those in colleges. Although the genesis of this study is in the early and mid 1990s we can nevertheless learn a great deal about how people perceived or behaved in relation to major changes years ago. This knowledge can then influence policy and potentially have a bearing on policy implementation today, in particular Welsh educational policy. As Jane Davidson (AM) states in the foreword of The Learning Country 2 document, produced by the newly formed Department for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DELLS): ‘Our policies will also continue to be evidence based… we have drawn both on practitioner expertise and high quality educational research’ (DELLS, 2006, p.1).
The re-emergence of many of the same themes from the initiative under study, through the publication of the Welsh policy text The Learning Country (Welsh Office/National Assembly for Wales, 2001), and also the recent report, 14-19 Learning Pathways (Welsh Assembly Government, 2005) raises the profile of the Welsh initiative under study once again. Thus this research still has currency today. The themes of widening access and participation, choice and flexibility can now be seen in the concepts behind the rapidly developing Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification (WBQ). The WBQ is actually a framework which proposes to encompass both vocational and academic qualifications, referred to as options. The core embraces all six Key Skills and contains three modules; Wales, Europe and the World (including a language element), Work Related Education and Personal and Social Education. Where partial achievement of the WBQ is secured then students will gain credits. This brings us to another development proposed by Education Learning Wales (ELWa, which is now part of DELLS), that of a credit and qualifications framework.
From 2003 onwards all accredited learning, including main stream qualifications offered in Wales, will gradually be brought into a single unifying structure – the Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales (ELWa, June 2003, p.1).
The 14-19 Learning Pathways initiative (WAG, 2005) raises the same issues as the initiative under study (Modularisation and the Credit Framework). Issues such as flexibility, breadth of study, choice and parity are still very relevant today. But, if policies are to be successful in the future then we must learn from the past, a past which has clearly demonstrated issues of social control in conflict with issues of equality, as the needs for economic growth or social intervention conflict with individuals’ needs and ends. In the words of Broadfoot (1996;1999) the conflict between ‘performativity’ and ‘empowerment’ and the resulting ‘certification’ – changes in the qualification structure. Indeed, Allen (2003, p.103) observed that in trying to bring education and the needs of the economy closer ‘…there have been various blue-prints for the modernisation of the curriculum and the reform of qualifications’.
The All-Wales Modularisation and Credit Framework Project can be conceptualised as an attempt to encompass both empowerment and performativity, and was a response to certification requests outlined in reports such as; A British Baccalaureate: Ending the Division Between Education and Training, (Finegold, et al. 1990) and A Basis for Credit? (FEU, 1993). Social pressures for equality and ‘parity of esteem’ between vocational and academic qualifications became part of policy debates, and in May 1991, the Conservative government produced its White Paper Education and Training for the 21st Century. This White Paper (DES, 1991) was one of the catalysts in the development of GNVQs and modular A Levels, although other factors such as modular provision in Europe (policy and globalisation issues), also had a part to play in the changing ‘certification’. Issues of parity inevitably arose as the result of these innovative developments.
The research for this study consisted of two stages in order to gather the perceptions/ reactions of selected stakeholders to the initiative/policy in question. This paper will address the second stage, the qualitative data collected through elite interviews to examine if consensus or conflict between different elite stakeholders existed. It also investigates the extent to which the perceptions of these stakeholders (often referred to as policy actors) lean towards performativity or empowerment, or both. Also explored is whether potential implementation problems were identified and how these could influence the initiative thus, addressing the management of change. The modes and layers of analysis completed will be described and discussed. It was anticipated and deemed desirable that pattern of opinions would be identified and that using different categories and themes would aid with various levels of analysis and interpretation.
The results of the analysis will be presented in the form of ‘telling a story’ - a narrative approach. Individuals will not be named but given a pseudonym, and only the bodies or agencies they represented at that time will be revealed (summer 1995). In order that the narrative can be told in a logical but effective manner, three main headings or ‘story telling’ themes will be used - ‘assumptive worlds’, ‘jostling for position’ and ‘tail wags the dog’. The analysis categories, codes, patterns and themes which have emerged from the interview information itself, will be presented under these narrative themes. Due to word constraints and size limitation regarding this paper, few verbatim interview responses will be included; instead a brief overview/summary must suffice.
Methodology, Analysis and Interpretation
Elite interviewing consists of in-depth or focused face to face dialogue. This method of information collection can be argued as the oldest form of research (Alasuutari, 1998) but can however be problematic (Cohen et al. 2000, p.122). Nevertheless, conversations seemed appropriate in order to gather the perceptions of these policy actors.
The importance of interview skills should not be underestimated, nor the interaction between interviewee and interviewer. Indeed in-depth interviews can encourage and entice information that is both illuminating and has greater richness than perhaps other processes; however, care is needed in the analysis of such data (Oppenheim, 1992; Cohen, et al. 2000).
Each of the ten interviews was first assigned a number to aid with ensuring confidentiality, clarity and for comparative purposes with some agencies having more than one representative. A pseudonym was then used for each individual. The agencies who participated in the study were as follows: The Welsh Office, Welsh Access Consortia, National (and Regional) Open College Network (NOCN and OCNs), Fforwm, Further Education Unit/Further Education Development Agency, Higher Education Quality Council and LEA via – Director of Education.
When analysing data it was anticipated and deemed desirable that patterns of opinions would be identified (Boyatzis, 1998). In analysing the information gained from the raw information (the elite interview), it was firstly turned into data by categorising and coding it, then made sense of through identifying emergent themes, and lastly, finally explained through analysis and interpretation. All coding for the interviews was completed manually. A number of codes were grouped to form categories which then formed themes. These elements or patterns of interest form the theme definitions and thus, the emergent themes have derived from the data itself - inductively; but as Boyatzis (1998, p.161) discovered: ‘Regardless of all this potential, thematic analysis is not easy to use... it typically takes more time and energy than quantitative techniques’.
After some deliberation I used a ‘multi-layered’ analysis approach (Kaufman, 1992), regarding analysis of the qualitative data generated through the interviews. Adopting a multiple analytical strategy (Coffey and Atkinson, 1996), involved using different sets of themes for analysis and appeared the most logical approach to take in order that subtle elements of conflict, contradiction or tension, may be identified. A number of layers of analysis would prove beneficial regarding interpretation, and this method would also aid the validity, reliability and credibility of the findings and results.
The first layer of analysis used the same codes and themes as those used for the case studies in this research: Impact, Conflict/Confusion and Implications, although the emphasis now revolved around the perceptions of these policy actors. In other words how did these elite interviewees perceive the impact of this initiative and Fforwm, the main policy driver, on FE establishments? Were there areas of conflict between individual elite stakeholders?
What barriers did they anticipate regarding implementation and delivery? What future problems (if any) did various interviewees perceive or identify with and thus, what policy developments were envisaged?
The second layer of analysis used another group of emergent themes - Importance, Involvement and Issues, mainly derived from the conflict and struggles concerning positions of power and dominance. Were interviewees confident regarding their position and level of power? Were they confident with the involvement of other policy actors? Were their concerns over general or specific issues?
The third level of analysis involved identifying those interviewees who reacted or at least discussed topics which encompassed the conceptual and theoretical framework of this study. Thus, the third level of analysis revolved around issues of empowerment, performativity and policy developments. For example were real advantages for students identified by these stakeholders (the elite interviewees), thereby empowering students within FE? Were assessment issues, addressing employer’s needs, rationalisation and cost effectiveness mentioned as advantages for FE establishments regarding implementation of this initiative? Were insights of the policy making process highlighted or identified by any of these stakeholders? From these last three themes, the analysis can indicate whether this initiative was perceived by interviewees as primarily one that is empowering or aiding performativity, or indeed whether it appears to be elements of both. Themes/issues/categories were compared across transcripts, enabling similarities, variations and differences to be identified and thus, provided a holistic synthesis of the data (Kaufman, 1992).
Findings and Discussions
In telling the story, subheadings (main themes) will be used under which the various levels of analysis and interpretation can be grouped and presented. The focus for this study was to obtain the perceptions/reactions of various stakeholders to the All-Wales Modularisation and the Credit Framework initiative. However, the emphasis in this paper is the perceptions/reactions of various policy actors. Three main narrative themes will be used for the presentation of the analysis regarding the elite interviews - ‘assumptive worlds’, ‘jostling for position’ and ‘tail wags the dog’.
Under the theme ‘assumptive worlds’ the various advantages and disadvantages each interviewee described will be examined. Thus, whether this initiative was seen in a positive or negative light, encompassing issues of empowerment, performativity, or both will be discussed; also whether a clash of interest between these two factors was perceived. From this it can be deduced whether the policy actors share the same values and therefore, the same ‘assumptive worlds’. Under ‘jostling for position’ issues concerning conflict and tension will be presented as elite interviewees who, representing a number of different agencies, jostle for positions of power in order to obtain political ‘clout’ and influence (Ball, 1994; Fitz and Halpin, 1994). Under the theme of ‘tail wags the dog’ concerns regarding government control will be highlighted. Thus, political influences on the FE curriculum concerning the actual pace and general development for the initiative will be discussed. It has not been possible to include many verbatim responses from interviews conducted but perhaps a more extensive paper can be published in the near future to incorporate this element.