Policy as dense jungle

Year: 2016

Author: Nguyen, Linh

Type of paper: Abstract refereed

Abstract:
This paper derives from my on-going doctoral research entitled Digital Technology Policy in English Language Education in a Vietnamese University, which is aimed at investigating policy effects within interplaying contexts in a policy trajectory. The research design was a case study of a public university; and the tool for data collection was 36 individual semi-structured interviews with the university top leaders, faculty deans, academics and cross-university experts from support units. Prior to my field trip, I was mindful of the hope and hype of technology determinism, heterogeneity of education policy implementation, and cross-field effects between different institutional actors. Indeed I acknowledged Vietnam’s multi-layered educational ‘policyscape’ (Carney, 2008) of the Higher Education Reform Agenda, and National Foreign Language Project, which promoted digital technology use in language education. At this stage, with completely collected data, I could say the implementation of digital technology policy in the research site share common attributes of education policy enactment elaborated in critical policy sociology, particularly in terms of the ‘ad hocery’ and messiness of policy interpretation (Ball, 1993). There are, however, some vernacular aspects of policy enactment in that university. This paper would thus take a close look at the institutional locality with the aim of conceptualising its policyscape.The data analyses, drawing on notions of ‘policy as text’ and ‘policy as discourse’ (Ball, 1993), have revealed three institutional attributes. First, though digital technology policy in English language education has been articulated in the national and institutional agendas, the university top leaders have difficulties in advocating and diffusing it to staff at all levels, particularly the grassroots’. Second, the university concurrently prioritises many policies, including that of digital technology; therefore, it is uneasy to see flagship policy's effects. Third, the digital technology policy is differently interpreted by different actors; however, there is little institutional recognition for good practices, the actual enactment of policy thus depends greatly on an individual sense of agency. From these points of departure, I conceptualise the vernacular policyscape of that university as the ecosystem of a jungle where policies are like diverse types of co-existing flora; and institutional actors play the role of jungle dwellers. To navigate in such dense jungle for transformative policy implementation, I would argue for the significance of human factor and their strong sense of agency, which could contribute to top-down firm leadership, bottom-up constructive voices, as well as effective middle management and elaboration of policy discourses.Ball, S. J. (1993). What is policy? Texts, trajectories and toolboxes. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 13 (2), 10-17Carney, S. (2008). Negotiating policy in an age of globalization: Exploring educational “policyscapes” in Denmark, Nepal and China. Comparative Education Review 53 (1), 63-88

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