Analysis of educational policies: brief theoretical and methodological considerations

Abstract

This article presents some theoretical and methodological considerations on the analysis of educational policies. It seeks to demonstrate that debate surrounding these issues, despite being necessary and relevant, is still lacking in the Brazilian context. Thus, it highlights the importance of expanding the dialogue with other approaches and analytical frameworks, as applied in other countries, with the aim of strengthening the theoretical underpinnings of Brazilian educational research in this field. Based on the ideas of several authors (Bowe et al., 1992; Rhodes and Marsh, 1992; Ball, 1994, 2007; Taylor, 1997; Fulcher, 1999; Muller, 2000; Muller and Surel, 2002; Olssen et al., 2004; Lingard and Ozga, 2007), it points out that research on education policies, committed to a dialectical and critical perspective, demands a broader investigation of the range of influences that operate in the process of policy making, such as: global/international influences, multilateral agencies, national and local political structures, groups and policy networks, among others. More specifically, the article emphasizes the role of policy networks in the process of competing influences, arguing that such networks can have different aims and that they are useful for understanding the correlation of forces and the competing influences present in the policy-making and decision-making process.