Three versions of ‘localism’: implications for upper secondary education and lifelong learning in the UK

Hodgson, Ann; Spours, Ken

doi:10.1080/02680939.2011.587541

Cited by 33 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Building on previous ECER contributions (Hodgson and Spours, 2012;2013a;, the article sets out to explore different approaches to policy learning in relation to upper secondary education (USE). USE systems are important for this kind of study because they have been the focus of international comparison and a desire to engage in policy borrowing from those systems deemed to be the most successful.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restrictive and expansive policy learning – challenges and strategies for knowledge exchange in upper secondary education across the four countries of the UK

Hodgson

Spours

2016

Journal of Education Policy

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restrictive and expansive policy learning – challenges and strategies for knowledge exchange in upper secondary education across the four countries of the UK

Hodgson

Spours

2016

Journal of Education Policy

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“…However, conceptually localism is more complex than its political usage might suggest. Hodgson and Spours (2012), for example, suggest that there are three versions of localism associated with different political parties and configurations.…”

Section: Localismmentioning

confidence: 97%

Localism and poverty in the United Kingdom: the case of Local Welfare Assistance

Grover

2012

Policy Studies

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This article focuses on the UK's Coalition Government's plans to abolish the discretionary Social Fund and replace it, at least in part, with Local Welfare Assistance (LWA). The article examines this proposal by locating LWA in debates about localism, the idea of which in policy terms unites the two political parties that make up the Coalition government. The article explores the Coalition government's approach to localism and debates about it, and related issues concerning autonomy, freedom and democracy. It then goes on to examine the reasons for the abolition of the discretionary Social Fund and the Coalition government's plans for LWA. The article notes that LWA is framed by a discourse related to the Coalition government's view of the importance of localised solutions to entrenched economic and social problems. However, it is argued, that in the case of 'exceptional expenses' provision, localism is equally, if not more, problematic than the Social Fund administered by central government. This is because the most problematic aspects of the Social Fund are to continue when LWA is introduced and these problems will be augmented by the difficulties that local politics bring to the relief of poverty. The article concludes that while it is difficult to differentiate whether the Coalition government is planning to localise 'exceptional expenses' support because of ideology or pragmatism, such a move is likely to have a detrimental impact on income poor people.

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“…However, Copus et al (2013) highlight the importance of the political in democratically--elected local institutions, arguing that these must not simply commission services but also 'control, shape and direct the local political environment' (p.393). Stewart (2014) points to inadequacies of fragmented community governance (or what Hodgson and Spours (2012) term 'laissez--faire localism') where 'management for equity' is required (see also University of Birmingham Policy Commission, 2011).…”

Section: Does This Matter? In Defence Of Local Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Critical friends’: exploring arm’s length actor relationships to local government in education

Exley

2016

Journal of Education Policy

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Discussions charting the changing role of local government in education have often focused extensively on 'concrete' policy changes over time, but have provided less detail on the contribution to changing power relations of less tangible shifts. Drawing on Foucauldian notions of discourse and governmentality, in this paper, detailed rationalities of local third sector and other 'arm's length' actors in English education are explored, with a focus on their relationship to local authority (LA) school admissions teams. The paper aims to provide deeper understanding of tactical struggles for authority which happen within competitive local socio--political spaces. Data is utilised from a study of 'Choice Advice' (CA) in ten LAs, within a background context where arm's length agents deployed to deliver CA have been co--opted into central government marketization regimes, but local state planning of schooling is arguably more equitable for vulnerable families than are logics advancing a marketization of education. The research reveals: 1) discourses valorising 'independence' and 'distance' from local state 'agendas'; 2) discourses separating the interests of 'parents' and 'schools', with LAs positioned as representing the latter; 3) dehumanising representations of LA officers as 'faceless', obstructive and requiring regulation from 'critical friends'.

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Three versions of ‘localism’: implications for upper secondary education and lifelong learning in the UK

Cited by 33 publications

References 23 publications

Restrictive and expansive policy learning – challenges and strategies for knowledge exchange in upper secondary education across the four countries of the UK

Restrictive and expansive policy learning – challenges and strategies for knowledge exchange in upper secondary education across the four countries of the UK

Localism and poverty in the United Kingdom: the case of Local Welfare Assistance

‘Critical friends’: exploring arm’s length actor relationships to local government in education

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