Following policy: a network ethnography of the UK character education policy community

TY - JOUR

T1 - Following policy: a network ethnography of the UK character education policy community

AU - Allen, Kim

AU - Bull, Anna

PY - 2018/6/1

Y1 - 2018/6/1

N2 - Over the past fifteen years, there has been a growing interest and investment in ‘character’ education across the UK political landscape. Alongside the activities of central government, character education has been promoted by a range of non-government actors in the UK and beyond, including philanthropic foundations, think tanks, education entrepreneurs, and academics. It is the presence of these actors and their relationship to, and influence on, UK government policy that we examine in this article. Investigating character education from a perspective of policy formation and influence, we trace the key policy actors who have contributed to the adoption of character education in the UK, and their international connections, identifying the resources, activities and relationships through which they have achieved policy influence.A central and original contribution of this article is in identifying the financial and ideological influence of US Christian neoconservative philanthropic foundation the John Templeton Foundation (JTF) on social science research and policy in the UK. Our analysis identifies academics in the UK and US who, through considerable JTF funding, have provided an evidence base that authorises character education as a policy solution. We also locate ‘policy entrepreneurs’ as key nodal actors, whose social capital and elite membership helps to lubricate network relations and facilitate policy influence. Finally, we consider the motivations and vested interests of policy actors, including the JTF’s particular model of philanthropy, and conclude that the character education agenda is underpinned by a set of ideas that promote a free-market, individualistic and socially conservative worldview.

AB - Over the past fifteen years, there has been a growing interest and investment in ‘character’ education across the UK political landscape. Alongside the activities of central government, character education has been promoted by a range of non-government actors in the UK and beyond, including philanthropic foundations, think tanks, education entrepreneurs, and academics. It is the presence of these actors and their relationship to, and influence on, UK government policy that we examine in this article. Investigating character education from a perspective of policy formation and influence, we trace the key policy actors who have contributed to the adoption of character education in the UK, and their international connections, identifying the resources, activities and relationships through which they have achieved policy influence.A central and original contribution of this article is in identifying the financial and ideological influence of US Christian neoconservative philanthropic foundation the John Templeton Foundation (JTF) on social science research and policy in the UK. Our analysis identifies academics in the UK and US who, through considerable JTF funding, have provided an evidence base that authorises character education as a policy solution. We also locate ‘policy entrepreneurs’ as key nodal actors, whose social capital and elite membership helps to lubricate network relations and facilitate policy influence. Finally, we consider the motivations and vested interests of policy actors, including the JTF’s particular model of philanthropy, and conclude that the character education agenda is underpinned by a set of ideas that promote a free-market, individualistic and socially conservative worldview.

KW - character

KW - education

KW - governance

KW - grit

KW - John Templeton Foundation

KW - networks

KW - philanthropy

KW - policy

KW - positive psychology

U2 - 10.1177/1360780418769678

DO - 10.1177/1360780418769678

M3 - Article

SN - 1360-7804

VL - 23

SP - 438

EP - 458

JO - SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ONLINE

JF - SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ONLINE

IS - 2

ER -