Space, Place and Policy Making: Developing a Theoretical Framework

Conclusion

I have identified a principle aim of this study as concerned with examining the significance of spatiality in shaping and ordering social relations through education policy making. An integral part of this discussion will be concerned with the ways in which discourses of space and place inform the processes and practices of policy making relating to the boundaries between ‘the special’ and ‘the ordinary’ in education. In thinking about a theoretical framework for my study, I have explored the possible connections which can be made between theories of space and place and theoretical understandings concerned with policy making.

Educational systems are concerned with social relations and the distribution of power. They are about confinement and struggles expressed through architecture, planning and distribution and about multiple sets of practices and beliefs. They are about history and ideology, and they connect to change and flux at local, national and global levels. This study is not about trying to find answers to the questions outlined in the introduction, but about exploring what these questions might mean and enhancing understanding of the implications of such an exploration for issues relating to equality and justice in education for all children and young people.

In the following chapter I critically discuss my attempts to develop a methodological framework for my research and explore some of the processes and difficulties which emerged.