Policy rhetoric and the renovation of English schooling: the case of Creative Partnerships

Facing difficulties in the implementation of its ‘standards’ agenda, the English government has recently introduced a set of policy strategies and initiatives which seek to promote enjoyment, innovation and creativity in education. One such initiative is Creative Partnerships (CP). Funded predominantly from the Arts portfolio, CP brings creative practitioners into schools with the intention of bringing change to teaching and learning, and, more widely, of achieving whole school change. Using a corpus of policy texts and interviews, we examine the claims made within CP about innovation and indicate the rhetorical means by which the impression of radical change is married to the standards agenda. In particular, we highlight the ways in which texts re‐work traditions of progressive change. We argue that this rhetorical recuperation of the ideals of an earlier period is a sign of a more general policy adjustment in English education. However, since it is combined with a continuing commitment to market‐driven change, it cannot be said to be indicative of a new policy settlement.