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This paper provides an overview of UK Arabic language teaching in supplementary and mainstream schools from available research papers and provides a synopsis of recent developments in supporting Arabic teaching at school level and pathways to Higher Education. The largest study cited is the 2016 research collaboration between the British Council, the Universities of Leeds, Edinburgh, Goldsmiths, and London, and Alcantara Communications [Snowden et al. (2016. Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language in the UK – Strand 1 Research: How Arabic is Being Taught in Schools. London: British Council)], exploring current teaching techniques, teachers' perceptions of diglossia and variation in Arabic, and these are incorporated when designing teaching activities and materials. With surveys, interviews and lesson observations, Snowden et al. show teachers believe in the importance of communication as a learning aim and are familiar with the communicative approach but many base learning activities on traditional writing tasks and less on listening and speaking. It shows that Arabic diglossia remains a challenge with teachers stating that learning dialects is important, yet they struggle to find appropriate approaches and materials for it. This paper presents challenges faced by Arabic teachers including foundational teacher training, continuous professional development and material design, concluding with recent developments in supporting teaching Arabic as a community language and recommendations for addressing current challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the current crisis in education research and how we might confront it. It begins by arguing that the 'coming crisis' facing empirical sociology identified by Savage and Burrows (2007) applies equally – if not more so – to empirical education research. Education researchers can no longer lay claim to specialist expertise in the analysis of social institutions and our 'tools of the trade' are increasingly unviable. These developments are compounded by the dominance of the 'cultural turn' within British education research which has made it difficult for education researchers to develop a cumulative evidence base, leading to a lack of traction with policymakers and a privileging of cultural inequalities in education over economic inequalities. The paper discusses how the education research community might respond to the challenges and considers whether we might do worse than follow the suggestion offered to sociologists that they should take 'a descriptive turn'. Taking such a turn will not be easy, but the alternative may be that education research in the UK will be even more marginalised as it becomes increasingly out-of-step with the developments in data, evidence and analysis being fostered outside the academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the revised Code of Practice is introduced, Jean Gross reminds us of some of the problems inherent in the model of individual-child planning which it retains. She suggests ways in which schools might - while still staying within the prescribed framework - reduce the burden of bureaucracy and develop systems which will more effectively target and deliver progress for children with special educational needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College governing boards are widely held to be the keystone of institutional strategy and the prime locus of support, challenge and accountability in respect of the actions of the senior Executive. Whilst there are many normative prescriptions about the conditions and arrangements required for effective college governance, relatively little is known about how and to what extent the practices of boards reflect or realise these prescriptions. This paper draws upon a unique research study of eight further education colleges across the four nations of the UK. Following Chia and MacKay and Hendry et al., our 'strategy as practice' approach gives primacy to emergence and immanence through board practices. Video and observational data, supplemented by some interview and documentary data are used to develop an understanding of governing practices. Our analysis suggests that current normative prescriptions lack the conceptual sophistication required to support governing as it really happens. We offer a reconceptualisation of both strategy and accountability suggesting that the latter includes lateral, inward- and outward-facing functions that make conflicting demands on governors. We argue that these distinctions are vital in enabling further positive development of governing in the college sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following lockdowns in 2020 owing to Covid‐19, schools needed to find a way to ensure the education of their pupils. In order to do this, they engaged in digital learning, to varying extents. Innovations emanated from all school staff including, for example, teachers, leaders and teaching assistants. Some were already innovating in this area and brought forward and implemented digital strategies, while others engaged with digital learning for the first time. While research is emerging about the effects of the pandemic restrictions on pupils and staff in relation to key issues such as mental health and educational attainment, very little is known about the impact on school leaders' strategic planning processes. To address this gap, this paper draws on a UK Research and Innovation funded study adopting a strategy as learning approach to report on 50 qualitative interviews with school leaders to examine digital strategy in English secondary schools, before, during and after July 2021, when restrictions were lifted in England. It draws on strategy as learning literature to evaluate if schools have changed their strategic planning for digital learning, as a direct response to having learned and innovated during the pandemic. The paper concludes that there is evidence that digital innovations during the pandemic have changed the ways in which leaders think about their digital strategy, thus supporting a strategy as learning approach. However it also concludes that although there is ample evidence that the pandemic has changed the way many schools view digital learning, for some schools, there remain persistent barriers to digital integration and planning. These emanate both from material and cultural considerations, as well as leader vision and belief in digital learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge of research methods teaching is gaining attention among policy-makers keen to build social science research capacity and, critically, among educationalists keen to enhance the pedagogy. This paper addresses pedagogy, presenting a new conceptual-empirical typology of pedagogy for social science research methods teaching. Taking a sociocultural perspective, pedagogy is seen as encompassing both actions and underlying values. A mix of qualitative methods was used to engage more than 100 methods teachers (plus students) from diverse UK and international contexts. An expert panel method and focus groups helped elucidate pedagogical knowledge. Video-stimulated reflective dialogue added detail to that knowledge. Thematic analysis was used to make sense of teaching practice with individuals and across the dataset. A typology of research methods teaching developed iteratively across this process, proposing the core categories of approach, strategy, tactics and tasks. In-depth case studies helped to gain nuance and test the emergent typology in situ. The paper argues that the typology contributes a dynamic tool for developing practice. It transforms the way we think about teaching and can be applied in any social science research method teaching context, benefitting the pedagogic community by enabling greater focus in planning and reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opportunities for children to be involved in the decisions made about them is a part of current statutory educational legislation. Person‐centred planning (PCP) has been proposed as an appropriate method of meeting statutory requirements. However, there is a dearth of research into its application within education. The paper describes a systematic literature review of current research into PCP within education for pupils with SEMH and the associated outcomes. PCP appears to be an effective way of engaging children, young people and their families but research within education is currently limited and methodologically weak. More rigorous research is needed into PCP and its effectiveness and should include the use of standardised and/or observable measures, more varied ranges of contexts and participants, and longitudinal and child‐led designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on international students' post-study plans centres on factors influencing migration and career decisions. However, few studies have considered the impacts of individual institutions on students' aspirations and their subsequent transitions after graduation. In this paper, I employ the notion of institutional habitus in order to explore the extent to which higher education institutions expand or limit the range of options that international students could envisage or realise. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 55 non-EU international postgraduate students from three different UK universities, this study aims to uncover the complex diversity that underpins ostensibly similar UK higher education degrees. Notwithstanding the overlapping influences of individual, family, friends and institution, I argue that individual institutions play a significant role in shaping the ways in which participants imagine and experience the field of possibilities after graduation. This perspective also enables a more detailed examination of differences between and within the institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the research examining students' university choosing in England focuses on rates of access to 'elite' universities for high-attaining state-educated students. By contrast, the experiences of students applying to 'new' universities remain under-researched. This paper considers moderately attaining 16–18 years olds as a discrete group and highlights how a combination of England's Higher Education (HE) policy and school performance measures may influence levels of support for students' university applications. Drawing on an ethnographic study of a London state school, it finds that support for students' university applications was differentiated in ways which overwhelmingly disadvantaged moderate attainers. A competitive school market, combined with a policy focus on 'fair access' to 'elite' institutions, meant high attainers' university applications were consistently prioritised. Some teachers were found who navigated dominant HE discourses, drawing on an ethical teacher habitus and their social and cultural capital to support students applying to less prestigious universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to quantify the relative importance of four key entrepreneurial characteristics identified in the literature (proactiveness, attitude to risk, innovativeness and self-efficacy) in predicting students' entrepreneurial intention (EI) across a range of faculties offering different subjects at a UK higher education institution (HEI). This approach will help to identify whether there are variations across the faculties in the predictors of EI. This enables recommendations to be made with regard to the development of educational delivery and support to encourage and develop the specific predictors of EI within the different subject areas. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses a 40-item questionnaire to obtain information on students' demographics, entrepreneurial characteristics and EI, based on a five-point Likert-type scale. Principle component analysis, correlation analysis and multiple hierarchical regression analysis are used to analyse the data from 1,185 students to develop models which predict EI for each of the six faculties. Findings: Individual models which predict EI are developed for each of the six faculties showing variations in the makeup of the predictors across faculties in the HEI. Attitude to risk was the strongest predictor in five of the six faculties and the second strongest predictor in the sixth. The differences, together with the implications, for educational approaches and pedagogy are considered. Originality/value: This research breaks down the level of analysis of EI to the individual faculty level in order to investigate whether different entrepreneurial characteristics predict EI in different academic disciplines across a UK HEI. This enables entrepreneurship educational approaches to be considered at a faculty level rather than a one size fits all approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much importance is now placed upon the evaluation of outreach interventions by higher education institutions (HEIs). Accompanying this focus are requests that HEIs prepare evaluation plans. Yet, whilst some now have plans in place, others do not. One of the challenges for those preparing such documents is that official guidance is not prescriptive in what these should include. Instead, institutions are asked to ‘build’ their own plans. Whilst there is a rationale to this approach, given the autonomy of HEIs, there is also a recognised value in the provision of case studies and the sharing of practice. Accordingly, this paper describes the framework developed by one institution in preparing its evaluation plan – a process informed by desk research. To assess the wider value of this ‘five-point framework’, the views of practitioners in three other HEIs who are involved in their own institution’s evaluation plans were sought. Evidence from these interviews confirms the value of the framework in terms of guiding the preparation of new plans and in informing existing ones. Whilst the paper lends support to the case for a structured approach to evaluation practice, it also acknowledges the limitations of planning and the need to recognise plans as working documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the development of teaching practice of the multinational staff delivering UK programmes in a higher education institution in Oman hosting these programmes. It presents a tool to evaluate the teaching practice, and points to those elements of an academic development framework that were found to be most useful in supporting staff in moving towards a student-centred, learning-focused teaching approach. The majority of the lecturers made this shift. We therefore conclude by arguing for long-term CPD aimed at enhancing teaching quality to be part and parcel of a partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses some of the qualitative data obtained from a small number (23) of semi-structured interviews of academic staff who are involved in module design, and who are employed within one UK university. Analysing the interview transcripts produced eight main themes. One of these themes was the perceived pressures or constraints on design. Using verbatim responses given by the interviewees, a discussion of the data used to illustrate this theme compares the findings of this project with those from the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

From the perspective of the UK, this paper addresses two main themes. It presents a higher education (HE) research agenda for the next decade linked to key policy challenges and reflects on the dynamics of the research–policy landscape. The paper begins by identifying four dimensions of the UK that will continue to be important as a focus for research and policy and goes on to identify seven policy challenges, posing these as questions for research at micro- and meta-levels of analysis. The paper illustrates relationships between HE research and policy development and discusses the range of actors now engaged in the policy–research landscape where a wide range of ‘evidence’ is drawn upon by policy-makers. The challenge facing researchers is to ensure that longer term and deeper issues are not neglected in the rush for funding and short-term policy impact. While successful researchers engage in policy networks, they also need to maintain a critical distance from policy; and policy-makers themselves must recognise that independent enquiry provides the best service for the development of both HE and wider society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the continuity and changes in Clarke’s ideas about the State and community in education, especially in relation to a rapidly changing political situation in England in the 1930s and 1940s. His ideas evolved in the intellectual context of British idealism. Moreover, in response to the threat to democracy arising from Fascism or Totalitarianism, the distinction between the State and community was a key theme in Clarke’s ideals of liberal democracy. Additionally, this paper also proposes the implications of Clarke’s ideas for future educational development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Courses are widely used to provide professional qualifications for higher education (HE) practitioners. However, the question of how experienced academics might gain recognition as professional educators without completing a course is not well explored. This paper introduces the use of professional dialogue for this purpose, describing an approach being applied within four UK universities. The paper discusses the value of the professional dialogue, drawing on assessors’ and participants’ voices to provide empirical evidence. Findings from the study suggest that ‘assessed dialogues’ provide a more authentic route to professional recognition for experienced HE academics, effectively synthesising professional development, the individual and organisational learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many universities around the world, internationalisation means the recruitment of fee-paying international students (so-called export education) for primarily commercial reasons. For UK universities, international (non-European Union) students account for approximately 13% of their annual revenues, making them highly dependent on international student recruitment. This paper discusses the attempt by one UK university to change direction and develop a new approach to internationalisation which puts an international learning experiencefor all studentsat the heart of its new strategic plan. It discusses the obstacles to changing direction in this way and shares some of the lessons learned about how to roll out an alternative university-wide internationalisation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has often been used to evaluate efficiency in the context of higher education institutions. Yet there are numerous alternative non-parametric measures of efficiency available. This paper compares efficiency scores obtained for institutions of higher education in England, 2013–2014, using three different methods: the original Charnes et al. method and two slacks-based methods (SBM-Min and SBM-Max) developed by Tone. The findings suggest that results are highly sensitive to methodology chosen. Hence caution is required in applying the results in any policy context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The SEN Green Paper and OFSTED have raised concerns about both variability in, and apparent over-identification of, SEN. This article draws on the authors' research into teachers' experiences of identification of SEN. Findings, along with critical exploration of the current 2001 SEN Code of Practice guidance and proposals for reform outlined in the 2011 SEN Green Paper, suggest that an overemphasis on trying to secure consistency is misconstrued as a route to securing improved outcomes for pupils with special educational needs. The identification of SEN in schools requires assessing the dynamic interaction between the pupil's unique learning characteristics, the class group learning environment and the demands of meeting prescribed curricular learning outcomes. Such acknowledgement renders variability in SEN identification rates between schools as an expected consequence of local responsive planning and provision, rather than an anomaly to be eliminated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical variety, richness and complexity of Islamic educational tradition raise questions concerning the underlying reasons for this diversity. It therefore becomes important to explore the debates that British Islamic schools draw upon to understand their educational aims as well as any future directions that they may take. This paper has two main aims. First, to give an overview of the institutional contexts of Islamic education and how they are linked to contemporary types of Islamic schools in Britain. Second, it provides a sketch of the attempts made towards the development of an effective Islamic curriculum based on debates around educational aims and learning priorities. Consequently, the paper has three main sections. The first gives a brief description of Islamic educational institutions up to the present day. The second part traces the evolution of theory in Islamic education and highlights its path through different contexts. The third section interweaves the contemporary and historical threads present in the educational discourses in British Islamic schools. In so doing, the paper suggests that development in the curriculum and the structure of Islamic schooling is continuously adjusting to the available contextual knowledge and educational structures, and the British context is no exception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personalisation has emerged as a central feature of recent educational strategies in the UK and abroad. At the heart of this is a vision to empower learners to take more ownership of their learning and develop autonomy. While the introduction of digital technologies is not enough to effect this change, embedding the affordances of new technologies is expected to offer new routes for creating personalised learning environments. The approach is not unique to education, with consumer technologies offering a 'personalised' relationship which is both engaging and dynamic, however the challenge remains for learning providers to capture and transpose this to educational contexts. As learners begin to utilise a range of tools to pursue communicative and collaborative actions, the first part of this paper will use analysis of activity logs to uncover interesting trends for maturing e-learning platforms across over 100 UK learning providers. While personalisation appeals to marketing theories this paper will argue that if learning is to become personalised one must ask what the optimal instruction for any particular learner is? For Vygotsky this is based in the zone of proximal development, a way of understanding the causal-dynamics of development that allow appropriate pedagogical interventions. The second part of this paper will interpret personalised learning as the organising principle for a sensemaking framework for e-learning. In this approach personalised learning provides the context for assessing the capabilities of e-learning using Vygotsky's zone of proximal development as the framework for assessing learner potential and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asserts that an Irish dimension should be taught within the context of diversity within the English history curriculum. The study explores perceptions of a wide range of respondents through the use of questionnaires and interviews undertaken during the period 2002-2007. Research findings suggest that perceptions of the place of Ireland in the history curriculum in UK schools are influenced by attitudes ranging from pragmatism to values associated with identity and diversity. The period from 2007 has also seen a plethora of reports related to diversity which have included specific references to an Irish dimension. There appeared to be a strong case for developing planning principles to underpin the place of an Irish dimension in the curriculum. Consequently, the final stage of the paper provides a curriculum model which relates an Irish dimension to the development of diversity and an inclusive map of the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers contemporary 'moral panics' around the underachievement of boys in school examinations in the UK and America. In the UK, in particular, the underachievement of boys is central to current 'crisis accounts' about falling standards and failing pupils. 'Underachievement' is a familiar word to those who work with young people, however, the term itself is not unproblematic. Indeed, for such a widely reported phenomenon, it is perhaps surprising that different perspectives as to the nature and importance of the concept exist. It is these different perspectives on a seemingly well-established discourse, along with an examination of the concept we call 'underachievement' that form the focus of this paper. The importance of ensuring a fair and equitable schooling experience for all students is implicit in many societies, and a consideration of current moral panics surrounding the underachievement of boys provides a useful case study to help us consider what it is that we can reasonably expect from our schools and exactly which (if any) groups of young people are being let down by our education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time when questions are being asked about the identity and purpose of academic development, this paper seeks to address these questions within the context of one country in which educational development has been actively supported. This study considers a narrative of the complex and contradictory reality of educational development in the United Kingdom based on the perceptions of heads of educational development. Based on a survey of over 40 institutions, the paper highlights the growth of educational development centres and considers their staffing, institutional location, role and responsibilities. It also seeks to explore some points of similarity and difference with trends in other countries. A l'heure ou des questions sont posees au sujet de l'identite et des visees du developpement pedagogique, cet article cible ces questions du point de vue d'un pays au sein duquel le developpement pedagogique a ete soutenu activement. Cette recherche examine l'historique de la “realite complexe et contradictoire” du developpement pedagogique au Royaume-Uni a partir des perceptions de directeurs de centres de developpement pedagogique. Se basant sur un sondage de plus de 40 institutions, l'article met en lumiere la croissance des centres de developpement pedagogique et examine leur localisation institutionnelle, leur role et leurs responsabilites. L'article cherche aussi a explorer les similitudes et les differences avec des tendances observees dans d'autres pays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reflects on the use by the UK central government of statistical evidence in educational policy matters. Particular attention is given to school league tables. The paper is generally critical of government attitudes, but suggests that progress towards rational decision-making does occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the background, assumptions and impact of the current fashion for area-based initiatives (ABIs). Since coming to power in 1997, New Labour has increasingly sought to tackle education and other inequalities in the UK through distributing resources on an area basis. Although at first sight the policy of targeting resources at the most deprived areas appears to offer a straightforward means of redistributing welfare, it can be deeply problematic. This paper explores the spatial dimension of educational administration and the underlying principles of ABIs in the UK. It argues that they are based on overly simplistic conceptualizations of the geography of inequality. The analysis exposes the inadequate theorization of the processes which generate educational (and other) inequalities and the limited repertoire of the state in redressing them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper notes the decline in philosophy of education in educational studies from its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. The explanation is manifold, but includes the more utilitarian and managerial concerns which find less room for the questioning of assumptions distinctive of philosophical enquiry. The paper then uses the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training to demonstrate the central importance of philosophical thinking if one is to pass from the 'disguised nonsense' to the 'patent nonsense' in much educational research, policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to review the progress made by UK higher education institutions (HEIs) to deliver the enterprise education agenda. The key areas for research included the type, content and delivery methods of graduate enterprise education being offered in the UK. Design/methodology/approach - A questionnaire was e-mailed to 123 HEIs in the UK, together with a brief introduction stating the purpose of the research. These were followed up by telephone calls to request responses. Findings - The paper finds that provision of entrepreneurship education is varied, with both entrepreneurship and innovation courses on offer. Entrepreneurship education is most often offered at postgraduate level and on a part time basis. Overall, delivery methods proved to be more traditional than anticipated, with few instances of action learning or the use of technology to support learning. There were differences between pre- and post-1992 HEIs, and little attention was given to topic areas evident in relevant UK policy initiatives. Research limitations/implications - Supports entrepreneurship education, key capacities need to be addressed within HEIs, at senior and other levels, so that graduate enterprise embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and delivers the expected results of governmental focus and intervention. Originality/value - This is one of the first surveys to explore how enterprise education is delivered within UK HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attribute focus in engineering education now adopted by the engineering education accrediting bodies of the US, UK and Australia is based on meeting the assumed needs of professional practice. It is associated with an increasing expectation by employers of work-ready graduates rather than relying on subsequent work-based learning and experience to develop many of the essential professional practice attributes. Yet the scope of the mechanical engineering profession is broad and views of practitioners contributing to debate on attribute requirements are largely influenced by their own often unique professional formation. In addition, the formative development of the profession in Australia has been significantly influenced by 19th and 20th century UK and US practices, although historically the industrial profile of Australia has been strikingly different. An analysis of current industry distribution of Australian, UK and US mechanical engineers presented in this paper shows continuing, although less marked, differences. To develop a clearer perception of the profession in Australia, its educational formation, and operational environment, this paper provides a concise study of the formative development of the profession, and presents a breakdown of the industry sectors in which they are currently employed. The effects of momentous global changes in engineering employment and formation over recent decades are also discussed. Recent changes in engineering employment have included major structural changes to organisations, accelerating technical and educational developments and mounting societal expectations making it imperative that attributes be attuned to the new engineering paradigm as increasing demands are placed on our graduates. This paper provides an essential foundation for ongoing debate and analysis of attribute needs related to this broadly based engineering discipline. Although presented from an Australian perspective, many issues discussed are applicable worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at Ofsted and particularly special measures regimes as part of a disciplinary mechanism. It examines issues such as school effectiveness theories, the increasing powers of Ofsted, and life under special measures and links it to performativity, discipline and surveillance using the metaphor of the panopticon. The change in teachers’ accountability is traced, along with the rise in the audit culture in teaching, and the increase in the power of Ofsted. The research context is a case study of a school over the period 1999–2003. During this time the school was placed into special measures and provided an opportunity to examine the effects of a key Government policy. The issues researched were Ofsted, special measures and the effects that these had on schools and teachers. The paper argues that a special measures regime is an example of panoptic discipline which I call panoptic performativity. The primary research is echoed by much of the existing research and first hand accounts of Ofsted inspections. I also locate special measures regimes in the context of Lyotard’s ‘performativity’, Foucault’s ‘normalization’, and the school effectiveness literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to explore the design and implementation of early years educational policy in England in the period 1997-2004. First to be described are the innovations in policy (i.e. the promise), followed by the 'evidence base' for new policy (i.e. the research), the delivery of new services (i.e. the achievement), and finally the tensions and gaps which remain (i.e. the shortfall). The paper will focus on evidence concerning expansion of services and on the benefit of early years education on children's development. It is argued that early years education in England has been transformed through the following: integration of education and care at local and national level, the introduction of the Foundation Stage Curriculum 3-6 years and its birth-3 years supplement, and the firm focus on families as well as children in the delivery of services. There are, however, gaps and tensions to be resolved before the overall vision can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to extend work previously published that points to the importance of rhetorical analysis to policy studies. It argues against the notion that policy can be dismissed as 'spin' and explores further the work of rhetoric within the UK government's policy texts of lifelong learning. For the authors, rhetorical analysis helps to point to the politics of discourse that is at play in policy-making processes. This paper points to some of the conceptual resources upon which one can draw in undertaking rhetorical deconstructions of policy texts and discourses, in this case, of lifelong learning, and one's own role, as analysts and sultans of spin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the consequences of, and tensions within, New Labour's quality agenda for schools. In particular, it draws attention to the way in which official versions of quality, characterised by a narrow, economistic instrumentality, are being promoted in schools by various forms of quality control that are marginalising broader, more humanistic conceptions of quality. It is also argued that, despite New Labour's rhetorical emphasis on education for citizenship, the mechanisms of quality control favoured by the government tend to produce patterns of association which are authoritarian and, therefore, unconducive to giving teachers, students and parents opportunities to participate actively in key decisions in and around schooling. The analysis presented in this paper is underpinned by a concern to bring a consideration of educational politics back into education policy debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the future of Western higher education. Situated midway between an analysis and a polemic, it concerns itself with how we might begin to actively design the universities of the future. That will require a productionist account of higher education which is so far sadly lacking. But there are signs that such an account might be possible if we could at least begin to remove the blinkers provided by the tired old narratives of what universities are like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on research into the operation of English further/higher education, with a focus on the role of partnerships in supporting the massification of higher education. The research draws on the bottom-up policy implementation tradition to provide analysis of the effects on partnerships of a quasi-marketised environment. The rationale and effects of market orientated policy are discussed with reference to empirical data from college staff and partnership managers. In employing the concept of the 'street-level bureaucrat' as an agent of policy implementation, this research contributes to the interpretation of policy and partnership which has previously been unexplored within the further/higher education context. Conclusions are drawn with implications for the development of college higher education delivered in partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale questionnaire surveys tend to treat learners' vocabulary strategy use as relatively stable and removed from their context. More research is needed to explore learners' vocabulary strategy use within particular contexts. Using data collected from classroom observation, interviews and VOCABlog (including photovoice and diaries), the researcher investigated the strategic vocabulary learning process of two Chinese students who were on a pre-university course at two British universities from both cognitive and sociocultural perspectives. This paper provides a more holistic view of strategic vocabulary learning, and examines the dynamic, complex and contextually situated nature of learners' strategy use. The findings imply that in order to enhance their vocabulary learning, international students should seek opportunities to engage with target language speakers and pay particular attention to the contexts where they learn vocabulary. They also need make deliberate and continuous efforts to form dynamic strategy combinations through verbal interaction with more capable others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary aim of the study from which this paper derives was to investigate the level of parental involvement in the schooling of their children. The study employed a descriptive case study research design. All data were based on unstructured interviews with the 30 parents whose children attended one of the primary schools located in the London area of England, United Kingdom. The results of the study showed that parents care about their children's education, and want to get involved. However, results also showed that most parents do not always know how to get involved, and some are even intimidated by the operational structures within the school. The study concludes that to effectively involve parents in the affairs of the school, as well as in their children's education, certain strategies must be popularised within the school. It is recommended that parents be made aware of the strategies for their involvement in children's education if such strategies are to be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the connections between the school building programme in England and the raising of the school leaving age (ROSLA) from 14 to 15 in 1947 and then to 16 in 1972. These two major developments were intended to help to ensure the realisation of ‘secondary education for all’ in the postwar period. The combination led in practice to severe strains in the education system as a whole, with lasting consequences for educational planning and central control. ROSLA was a key issue for the school building programme in terms of both finance and design. School building was also a significant constraint for ROSLA, which was marred by temporary expedients in building accommodation both in the 1940s with ‘HORSA huts’ and in the 1970s with ‘ROSLA blocks’, as well as by the cheap construction of new schools that soon became unfit for purpose. Together, school building needs and ROSLA helped to stimulate pressures towards centralisation of planning that were ultimately to undermine postwar partnerships in education, from the establishment of the Ministry of Education’s Architects and Building (A&B) Branch in 1948, through the Crowther Report of 1959 and the Newsom Report of 1963, to the assertion of central state control by the 1970s. The pressures arising from such investment and growth in education again became a key issue in the early twenty-first century with the Labour Government’s support for raising the participation age to 18 combined with an ambitious ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme. The historical and contemporary significance of these developments has tended to be neglected but is pivotal to an understanding of medium-term educational change in its broader policy and political contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Student plagiarism and difficulties with writing have been widely investigated in the literature, but there has been less research on staff perspectives. A Joint Information Services Committee (JISC)-funded questionnaire (n=80) and focus group study investigated the views of lecturers, librarians and study advisors at a UK post-92 university, looking at their perceptions of writing and plagiarism with a focus on first year undergraduates. The data reveal that staff in different roles employed contrasting discourses surrounding academic writing, the curriculum and the locus of responsibility for development. This paper will argue that the ‘literacies’ perspective shown by support staff leads to a more distributed view of responsibility for plagiarism prevention. In contrast, a ‘study skills’ paradigm as shown by lecturers views writing development as extracurricular and remedial, places a symbolic moral value on plagiarism as a signifier for falling standards. Implications for practice arising from the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic crises such as those of 1929, 1973 and 2008 appear to associate with shifts in the rhetorics of management. These dates mark the end of expansionary phases within an economic cycle, and they portend what James O'Connor has called a 'fiscal crisis of the state'. It is argued, speculatively, that immediately before and after an economic crisis - be it occasioned by financial bubbles (as in 1929) or by other events (such as the 1973 oil crisis) - a 'normative' or 'commitment' managerial rhetoric develops. This rhetoric strikes a more emollient tone than that of the 'control' or 'rational' rhetoric which had marked the early stages of the economic up-swing. The current economic crisis may follow this pattern. In England, there are already indications that the regulatory rhetoric which applies both to organisational structures and to pedagogical processes is become 'normative' in its appeal; it is a 'commitment' rhetoric which purports to serve what O'Connor has termed both 'accumulation' and 'legitimation'. As an example of this rhetoric, the paper draws briefly upon Paul Adler and Charles Heckscher's concept of 'collaborative community'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National mechanisms for comparing the research profiles of higher education institutions (HEIs) have become increasingly common. Probably the best known of these is the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) conducted in the United Kingdom, and used as the basis for the allocation of research funding. Such exercises are expensive. They would have additional value if the data could be used by HEIs to inform the development of their research strategies. In this paper we use publicly available RAE outcome data to demonstrate this potential. We contrast the two units’ research profiles with other units of assessment within the HEI, with other like-units nationally, and finally we examine the relative performance of all the HEI’s units of assessment against their national counter-parts. Finally we discuss the kinds of insights these data may offer in the development of research strategy at the level of the institution, and at the level of the School or Department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]