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Policy Maker Questions

 

PART 1: Your Personal Experience/Career (Policy Makers)

NB Essential to research policy involvements before interview and to be fully briefed about the details of the policies discussed, including major public documents

  • Tell me about your work at [......agency]
  • How did you first get involved with ABE and why? [ENTRY STORY]
  • Motivations: did these change?
  • Tell me about how [initiative] came about. - pick out several initiatives specifically for each interviewee and repeat sequence of questions as appropriate.
  • What were you doing at the time of this initiative?
  • Whose ideas? How promoted/lobbied for? Rationale for development? Who was involved? Who else had an influence on this initiative? Who was most influential?
  • What response did this initiative receive [from the practitioner field, from students, the general public, other agencies, government]
  • What happened as a result of this initiative? How did you evaluate this? If successful, what was the key to this?
  • If not, what lessons learnt from it?
  • What influence did it have on later developments?
  • Were there specific national/local or regional impacts?
  • X and Y people have said this about this initiative "QUOTE........." How would you respond to that?
  • Overall, what lessons have you learned from your involvement with these initiatives /agencies?
  • How do you think your role is understood by practitioners/students/general public/media?
  • Who do you think are the students and potential students of ABE?How would you sum up the importance of , the point of ABE?
  • In your view, what are the key things about successful learning in ABE?Do you think that learning can be more successful in certain contexts rather than others? (e.g. workplace, community)
  • Do you think there are key learning/teaching methods or technologies?

PART 2: The Bigger Picture (Policy Makers)

  • What do you think is the scale of need for ABE and has this changed since the 1970's campaign?
  • If changed, reasons why?
  • Do you think there are different views among different agencies/gov/the field, different ideas about how things should have moved? If so, how do these get heard/resolved?
  • Try to get at their view about the policy process? e.g. what could be done to bring policy and practice closer together?
  • Could you sum up the role you have played in the field of ABE since you entered it?
  • Involvement with/perceptions of Literacy, numeracy or ESOL?How important a role do you think the media have played?
  • In what ways? [e.g promoting awareness of the need, changing public perceptions teaching through TV, reporting in the press]
  • X and Y people have said this about this initiative "QUOTE........." How would you respond to that?

PART 3: Key Moments and People (Policy Makers)

  • Looking back at your career path in decades 1970s 80s 90s, who or what has been most influential in developing the field of ABE as it stood before the new Skills for Life campaign/as it stands now?
  • What stands out when you look back at your experience of ABE? Could you identify a key moment (s) what would this be (they be?)
    · Key people
    · Key moments
    · Key organizations
  • Highs and lows? Good and bad things about being involved - difficulties, challenges, contradictions, pleasures, satisfactions?
  • What do you think the next step will be and why?
  • Lasting effects on you, your views, your professional activities?
  • Effects on how you view your own literacy and educational experiences,attitudes, practices

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