Joint PIC - P2V meeting: Questioning policymaking
The theme of the joint PIC-P2V meeting that took place on May 16th, 2008, at BECTA was: ways and means of improving the impact of the work of policy-makers on policy decisions. The theme was chosen in relation to the work of the policy strand of P2V, in particular the Barcelona seminar and the work on evaluation
The PIC meeting began with an animated discussion about ways in which policy processes are changing and the impact of these changes on the ways of working of policy-makers and policy decision-makers. Discussion also covered the question of the profile of the policy-maker and whether the related competences could by learnt or not. This led to a debate about the legitimacy of policy-makers and the credibility of their policy proposals. In response to the question: “Do policy-makers have a right to follow a separate agenda in formulating policy?” participants explored the relationship between policy-makers and decision-makers and discussed the impact of democracy on ways of working in policy formulation. The discussions were enriched and stimulated by two presentations, one about the introduction of interactive whiteboards by Doug Brown (BECTA) and the other by Jordi Vivancos (Catalonian Ministry of Education) about the P2V seminar in Barcelona and innovation in Catalonian schools. PISA was also briefly discussed as an example of a policy-making strategy. A more detailed report on these discussions will be available as one of the series of evaluation reports about P2V.