The role of the Tomlinson Working Group in New Labour's reforms of 14-19 education : a case study in education policy research

This thesis scrutinises the role of the Tomlinson Working Group (TWG) within the reform of the curriculum and qualifications for 14-19 year olds in England which took place between 2002-2005. The thesis considers: why New Labour has used working groups so extensively; what role the Group performed within this particular process of education policy-making; how the policy-making process shaped final policy choices; and the significance of expertise. As a result, the thesis evaluates the concept of policy learning; an idea widely discussed in recent policy analysis. The thesis is based on a case study which comprised detailed, qualitative research, primarily interviews with 27 senior policy actors and other informed observers, and, in addition, documentary analysis and policy network mapping. To inform the analysis, other studies of education policy-making and contemporary research in the political sciences were reviewed. In particular, network-based theories of governance were used to theorise how working groups have been selected and used and to understand the roles and the influence that the Tomlinson Working Group had.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo