Working with/in institutions: how policy enactment in widening participation is shaped through practitioners’ experience

Rainford, Jon

doi:10.1080/01425692.2020.1865130

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Institutional doxa allows for the understanding of how institutional power shapes practices based on ideological positions and values whilst still maintaining the capacity for reflexive action. There was sufficient variation in the narratives of the practitioners to suggest that institutional positions were not accepted uncritically and that there was the capacity for resistance (Rainford, 2021). In adopting this framing, it can be seen how value assumptions drive practice but can also be resisted and challenged by practitioners.…”

Section: Does Institutional Doxa Hold Up In Practice?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, institutional doxa is a productive way of understanding how values and assumptions influence but do not completely determine practices. As I have argued elsewhere, the strength of conformity to institutional norms or transgression from these norms can be influenced by many factors (Rainford, 2021). These include education, personal experience and autonomy of the practitioner’s role in the institution.…”

Section: Does Institutional Doxa Hold Up In Practice?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

How institutional doxa shapes access to higher education through framings of ‘potential’

Rainford

2021

Power and Education

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Access to higher education is a global concern due to its dual role in transforming individual lives and value for global economic systems. However, pre-entry interventions to improve access often make comparatively little impact on who attends certain types of universities. Drawing upon a study that examined policy and practice relating to access to higher education conducted in 2016–2017 in England, this article furthers a theoretical discussion relating to the role institutional norms play in maintaining this status quo and why inequities endure especially in elite universities. In doing so, it highlights how institutional doxa can illuminate how taken-for-granted ideals shape policy and practice. This article theorises that institutional doxa shapes notions of who is seen as having ‘potential’, examines why doxic positions in relation to ‘potential’ endure and are rarely impacted by practices. This theorisation offers an important contribution to research on access to higher education as by foregrounding the central role played by these assumptions within marketised higher education systems this enables them to be challenged and deconstructed in order to effect meaningful progress on issues of access to higher education.

show abstract

Section: Does Institutional Doxa Hold Up In Practice?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Does Institutional Doxa Hold Up In Practice?mentioning

confidence: 99%

How institutional doxa shapes access to higher education through framings of ‘potential’

Rainford

2021

Power and Education

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…International efforts to embed UDL in postsecondary education has significantly increased, with numerous examples of good practice emerging across education sectors as a model for inclusive practices (Gronseth & Dalton, 2020;Al-Azawei Serenelli, & Lundqvist, 2016;Murawski & Scott, 2019;. This new interest in UDL is also a consequence of the widening participation agenda that is specially targeted at under-represented groups gaining access to university (Rainford 2021;, and of the stronger interest on EDI policies and practices for both staff and students (Guyan & Douglas 2019;NUS 2019;EHRC 2019) in response to an increasingly diverse student population.…”

Section: Udl and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building a Community of Practice Across an Institution

Galvin

Geron

2021

Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This case study highlights a number of approaches to building a UDL community of practice (CoP) within a higher education institution. The traditional method of building a CoP was followed to develop staff knowledge and awareness across the university on UDL principles. This was underpinned by the creation of membership of shared interests, working groups, developing policy and staff guidance, and providing training and development for staff. A second more personalized approach known as ‘Plus One' was also utilized to embed UDL principles to a new aerospace engineering module. The areas to focus on, known as pinch points, related to the historical expertise of the academic that are often repeated each term. In this case study, it was decided to focus on clear communication, choice, flexibility, accessibility, and inclusive assessment. The results showcase a positive appreciation from learners by having choice incorporated into their learning and assessment. It reduced the academic workload in terms of learner queries by having clearer consistent communication channels put in place.

show abstract

“…Shattock, 2012;McCaig, 2018), the account of policymaking represented in the findings of this thesis, encompassing intermediate levels of policy and from the position of policy actors seeking opportunities to advance their ideological or material positions, is relatively rare. Examining widening participation policy as enactment is a relatively recent development within WP research (Rainford, 2021;McCaig, Rainford and Squire, 2022), particularly at the level of practitioners (Burke, 2012). This thesis therefore contributes to a growing body of work that examines widening participation policy enactment, whilst looking specifically at this in a context not yet explored by other researchers.…”

Section: Contribution To Knowledgementioning

confidence: 92%

“…Evans et. al., 2019;Rainford, 2021). The application of the concept of enactment in these studies is particularly relevant given the autonomy given to institutions and to practitioners in enacting WP policy.…”

Section: Policy Enactmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Third sector organisations in widening participation policy: networks, expertise and authority

Squire¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This thesis examines the involvement of third sector organisations in widening participation policy enactment. Whilst national widening participation policy is largely concerned with the actions of higher education providers and of government, there are a growing number of third sector organisations informing policy and practice through their activities and research. Thus far, these organisations have been absent from widening participation research and hence this thesis addresses a gap in understanding the many actors engaged in enactment of widening participation policy. This research is based in an interpretive approach to policy analysis, combining expert interviews with documentary analysis to explore the roles that third sector organisations have taken on within widening participation policy enactment. Based on Colebatch’s (2002) articulation of policy as authority, order and expertise, this thesis analyses the actions of third sector organisations in context to assess how they are contributing to shaping widening participation policy and the potential for further development of their influence. This research identifies that third sector organisations play a peripheral role in shaping widening participation policy, though some have more prominent roles in promoting a fair access variant of widening participation, in mainstreaming specific forms of outreach activity and in promoting a focus on evaluation and particularly a ‘what works’ approach. Despite limited indications of influence on policy, this research also demonstrates that many third sector organisations are actively engaging in policy discussions and seeking to inform the direction of policy through establishing positions as ‘networked experts’. These positions are unstable, and are influenced by funders, engagement in elite networks and by the leading organisations in the field. This thesis makes distinct contributions to knowledge through examining the emergence and practices of organisations not yet examined in widening participation policy and by exploring widening participation policy enactment in context. Additionally, the findings in relation to the environment of widening participation policy making offers new insights into how policy is made and enacted, including whose interests are represented.

show abstract

Working with/in institutions: how policy enactment in widening participation is shaped through practitioners’ experience

Cited by 15 publications

References 20 publications

How institutional doxa shapes access to higher education through framings of ‘potential’

How institutional doxa shapes access to higher education through framings of ‘potential’

Building a Community of Practice Across an Institution

Third sector organisations in widening participation policy: networks, expertise and authority

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About