3.3 Data collection and analysis This study employed semi-structured interview, student’s self reports, and classroom
observation in order to illustrate to what extent methodological triangulation could potentially strengthen both validity and reliability to confirm the emerging findings. The
researcher could address issues from the Julie’s self reports and classroom observation, which needed further clarification during the semi-structured interview. The semi-
structured interview could consequently represent the participant’s perceptions of particular aspects of classroom membership and social encounters.
3.4 Rationale for the approach to research design
Case study was appropriate for this study because it could allow the researcher to identify issues emerging from Julie regarding her participation in academic and social
communities. Cohen et al. 2000 view a case study as an observation of characteristics of an individual unit, which can be a person, a class, or a community. Yin 1993 defines
case study as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context. The researcher could aim at quite detailed understanding of her
perspectives in her educational context, without assuming that any other case would be the same. The findings of this study, therefore, do not aim to generalise her negotiation
of academic and social participation, but rather to explore and extend the concept of communities of practice by employing the Thai student as a case for investigation.
4. Findings
4.1 Julie’s past, present, and future Julie had a good attitude in terms of developing her confidence in speaking English once
she enrolled on a pre-sessional language course in the British university because she had the desire to improve her English, gain a postgraduate degree, and work in an
international company that uses English as she mentioned that:
“ I want to speak English everyday but sometimes I don’t have a chance to
speak English because stay with my friends from Thailand. I decided with my Thai friends to speak English every morning when we walk to school.
I come here to get a postgraduate degree. But more important than that is I want to speak English. If I speak English well, I can get a better job
because a big international company from England or America requires a person who could speak English well.”
Interview: 230705
Julie’s effort in her language learning can be referred to Norton Pierce’s 1995 definition of ‘investment’, which can be divided into symbolic or material investment. Symbolic
investment is defined as the desire and need learners have for friends, education and religion, whereas material investment refers to capital goods, real estate and money.
Julie’s personal histories and backgrounds were important elements that came into play in
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her academic negotiation. The ‘investment’ in this study, however, should be viewed as a ‘transferred investment’ because her parents’ desire has been transferred to her and she
has to live with their expectations since they financially support her education and expect that once she returns home, she should be able to use English well and get better jobs in
the future because of her postgraduate degree from the UK. Norton 2001 points out that a learner’s imagined community allowed an imagined
identity, and a learner’s investment in the target language, which must be understood within each individual’s particular context because each learner invests in the target
language for different historical reasons and with different consequences of their engagement with native speakers. The idea of engaging with the native speakers is easier
said than done for Julie as she said that:
“Because I am surrounded by non-native speakers. If I study, I can speak with the native because my teacher is from England. I think speak
English to non-native speakers also help me practice speaking. I don’t mind but I try to speak English to the native.”
Interview: 230705
The notion of investment should not be limited to target language speakers in a context of institutionalised language learning because language learners may not have an
opportunity to interact with native speakers, but overseas friends whom they are surrounded by in a multicultural educational context in the UK. Interacting with their
overseas friends could, to some extent, give them opportunities to practice their fluency and confidence, which could allow them to improve their speaking skills.
4.2 Julie’s negotiation of classroom participation and membership A pre-sessional language class in a British university was an important entry point for
overseas students, who planned to enrol on a postgraduate level because it is a place where they learn to become a fuller participation in their chosen discipline. This class
also constituted discrete communities of practice in which overseas students participated, engaged, and sought membership in order to become competent postgraduate students.
There were fifteen overseas students in Julie’s class; two of them, including Julie, were from Thailand, and the rest were from Mainland China. The class focused on speaking
and listening. Julie enjoyed a group discussion as she could practice her English. Tom, Julie’s tutor, expressed his appreciation toward Julie’s classroom performance and
participation as he mentioned that:
“Though Julie’s pronunciation is absolutely appalling. But it doesn’t stop her from trying. When I don’t understand, she will try to rephrase,
reformulate, and change to make herself understood. I think she participates very well”.
Interview: 090905
Tom, however, was disappointed in terms of teaching materials designed for the course, which did not equip students enough with social interactions because the course mainly
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focused on academic English. This aimed to prepare students for postgraduate study which he mentions as follows:-
“That’s the problem the way the courses are that I can’t combat. At the beginning of the course for the first two weeks, I introduced them with
expressions put on the wall. However, very soon, you get to realise that there are a lot of things we have to achieve. In the weekly meeting, there
are too much materials and we have to be very selective”. Interview: 090905
Though Tom could guide students, who were newcomers, to become competent participants in academic and social communities but there were other constraints that
could not enable him to achieve his aim. This was due to institutional policy of planning and designing the course and arranging accommodations for students, which he found not
socially supportive. Julie’s relationship with her classmates was positive, as there was an interaction in her
class through exchanging interests with one another to which she refers as follows:
“I think my classmates are really good. In the morning, my classmates usually say “Hi Julie, good morning”. And I usually tell them what I did
last night or about my weekend. There are a lot of my friends want to learn Thai language. In the morning they ask me about Thai language”.
Interview: 150805
Julie’s initial view towards her Chinese-dominated class was not satisfactory, as she did not understand what they talked about although she wanted to be part of the
communication. Julie’s attitude, however, changed as she interacted and learned more about her Chinese peers. This also allowed her to understand their culture regarding
family policy issues and Chinese family’s attitude toward having a son. This intercultural communication constituted friendship within the academic and social communities as
they were going to study in the same postgraduate course. Julie mentions that:
“I talked with my Chinese friends more and more. I talked with Kimi about his personal life like his family, the reasons of studying here, and one-child
policy in China”. Interview: 110905
These views could illustrate relationship and investment between teacher-students and student-student, which constitute academic and social communities as they display
learning aims, shared activities, and expected outcomes. These, they collaboratively and constructively tried to develop and achieve over time.
4.3 Interdependence of Julie’s language learning and social interactions Julie’s close relationship with her Chinese classmates allowed her to interact with them
with more sensitive topics outside the class as she mentioned that:
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“It seems to me that they are Thai. We share the same nationality. I have a confidence to talk with them. If I don’t know them well, I will just say, “Hi,
how are you?” If I know them well, I can ask more regarding personal issues. For example we can talk about sensitive issues like politics in
Taiwan and China. This helps me communicate more as well. If I don’t know them well, I don’t dare asking them this kind of questions”.
Interview: 250805
Though Julie had to listened more carefully to details, she realised that it was a chance for her to practice English with native speakers and was aware of the way she pronounced
the language and she comments as folloews:
“It was hard for me to deal with it. I had to concentrate on the topic of discussion in order to understand the issue properly. But it’s very good for
me. When I spoke with them, I had no stress and intonation, which they couldn’t understand me. When they didn’t understand, I had to change the
way I spoke for the second time in order to make them understand. But when I talked with my Chinese friends, if I didn’t understand, I tended to
skip to other topics”.
Julie pointed out in her interview that she gained confidence from studying in class and practicing it outside, and following what she did outside, she could practice speaking
again in the class when she told friends and teachers about it as she said:
“I think communicating in the class gives me a sense of closeness and belongings because we meet each other everyday. But outside the class, it’s
just like a quick chat. I gain more details of discussion better both listening and speaking. Studying in the class, like grammar and discussion, allows
me to gain more confidence to speak with others outside the class and dare to ask questions. If I get lost, I dare to ask people directions. When I go
back to the class, I tend to ask more questions as well. For example, when I went to London, I asked lots of questions about changing trains. When I got
back here, I told my friends in class about it. I had lots of stories to tell them”.
Interview: 250805
Julie realised that her English has improved over time because she has had a chance to practice speaking inside the classroom and use it outside when she has had an opportunity
mentioning in the interview that:
“I think my speaking is better because I have practiced a lot. Though I speak with my Chinese friends, I think it helps me practice with my train of
thought, which sentence to ask and answer, and which vocabulary to use…I think it helps me to practice using it outside the class. When I go shopping,
I know what to ask. If I never practice talking with them, I will never what to say like asking price and promotion about the mobile phone. My English
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speaking circulates from classroom to outside and back to classroom again. If I lose one of them, my speaking will lose as well”.
Interview: 250805
This excerpt illustrates an interdependence of language learning and social interaction, which could, to some extent, gives language learners’ confidence in their speaking.
Teachers and peers also help to improve learners in terms of stimulating informal discussion in the classroom which creates in learners a sense of friendly community
where they could share their outside experiences into the classroom. It is important for language teachers to be aware that this informal conversation could display their
language competence, which could be further developed in the classroom. 5. Conclusion
Though the community-of-practice perspective of Lave and Wenger 1991 offers substantial insights into the opportunities for second language learning, it clearly needs to
be extended to account for the significant role played by the teacher’s deliberate planning and responsive intervention and peer relationships. In addition to that, target language
community where learners have to interact with native speakers on a daily basis also allows them to practice the language and simultaneously enables them to gain confidence.
This extension of a community of practice could provide a useful framework for a multicultural language education in a university setting and benefit the research field of
secondforeign language use and acquisition. References
Cohen, L., Manion, L., and Morrison, K. 2000 Research methods in education, 5
th
ed., London: Routledge Falmer.
Coleman, H. 1997 ‘Autonomy and ideology in the English language classroom’, in Coleman, H. ed. Society and the language classroom, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. Fuller, A., Hodkinson, H., Hodkinson, P., and Unwin, L. 2005 ‘Learning as peripheral
participation in communities of practice: a reassessment of key concepts in workplace learning’, British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 31, No.1, pp.49-68.
Gee, J.P. 2005a An introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method, 2
nd
ed., Oxon: Routledge.
Hawkins, M.R. 2005 ‘Becoming a student: identity work and academic literacies in early schooling’, TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp.59- 82.
Johnson, K. 1995 Understanding communication in second language classrooms, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jones, V.F. and Jones, L.S. 1995 Comprehensive classroom management: creating positive learning environments for all students, 4
th
ed., MA: Allyn and Bacon. Lave, J. and Wenger, E. 1991 Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McFadden, M. and Munns, G. 2004 ‘Student engagement and the social relations of
pedagogy’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 357-366.
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Norton, B. 1997 ‘Language, identity, and the ownership of English’, TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 31, pp.409-429.
Norton, B. 2000 Identity and language learning: gender, ethnicity and educational change, Essex: Pearson Education Ltd.
Wenger, E. 1998 Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Yin, R. 1993 Applications of case study research, CA: Sage Publications.
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Exploring the apparent policy implementation paradox: a case of the ‘fCUBE’ policy in Ghana.
Hope Pius Nudzor
Abstract This study is a follow-up to the findings of a small-scale exploratory enquiry undertaken
by the researcher on the ‘fCUBE’ policy in the Akatsi District of Ghana. The study is using the conceptual framework of policy as a ‘text’ and ‘discourse’ in examining and
understanding why policy implementers end up pursuing different agendas when it comes to putting into action the ideas and provisions formulated for implementation. Data from
the ‘fCUBE’ policy-documentation and elite interviews is being analysed using the CDA and interpretive frameworks respectively to find out what the provisions enshrined in the
‘fCUBE’ policy documentation say and how these provisions are perceived, conceptualised and interpreted by the meso-level implementers. The findings are aimed at
documenting the extent to which there are any multiple, competing, marginalised and hybrid discourses in the ‘fCUBE’ policy-text. They will also help to indicate if there are
visible signs of any discursive shifts in policy provisions and how this affects the policy implementation process. Generally, the findings will serve as useful pointers to the extent
to which the ‘free’, ‘compulsory’ and ‘universal’ components of the ‘fCUBE’ policy are genuinely reflected in the implementation process.
1. Background to the study
Introduction This study concerns the apparent policy implementation paradox. That is, the view that
although politicians and other policy activists and actors invest tremendous time, resources and energy in enacting policies, when it comes to putting those policy
provisions and recommendations into practice, different agendas are more often than not pursued by the policy implementers and change agents. As aptly pointed out by Sabatier
and Jenkin-Smith 1994, the policy-makers’ and implementers’ core beliefs are unaffected by policy information, major policy change results rather from external factors
such as inflation and elections cited by Shulock, 1999, p. 226. The study purports to explore this policy issue, giving meaningful insights into the
theoretical perspectives and explanations advanced to explicate and demystify this global policy phenomenon. It seeks to do this using the ‘Free’, ‘Compulsory’, ‘Universal’ ‘Basic
Education fCUBE policy in Ghana to achieve what I call ‘a means to an end’ agenda of critical policy evaluation. That is, it purports to explore the policy paradox using the
‘fCUBE’ policy as an exemplar and with a view to finding out the extent to which the ‘free’, ‘compulsory’, ‘universal’ and ‘basic education’ components are genuinely
reflected in the implementation and institutionalisation process.
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My aim in this study is towards exploring the points of convergence and divergence in what the ‘fCUBE’ documentation says about the components of the policy and how these
components are perceived, articulated and interpreted by the meso-level implementers and actors. Based on this assessment, I hope to attempt an explanation of how this policy
mirage could be understood better using Ball’s 1994 composite theory of policy as both a ‘text’ and ‘discourse’. By meso-level implementers and actors, I mean those actors of
policy, who by virtue of their position between the policy-makers and politicians, and the actual implementers—headteachers and teachers—of policy, are involved in
recontextualising policy. The ‘fCUBE’ and the policy issue
According to the ‘fCUBE’ policy documentation, the ‘fCUBE’ is a comprehensive sector-wide programme designed to provide good quality basic education for all children
of school-going age in Ghana by the year 2005. It was set up in fulfilment of the Fourth Republican Constitutional mandate which states in Chapter 6, Section 38, sub-section 2
that:
The Government shall, within two years after Parliament first meets, after coming into force of this Constitution, draw up a programme for
implementation within the following ten years, for the provision of Free, Compulsory and Universal Basic Education for all Ghanaian children of
school-going age. Ghana Publishing Corporation, 1992
In line with this constitutional provision, the Ministry of Education MOE in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service GES came out in April, 1996 with a
policy-document to officially implement the ‘fCUBE’ policy. Among the aims of the policy, those that are of importance and worth stressing, as far as this study is concerned
are:
• to make schooling from basic stage 1 through 9 6-15yrs, free and compulsory for all school age children by the year 2005.
• to improve the quality of teaching and learning: recognizing the fact that 22 of children of school-going age that is, P1 to P6 are not in school, 29 of students
in the Junior Secondary Schools JSS are not in school, and that there are less vacancies for students who qualify to enter Senior Secondary Schools SSS.
Given that the ‘fCUBE’ policy is still in use in spite of the fact that the year 2005 by which time it is expected to be fully institutionalised had already passed, the pertinent
question to ask is, how far have the aims and objectives of the ‘fCUBE’ policy been achieved? A small-scale exploratory study conducted by the researcher on the ‘fCUBE’
policy in its final phase of implementation in one of the districts—Akatsi District—in Ghana in 2004, came out with interesting findings. The aim of that study was to give a
snap-shot of progress made through the programme and to consider if there were any problems and hindrances that the implementation and institutionalisation process was
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beset with. The findings showed that teaching and learning in basic schools in the Akatsi District has improved tremendously and this was reflective of the Basic Education
Certificate Examination B.E.C.E. results. Similarly, through the capacity building programmes designed to guide implementation, community involvement and
participation in education is said to have improved dramatically, and so also was pupils intake and attendance. Additionally, the findings revealed that the basic educational
sector particularly in the Akatsi District also saw a considerable improvement in terms of the provision and expansion of infrastructural facilities.
In spite of these achievements, the study did identify a serious ambiguity in the wording of the policy title. This ambiguity is explicated in the fact that although the policy states
explicitly that basic education in Ghana shall be free for all children of school-going-age, the parents who took part in the study for instance, complained that they still pay
substantial amounts of money as levies for their children. Similarly, although one is made to believe that schooling for the first nine years constituting ‘Basic Education’ in Ghana
is mandatory, the Educational Authorities confirmed that there is hardly any legal framework or law to enforce compliance with this constitutional order. Thirdly, the
findings suggested a gross disparity in basic education provision and delivery between rural or deprived communities and the semi-urban ones. The rural or deprived
communities lack qualified personnel, teaching learning materials, equipment and facilities for effective teaching and learning whilst the semi-urban ones are better
endowed with these resources. Although the validity and reliability of the findings of this small-scale enquiry could be
contested, in that the methodology—the strategy survey and instruments self- completion questionnaire and document study—could be said not to have been ‘wide
ranging’ enough for such inferences and generalisations to be made, the point still holds water that the ambiguity in the wording of the policy title which has been highlighted
does point fingers to the policy paradox illuminated earlier. This revelation thus justifies the resolve by the researcher to conduct a further enquiry into the issue. The current study
seeks to address the following four questions: 1. What does a critical discourse analysis of the policy provisions contained in the
‘fCUBE’ documentation say? 2. In what ways are the fCUBE policy provisions and components perceived and
interpreted by the meso-level actors or implementers? 3. Where do the views presented in 1 and 2 converge and diverge?
4. Given a conceptual framework which sees educational policy as both a ‘text’ and a ‘discourse’, what can a theoretical analysis of the discussions in 1, 2 and 3 suggest
about the ‘fCUBE’ implementation process and in deed the policy implementation paradox?
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2. Theoretical context
A review of the educational policy literature reveals the view endorsed by empirical studies and the policy literature that policy implementation strategies are most often
different form actual policy intentions and provisions. This section of the paper explores briefly the perspectives that have been advanced to explain this phenomenon.
Change management perspective Those who subscribe to this perspective for example, Bennett, Crawford Riches,
1992; Newton et al., 1992; Fullan, 2001; Huczynski Buchanan, 2001; Everard Morris, 2004 hold the view that the policy implementation paradox exists because the
policy makers, implementers and change agents are unable to, or fail to put in place operational plans to ensure efficient and effective implementation of policies enacted. For
this school of thought, policy implementation is not just a question of defining an end and letting others get on with it. It is a process of interaction, dialogue, feedback, modifying
objectives, recycling plans, coping with mixed feelings and values, pragmatism, micropolitics, frustration, and muddle.
Everard and Morris 2004 for instance identify the cause of the problem as being basically the rationality of change agents in thinking that by spelling out the logic of their
vision to the world in words of one syllable, and everyone will be immediately motivated to follow the lead. Fullan 1988; 2001 on his part problematizes the implementation
process. For him, understanding the meaning of implementation and its associated problems is not as straightforward and rational as it seems at first glance. He identifies
implementation as a “variable” - in other words “changing practice” - and goes further to explain that it is the process of altering existing practice in order to achieve more
effectively certain desired learning outcomes. Huczynski and Buchanan 2001 pitch the existence of the policy implementation paradox among other things, on the resistance to
change. They cite Bedian’s 1980 four reasons, namely: parochial self-interest of individuals or groups in the organisation; misunderstanding and lack of trust of the
change process; contradictory assessment of change; and low tolerance for change: to exemplify why change in organisations and institutions are strongly resisted. They go on
to project that as long as these conditions exist in organisations, change and policy outcomes will forever remain partially met or totally neglected pp. 599–560.
Viewed through the change management lens, this perspective generally exemplifies the kind of practical, operational and strategic plans or works that need doing in order to
bring about the desired policy outcomes. However, the weakness of this approach is that the perspective is limited in scope and rationality. It either misses out completely or
neglects the socio-cultural and political dimensions and dynamism of the policy process. The perspective presupposes that once the change management routines and operational
plans are well conceptualised, put in place and efficiently and effectively pursued, policy implementation is bound to succeed.
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Democraticparticipatory perspective The democraticparticipatory perspective suggests that it is not the case that policy
provisions enacted for implementation are not being pursued to the latter, but rather that the problem lies in the fact that policy performs significant democratic roles which the
traditionalistrationalist approach overlooks or neglects. The perspective registers the claim that the globalisation of capitalism in recent years has exerted much influence on
countries and their educational systems worldwide. This phenomenon, the perspective claims, has led to a paradigm shift in leadership, and as a result, decision-making in
education has become a participative activity shared among various local school constituents, namely teachers, parents and members of the school management
committees. One of the researchers whose work has been most influential in offering this theoretical
basis in support of the democraticparticipatory perspective is Shulock 1999. She uses data on policy analysis use by Congregational Committees from 1985 to 1994 in the US
to test the theoretical claim that analysis is neither used by policymakers to solve problems nor to choose alternatives in the design of public policies. Although Shulock’s
study appears a bit removed from the issue in contention, it does however have serious implications for education. The findings from her study for instance, have led Shulock to
critique the traditional and rational view of policy process in favour of a more interpretiveparticipatory approach. She argues that the rationalist foundation of the
traditional policy process unduly limits our understanding of policy analysis and its role in the policymaking and implementation process. She claims that policy analysis [and in
this context policy implementation], is used in three ways not validated by the traditional view. Policy analysis is used: a as a language for framing political discourse; b as a
legitimate rationalization for legislative action where prospective rationality is inhibited by ‘garbage can’ decision environments; and c as a symbol of legitimate decision
processes that can increase support for governance processes in a society that values rationality p. 229.
Thus the democraticparticipatory perspective provides an alternative role of policy based on a more contemporary set of theoretical premises which identify the implementation
process as an effective instrument of the democratic process rather than a problem- solving one typified by the stages view and approach. The major criticism however, is
that the alternative interpretive and participatory view of the policy process and the task of implementation may necessarily not be the prime concern of policymakers and
implementers. Post-modernist perspective
The post-modernist approach to the policy paradox is a call for a fundamental conceptualisation and redefinition of policy and its role in the decision-making and
implementation processes. The researchers in this tradition for example, Codd, 1988; Ball, 1994; Corbitt, 1997; Trowler, 1998; Olssen et al, 2004; Walford, 2000 argue that
although we do invest heavily in policy making processes, there is a lack of credible evidence to suggest that those policies do make any differences in solving our myriad
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problems. They emphasize that if information has an impact on policy outcomes at all, it does so only over the long term because the policy makers and implementers either fail or
are unable to clearly define and conceptualise policy. ‘The meaning of policy is taken for granted and a theoretical and epistemological dry rot is built into the analytical structures
constructed’ Ball, 1994, p. 15 making it difficult, if not impossible for policy provisions and intentions to be implemented and outcomes attained.
From this stand point, the adherents of this perspective propose two very different conceptualisations of policy—‘policy as text’ and ‘policy as discourse’—based on what
they see as a post-modernist understanding of policy where ‘two theories are probably better than one’ Ball, p. 14. Although the accounts of this model, remain tentative
Walford, 2000, it is illuminating in the sense that it identifies the challenge of relating ‘together analytically the ad hocery of the macro and the ad hocery of the micro without
losing sight of the systematic bases and effects of the ad hoc social actions: to look for the iterations embedded within chaos’ Ball, 1994, p. 15.
As ‘text’, the conception of policy embraces both written and spoken text. However, for the purposes of this study ‘policy as text’ refers exclusively to written text, and signifies
the contested, changing and negotiated character of policy processes. ‘Policy as text’ draws upon the insights of literary theory and recognises the complex ways in which
textual representations are encoded as a result of compromises and struggles. It rejects the technical-empirical approach to understanding policy implementation where there is a
quest for authorial intentions presumed to lie behind the text Walford, 2000, p. 124. It reiterates the point that texts are made up of language and as such contain divergent
meanings, contradictions and structured omissions and that a plurality of readings that are liable to be produced are in themselves indicative of the existence of a plurality of readers
Codd, 1998, p. 238. ‘Policy as discourse’ in this context is taken to mean the way the ideas and propositions
contained in the texts are expressed and how their interpretation constrains the ‘intended’ meanings of such texts. It draws on and emphasizes basically the postmodernist view of
the ways in which the discourse available to us as people, limit and shape our views and perspectives about the world. Such an idea ‘links to those of Foucault 1997 and many
others and emphasizes the limitations on what can be said and thought, and also who can speak, when, where and with what authority’ Walford, 2000, p. 125. Related
particularly to the apparent policy paradox, the conception draws on the ways in which the constraining effects of the discursive contexts set up by the policy-makers come to the
fore in the policy implementation and institutionalization processes.
The weakness here, of course is that of engaging in the old unfashionable position in educational and sociological research which stipulates that in the analysis of complex
social issues, two theories are better than one. That notwithstanding, the post-modernist perspective is interesting and insightful. It suggests for instance that as ‘text’, there are
real struggles over the interpretation and enactment of policies due to the contested, muddy, changing and negotiated nature and character of the policy process. ‘Policy as
discourse’ on the other hand buttresses the moving and discursive frames within which
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these struggles are set and how these articulate and constrain the interpretation and enactment of policies.
It is important to note that owing to the fact that the change management perspective neglects the socio-cultural context of policy whilst the core issues at the heart of the
democratic perspective is subsidiary to the policy implementation process, the post- modernist conceptualisation of policy as ‘text’ and ‘discourse’ is adopted as a framework
for analysing the ‘fCUBE’ policy. The decision to opt for this is grounded in the potency of such a conceptualisation as a discourse based, participants oriented and
languagesocio-culturally focused framework to critical policy evaluations.
3. The study methodology
