Policy cycles are initiated via a variety of context-bound causal drivers. In situations where systemic reform is desired, agenda-setting is vital to this process. This paper examines 'The National Discussion on Scottish Education', which was a sequence of stakeholder engagements promoted as a listening exercise to enable policy agenda-setting for…

This paper applies political discourse analysis to an examination of gubernatorial rhetoric and agenda setting around higher education in Texas during Governor Rick Perry's leadership, from 2000-2015. The authors analyzed 28 gubernatorial speeches using manifest content analysis in STATA and qualitative coding via pattern matching in Atlas.ti.…

This article considers the implications of a 'managed' approach to skills policy in Scotland, in which Government policy and the role of national institutional frameworks can be seen to be influential, and which contrasts with the more marketised approach which has been a central aspect of policy in England. A number of themes within these…

The American Graduation Initiative stands as the cornerstone of the Obama administration's higher education agenda. To investigate the state of the politics of education in the Age of Obama, this article employs critical discourse analysis to unveil the hidden meanings and ideological commitments inherent in Obama's policy discourse. Read within…

Some of the leading players in adult learning and a few regular contributors of "Adults Learning" were asked about what they would like to see on the agendas of ministers in the new Government. This article shares and presents the thoughts of these players in adult learning. These include: (1) "Sounds like lifelong learning" by…