Power, Policy, and Partnerships: Stakeholder Perspectives on Scottish School Age Childcare Policy Development

The development of school-age childcare (SAC) policy in Scotland has developed in response to shifting societal, economic and political priorities (Scottish Government, 2018) and is shaped by a complex web of stakeholders, each with varying degrees of influence, interests, and perspectives. Currently, over 43,000 children are registered with SAC services in Scotland, despite this ubiquity of use, the area of SAC in Scotland has received relatively little attention, whether from academic research, or through government policy development. Acknowledging the move towards a new phase of policy development (Scottish Government, 2023), this poster establishes the historical and policy context informing my doctoral research and presents ethical and methodological challenges faced. This research examines the role of stakeholders in shaping SAC policy, exploring their contributions to policy formulation and implementation. A systematic review of relevant literature and policy documents enabled me to map out current discourses, highlight areas of convergence and divergence, and identify gaps in knowledge. Using a poststructural framework informed by Bacchi (2012), the study interrogates how power operates within policymaking processes and how certain voices are privileged or marginalized. It challenges fixed meanings and seeks to reveal hidden assumptions, contradictions, and the ways in which policies shape social realities. Drawing on my research, I will discuss the ethical and methodological challenges of researching power relations in policymaking. I challenge orthodox research methods by proposing alternative methodologies for example, walking interviews (O’Neill and Roberts, 2020) as an alternative means of capturing stakeholder narratives and experiences. Early findings suggest that power dynamics, competing agendas, and differing conceptualisations of SAC may contribute to tensions in policy development. Navigating these complexities requires methodological reflexivity, particularly when engaging with stakeholders who hold varying levels of authority and expertise (Lancaster, 2017). This presentation will focus on how alternative methodologies may uncover discourses in childcare policy research, offering insights into how creative methods can enhance our understanding of policy development and stakeholder engagement in SAC.