GSB 673 Educational Planning and Policy
This unit provides an introduction to modern approaches, theories and practice employed in educational organisations with regard to planning, and to policy development and application. Educational institutions and systems today are deeply involved in the quite complex processes of developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating policies. Educational institutions also need to chart future their future directions and decide on key objectives, and specify what strategies will be employed to achieve particular objectives in environments often characterised by turbulence and change.
In essence, planning can be described a systematic processes undertaken in order to anticipate and prepare for the future. Planning involves decisions that organisations make in deciding on what objectives they wish to pursue, and defining the strategies that will be employed to achieve these. Policies can be defined as guidelines or decisions taken about how organisations will deal with particular problems, issues or administrative processes. Policies are guides to future action and are usually expressed in directives, guidelines, regulations and laws.
With regard to planning, special attention in the unit is given to the characteristics of effecting planning, strategic planning methodology, plan implementation and evaluation, planning tools, and performance indicators and benchmarking. The sections of the unit on policy include discussion of the characteristics of effective policy, policy processes, policy instruments, techniques of policy analysis, and contemporary policy theories. Theories discussed include political systems theory, interest group theory, elite theory, institutionalism, public choice theory, welfare economics, the rational-classical theory of decision-making, incrementalism and multiple advocacy.
Assessment is based on two essays (each of approximately 1,500 words) one project report (of approximately 3,000 words) and a two-hour examination. Each piece of written work gives students opportunities to apply concepts and theories to the work of their own organisation, or organisations with which they are familiar.