英國1988年教育改革法案是英國教育史上非常重要的里程碑,其不僅徹底改變英國自二次大戰以來的教育系統,也奠定英國80年代之後教育發展的基礎。 本研究係以政策網絡觀點解釋上述法案的形成過程,運用內容分析法探討該法案之重要規定,並回溯該法案之政策過程,分析政策系絡與政策參與者,最後並建構出英國1988年教育改革法案之政策網絡圖像與其政策網絡分析架構。 研究發現英國1988年教育改革法案有多元參與者,各參與者對政策的影響力不盡然相同。根據參與者在政策網絡中的相對位置,描繪出的英國1988年教育改革法案的政策網絡圖像為三個同心圓的環狀圖。中心者為核心網絡,核心網絡成員對法案具有主導性的力量,組成成員包括首相Margaret Thatcher、教育大臣Kenneth Baker與CPS的教育小組成員,其政策網絡型態係屬Marsh and Rhodes(1992)所謂的政策社群;圍繞著核心網絡的是外圍網絡,其組成成員有Thatcher與Baker的親近幕僚與友人、CPS與NACE等智庫、新右派壓力團體(IEA、HG、FEVER)、保守黨教育學者(CEs)、國會議員等,其關係類型為專業/利益社群;1988年教育改革法案之政策網絡最外一層則是邊陲網絡,是由媒體、LEAs、教師工會、家長與其他壓力團體所組成的議題網絡型態,對政策影響力不大,只是形成一股論述氛圍,執政者不見得採納其意見。 論文最後並根據研究結論,提出研究者反思、對台灣教育改革之建議與後續研究之建議。
The Educational Reform Act 1988 was a very important milestone in the history of British education. It not only completely reconstructed the education system since World War II, and also established the foundations for British education development after the eighties too. This research exams the policy process of the passage of the Act with a policy network approach, in which its context, content, process and particularly the policy participants are explored through content analysis. After analyzing the effectiveness and the strength of the participants’ influence, the picture of policy networking for the Education Reform Act 1988 can be describled as a three-ring concentric circles and those participants are positioned within. In the core circle, participants include the Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher, the Secretary of State for Education and Science Kenneth Baker and the members of Education Study Group of Centre for Policy Studies and the nature of the policy network is ‘policy communities’. In the second outbound circle, participants are the new rightist's pressure groups such as IEA, HG and FEVER, Margaret’s close staff and friends so as Baker’s, CPS, NACE, Conservative educationists and the Parliament. It is a professionalized/interests policy network. In the third circle, participants comprise the media, LEAs, teacher's union, parents and other pressure groups. The policy network is an issue network.