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Why DfE Only Talks To A Few People: And Why This Isn’t Really About London
(A giant subtweet of people moaning about Ark)
(A giant subtweet of people moaning about Ark)
Most fundamentally, this stems from a misconception about how to engage with government. Ironically given a lot of people with edu expertise moan that govt doesn’t respect that, this misconception comes because people don’t recognise policymaking / influencing policy is a skill
To properly understand what civil servants are after, and to give them something which is practical, timely, politically acceptable and feasible, is a skill. Those in the sector who have it are prized - and engaged with
Some very practical examples: Have a clear suggestion. Govt is *constantly* asking the sector how to reduce teacher workload for example. I remember begging teachers / academies / unions “point me to a specific law / bit of guidance you hate and causes workload”. Answer came none
Don’t be an academic that can’t explain your research in less than 200 pages and 2 years after it starts and uses only words of three syllables or more That’s almost always useless. Academics who can talk to non academics (officials) are like hen’s teeth. They get asked back.
(I remember being in a roundtable where one academic explained his research in thirty seconds and made a concrete suggestion. At that point, I think DfE would have knighted him on the spot. It was brilliant)
And please please don’t hide all your research behind a paywall. If the final published journal article is subscription only, help officials out by publishing a working version on your own / your university’s website
Don’t say “everything about this policy area is shit and I hate it all” It may be cathartic but is basically useless to officials who, well, can’t do that. If it makes you feel better, well done. But don’t be surprised if it doesn’t get acted on
Don’t say “I can’t believe politicians act politically”. Yes they do. If you want to be heard, explain why this fits in with what they’re trying to do, or at least have an understanding of where they’re coming from when you disagree
Make yourself visible. Often an official in DfE is desperate to hear from eg a headteacher who is doing X. How will they find you if you don’t write about it / put it on your website / blog / tweet / share with your union / email colleagues?
If you’re a teacher, it’s *really* great to show how your proposal works in your school. Write it up as a case study (DfE always needs these!). Know what you did, with how many kids, for how long, what the effect was, and what you think works and doesn’t work well about it
If you’re a MAT who does innovative stuff and gets good results at scale - like, say Ark - this obviously magnifies your interest to government
This all applies if you’re bidding for funding. Understand exactly what the DfE is asking for and how to explain it in a way that makes sense to policymakers. Public procurement rules are strict so DfE can’t guess what they think you might have meant, even if they want to
Finally, understand the mechanics of how government works. Does this need a change in the law? When is the earliest this could roll out? How much roughly would it cost? Could this be something which every school could do? You’ll need to have a plausible answer to these questions
(Unions are actually good at this stuff because they have policy teams, so don’t be afraid to feed in through them as an alternative. Or institutions like subject associations, chartered college, teaching schools alliances)
Or, ahem, come work with me or Public First and we can help
(other policy consultancies are available)
(but not as good)
(other policy consultancies are available)
(but not as good)
Basically if you can do some or all of this, you’ll have a great chance of being asked back to stuff again and again. Even if, whisper it, you’re in the North.
Addendum: I forgot that @nickhillman wrote this up in a way that is funnier and briefer than this. Basically read that instead
Actually Nick has written two. Because of course he has (once an academic, etc). This is also brilliant (and actually the one I was thinking of)
