This paper presents a new heuristic device for the analysis of educational policy. Through an examination of the Evaluative State and the work of Brian Fay, the paper considers the way in which educational policy is subject to rational and linear forms of policy action and implementation. To counter this, positioning theory is deployed to consider…

Shortly after taking power following the May 2010 UK general election, the Conservative/Liberal Democrat government published its education white paper, "The Importance of Teaching". In this, certain features for primary school pedagogy can be discerned. Using the lens of the "position call", this article examines the…