sheikh and bagley underline the role of relationships among actors in creating shared understandings which then function as filters through which the relevance and meaning of new policies are interpreted or translated for example the vision that a teacher education institution has of teachers knowledge will influence the way in which the institution incorporates professional standards into its programme this vision is reflected in discourses embedded in institutional artefacts such as the programme curriculum or course descriptions which will impact on how staff receives and interprets the discourse of standards