Module 1: Policy, Policy makers and Funding

This module provides opportunities for the learner to critical reflect on the impact of proactive policy makers & policy formation on the promotion of inclusive and equitable education. It offers the learner an opportunity to interrogate the broad aims of educational policy as well as the effects of educational policy on practice. It will highlight the importance of policy in grounding successful educational initiatives. It will examine how stakeholders can engage with policy makers to influence educational change and transformation. Through practical examples of national, regional, and local educational policy making provided in the module, it will focus on historical policy formation as well as the key role policy makers occupy in supporting educational initiatives. It will interrogate why support from national, regional, and local policy makers is important for the success of an initiative targeted at educational inclusion. There will be focus on both top-down and bottom-up approaches to policy formation and why both are important in addressing marginalisation, exclusion, and inequality. It will utilise practical policy examples from several EU countries, and the learner will gain knowledge about successful educational policies that specifically address educational inclusion. It will examine the key role funding, particularly sustained funding plays in ensuring educational policy is successfully implemented by schools etc.