The theory and the reality of the Picot Report: a case study in the formulation and implementation of education policy

Abstract

This thesis examines the most significant reform of the administration of the state education system since the Education Act of 1877. An historical, and chronological, approach is taken, which enables the reforms to be examined in their full context - historical, social, political, cultural and economic. In 1987 the Fourth Labour Government established a five-person independent taskforce to examine education administration. The context of the Taskforce, the selection process and its degree of independence are explored. The working methods of the Taskforce, the influence of the Secretariat, and the construction of its report are also examined. The Government accepted the Taskforce's Report, Administering for Excellence, now known as the Picot Report, and proceeded to largely implement it. The foundations for some of the subsequent difficulties in the implementation process are shown to emanate from inherent contradictions, unresolved tensions, and differing philosophical emphases evident in the Report. The role of a group of state officials, constituted as an Officials Committee is examined, as they assisted the Government in turning the Picot Report into government policy. The significance of a huge public response to the Picot Report, known as the 20,000 responses, is also examined. The policy document to emerge from these deliberations was Tomorrow's Schools. Although Tomorrow's Schools was largely an affirmation of the Picot Report there were some significant modifications. The reasons for some of these modifications are explored. During the period of implementation that followed the release of Tomorrow's Schools a large number of people were involved in the process of adapting a theoretical model to the practical world of the school and its administration, as well as the complete reorganisation of the central agency, the Department of Education. The process was not a smooth one, and the problems encountered, including the pressures of time for implementing such major change and continuing differences over the thrust of the reforms, are examined. It is shown that there are outstanding issues concerning the direction of education in New Zealand, and that the struggle for the control of education is far from over.