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Fair access and widening participation currently occupy a prominent position in the UK higher education agenda, but these terms remain ambiguous. In this paper we identify two prominent strands of policy in the government's approach to access and the widening of participation and contrast these with a third, more progressive perspective. The academic strand seeks to attract 'gifted and talented' young people into an unreformed higher education system. The second strand, which we term the utilitarian approach, posits a need for reform. However, this is undertaken largely to meet the requirements of employers and the economy. In contrast, a transformative approach values diversity and focuses on creating a system of higher education that does not place the burden of change upon potential entrants. This framework is used to explore some of the implications of the government's White Paper The future of higher education. First, the purpose of higher education is discussed, with particular reference to the distinction between economic and social objectives. Second, the government's view of the structure of the higher education sector is examined, by scrutinizing the notion of institutional differentiation and the role of the access regulator. We conclude that within a more differentiated higher education sector different aspects of the access discourse will become dominant in different types of institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional view since the early 2000s has been that participation in higher education (HE) is a risky pathway for disadvantaged young people in England; the social risk of entering an alien environment combines with the financial risk of rising costs and questionable long-term returns. This riskiness has been constructed as a major barrier to participation. However, national administrative data cast doubt on whether this analysis still holds true. Despite significant rises in tuition fees, the proportion of disadvantaged young people entering HE has continued to rise, with advantaged groups seemingly being more price-sensitive. Data from recent qualitative studies has also suggested that young people are now less attuned to risks. This paper considers whether circumstances in wider society have shifted perceptions of risk. The volatility resulting from the global financial crisis appears to have repositioned HE as a less risky option than early entry to the labour market, especially with more jobs becoming 'graduate', while the social risk has declined as HE has diversified. The paper draws on theoretical perspectives from Beck, Boudon, Simon and Kahneman to argue that many disadvantaged young people now view HE as a form of 'insurance' against an uncertain future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the summer of 2014, Professor Mike Collins – one of the four founding members of the Leisure Studies (LS) Association – submitted a paper to LS that offered a retrospective review of the first 30 years of the journal (1982–2012). Sadly, whilst the paper was under review, Professor Collins passed away. Mike’s commentaries have always been significant; we include this piece in this particular issue of the journal because it underpins the range of articles we have selected that we feel address some of the central tenets of ‘leisure’. Held alongside the Editors introduction, this article speaks as much as anything else to the state of the field, its futures and its potentialities. Serving as a companion piece that looks to the multiple pasts, genealogies and histories of leisure (and indeed LS), we, the Editors, offer below a necessarily abridged and posthumous version of Professor Collins’ original submission to the journal. Any omissions, errors, mis-representations and mis-understandings are the result of our own editorial hand for which we unreservedly apologise. We hope we have been able to keep the spirit, critique and engaging style that, no doubt, Mike would have presented in a final version of this manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The broad aim of this paper is to track the evolution of adult literacy policy in the UK across three decades, highlighting convergences between policy phases and the promotion of democratic learning spaces. It is anchored onto the argument that, although it is generally accepted that democratic learning spaces are perceived as beneficial to adult literacy learners, policy has often deterred its promotion and, therefore, implementation. The paper identifies three block phases of adult literacy development: the seventies to mid-eighties, the mid-eighties to mid-nineties and the mid-nineties to the Moser Committees. The features of each of these phases are highlighted to map out convergences and divergences to the ethos of democratic learning spaces. The paper argues that, with the evolution of policy in adult literacy, the ethos of democratic learning space continuously diminished, such that as policy evolved year on year, the principle of democratic learning space found itself at counterpoint to policy. We draw on two theoretical frameworks, the NLS view of literacy and Bourdieu's capital framework to explain these divergences and conclude that the dominant perception of literacy and the prioritised capital in the context of policy appear to limit the vestiges of democratic learning spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) on academic identity within the context of a UK-based research-intensive higher education institution. TEF is the latest in a series of changes that have impacted upon the UK's HE sector and it is highly likely to have a significant impact upon academic identity. Collecting evidence through sixteen qualitative interviews, findings show that while TEF may not alter the broad substance of what it means to be an academic in terms of engagement with research, education and citizenship activities, it has the potential to have profound implications in terms of exacerbating conflicts within identity. This paper argues that negative work outcomes result where role conflicts, and mismatches between expectation and reward, create difficulties in realising our desired versions of ourselves. Theoretical contributions relevant to debates around identity conflict are discussed, with practical contributions exploring the importance of resource allocations and the need to align expectations and rewards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the educational and migrational pathways which a number of middle-class women from Bangladesh took as they grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. It draws on qualitative research, conducted between July and November 2011, with highly educated Bangladeshi women who migrated to Britain in the early 2000s. French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's critique of education, as a means of middle-class social reproduction [Bourdieu, P., and Jean-C. Passeron. ([1977] 1990).Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. 2nd ed. Translated from the French by Richard Nice. London: Sage], and his notion of ‘academic capital’ [Bourdieu, P. 1984.Distinction: A social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Translated from the French by Richard Nice. London: Routledge; Bourdieu, P. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” InHandbook of Theory and Research For the Sociology of Education, edited by J. G. Richardson, 241–258. New York: Greenwood] are applied to this empirical data. While the participants’ experiences of early education confirms Bourdieu's arguments, in terms of the centrality of the family's educational and cultural capital in making a qualitative difference to their children's academic achievements, the analysis of the participants’ higher education complicates this picture. Here, the paper calls Bourdieu's umbrella term ‘academic capital’ into question. The author suggests that three categories of academic capital were needed to explain the different and unequal ‘value’ of the participants’ academic qualifications before and after migration. These are – elite, standard and general. Through this exploration of these women's educational and migrational pathways, and the classed and gendered nature which many of them took, this paper seeks to further the feminist project of making Bourdieu's theories ‘useful’ in understanding contemporary issues which affect women's lives (Adkins, L. 2004. “Introduction.” InFeminism After Bourdieu, edited by L. Adkins and B. Skeggs, 110–128. Oxford: Blackwell, 3). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper examines the extent to which diversity in the backgrounds of students and diversity in the forms and characteristics of universities combine to produce diversities in learning experiences and outcomes. It draws on a recent major national study in the UK which has been investigating how student learning is mediated by a series of social and organisational factors. Fifteen case studies of student experiences in different universities lay at the heart of the study and provide extensive qualitative and quantitative evidence about the realities of diversity in UK higher education. The paper reports both diversities and commonalities in the student experience and its outcomes, some of which challenge the predominantly hierarchical and reputational conceptions of diversity and differentiation currently dominant in debates about UK higher education. The student 'voice' on these matters as reported here does not fully coincide with current policy priorities and 'voices'. Student perceptions of the ways in which they have changed as a result of the experience of higher education embrace a range of factors within which the social and the personal are at least as important as the academic. Although the focus in this paper is on student learning on undergraduate degrees in the biosciences, business studies and sociology, a model of university learning contexts and settings is presented which may have wider applicability to achieving a better understanding of higher education's increasing diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a survey of pre-service teacher training institutions in England with regard to the provision of health and well-being education. It examines factors affecting the inclusion of health and well-being, and explores educational implications in light of the changing landscape of pre-service teacher education in England. Provision of health and well-being education is noticeably variable across institutions, and many course leaders are unclear about the coverage in their partner schools. Course leaders regard health and well-being as an important part of the curriculum, but the focus is usually on generic health-related themes such as child protection and behaviour management, which address Government priorities, rather than on specific topics such as education about diet, drugs, alcohol, smoking, sex and relationships and physical activity. The paper argues that these aspects should be addressed for pre-service teachers to have an increased sense of self-efficacy and become capable health promoters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Any pedagogy of media practice sits at the intersection between training for employment and education for critical thinking. As such, the use of projects is a primary means of structuring learning experiences as a means of mirroring professional practice. Yet, our understanding of the nature of projects and of project-based learning is arguably under-theorised and largely taken for granted. This paper attempts to address this issue through a synthesis of the literature from organisational studies and experiential learning. The article aims to shift the debate around project-based learning away from an instrumentalist agenda, to one that considers the social context and lived experience of projects and re-conceptualises projects as ontological modalities of doing, being and becoming. In this way, the article aims to provide a means for thinking about the use of project-based learning within the media practice curriculum that draws on metaphors of discovery, rather than of construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new perspective for higher education policy research. It introduces the concept of policy object to designate the discrete preoccupation(s) of a policy text (e.g. a new governance regime, a quality system, or new degrees) and suggests that actor conceptualisations of the policy object intersect with other elements in the policy process to shape enactment and outcomes. First, the policy object concept is described. It is argued that the policy object does not have an objective existence and two concepts are proposed to explain it: ontology and enacted ontology. The former refers to what actors believe the policy object is, a socially-construed context-determined conceptualisation, whereas enacted ontology refers to what the policy object becomes further to enactment under the influence of ontology. Second, the paper presents the findings of a comparative study of master degrees further to the Bologna process in different national and institutional settings to illustrate the policy object approach. This research puts forward arguments to suggest that the policy object could be an important variable to consider in policy research. This somewhat different lens, inviting fine-grained attention to a specific policy object (its ontologies and enacted ontologies), could bring additional insight into policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on data from a national survey of social workers and social care practitioners in England undertaken in 2010–2011. It focuses on practitioners working in services for adults with either learning or physical disabilities and, in particular, their experiences of responding to alcohol and other drug use among their service users. Based on secondary analysis of survey and focus group data from the earlier study, the paper outlines the extent to which workers in these areas of practice encounter alcohol and drug problems and discusses the key challenges this poses for them. The findings show that between 4% and 10% of adults' practitioners' service users have alcohol and drug problems depending on the nature of the disability. Regardless of the type of disability, practitioners reported difficulties in talking about substance use with their service users as well as identifying tensions around life-style choice and risk management. They also reported the need for education and training in a number of areas. Social work education and subsequent training in working with substance use problems needs to be available to adults' practitioners and it needs to address the specific issues and needs in different areas of social work practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper contributes to debates on graduate migration, by discussing graduate migrants' career trajectory development, using structure-agency perspectives to explore career path management in a host country. Drawing on qualitative research with Polish graduate migrants in the UK, it demonstrates diverse attitudes towards career trajectories of those who obtained their degree from home country universities, and enrolled into some form of further education in the host country. This paper outlines three Polish graduate types in the UK, based on the time, type and motivations for further training in the UK. These are: Continuers, Switchers and Late Awakeners. It argues that graduates have become accustomed to life's uncertainties, and recognise the need to take diverse and flexible routes to advance their careers, including further education and various types of employment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper compares access to full-time undergraduate higher education (HE) by members of less advantaged social classes and ethnic minorities across the four ‘home countries’ of the UK. It uses data on applicants to HE in selected years from 1996 to 2010. In all home countries students from intermediate and working-class backgrounds retained a broadly level share of a rising total participation in HE, while ethnic minorities increased their share. Intermediate- and working-class students were more likely to study within their own home country, as were ethnic-minority students in England, but minority students from Northern Ireland and Scotland were much more likely than white students to study elsewhere (usually England). Some aspects of the admissions process appear to have been ‘unfair’ to lower class applicants; this was the same across the UK although the relative success of applications from colleges and independent schools, which might accentuate or mitigate inequalities, varied across the home countries. In England and Wales, ethnic-minority applicants were less likely to be offered a place but they compensated (only partially in the case of older universities) by gaining entry through clearing; in Scotland they were as likely to be offered a place but less likely to enter HE. The paper discusses the potential of such comparisons for benchmarking and for policy learning. It concludes that the similarities between the home countries are more substantial than their differences, and that administrative and political devolution in the 1990s has had little impact on inequalities in HE. There is no evidence of a significant impact of the divergence between market policies in England and the more social-democratic policies of the devolved administrations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drawing upon a project on British transnational education (TNE) programmes offered in Hong Kong, this paper interrogates the capacity development impact of TNE on the students, the Hong Kong Government and the programme providers. It addresses the questions: ‘What capacity is being developed in TNE operations?’ and ‘For whom?’ Our findings reveal multiple capacities at play. As TNE has been traded between British and Hong Kong universities and facilitated by the Hong Kong Government'slaissez-fairedoctrine, as a commodity in the neoliberal trade-in-education regime, students' interests are often sidelined. This paper calls for a critical reflection on this TNE model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose - This practitioner paper aims to question basic assumptions about management education and to argue that a new paradigm is needed for UK business schools which embraces an oft neglected, yet economically vital, stakeholder group, namely family businesses. It seeks to pose the question of why we have forgotten to teach about family business management in the management portfolio. Design/methodology/approach - The paper adopts a stakeholder approach, building on nominal stakeholder theory to justify a change to the teaching paradigm in business schools. It builds on discussions in the extant literature about failures of business schools to address modern needs. Findings - The authors find that business schools in the UK need to begin to engage with family businesses through embracing the next generation from families in business. Policy needs to be developed that will support the next generation in a positive way by teaching about the family in business. Originality/value - The paper aims to stimulate discussion about key stakeholders and prompt review of neglect of this key area of business study in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning curricula have continually evolved to meet changing societal needs, technological change and employer expectations. The professional accrediting body in the United Kingdom, the Royal Town Planning Institute, stipulates the core planning skills required, differentiating between formal classroom-based learning and professional competencies, derived in practice. Previous research identified the need to address perceived inadequacies in graduate planners’ practical skills, such as decision-making, leadership, and communication, including negotiating, influencing and using evidence. Emphasis has also been placed on planning schools sharing innovative practice to improve student learning. This paper critically reflects on the challenges of teaching diverse cohorts and presents the findings from a sponsored teaching exchange research programme. Case studies drawn from each institution are used to illustrate practice-orientated planning education approaches in the classroom to better equip students for the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The decision to make the UK student population financially responsible for their own university education has major implications for the future of higher education provision. Chief among these implications will undoubtedly be a much stronger emphasis on the student experience, not least the experience of the teaching and learning environment. Given the increasing influence of consumerism on student identity, the distinct possibility exists that such notions of market-led accountability will be first in line to shape how the academic–student relationship is redefined and understood in future years. It is therefore an appropriate time to explore alternatives to such a narrow understanding of relationships—an understanding that inevitably tends to frame direct accountability in terms of economic exchange. It is argued in this paper that one alternative can be developed by exploring a more relational approach to HE pedagogy, and more specifically one that is based on a synthesis of critical theory and psychoanalysis. By emphasising the intersubjective nature of learning and teaching and the role of emotions in this regard, the paper argues that a relationally centred approach takes seriously questions of trust, recognition and respect at the heart of the academic–student relationship, while also making space for doubt, confusion and relational anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the issues experienced in the delivery of a business challenge to a cohort of business undergraduate students at the University of Glamorgan. The challenge involved initiating and running a "real" business and returning a profit within a week. The students worked in groups of up to eight and were given start up capital. The paper seeks to evaluate the impact of the business challenge in terms of changing entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviour, and to examine the skills competencies acquired by the individual students. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a mixed method approach to examine the respondent experience. The basis of the investigation involved a semi-structured questionnaire undertaken on completion of the challenge. In total, in excess of 50 students completed the research instrument. The questionnaire enabled the authors to quantitatively explore the overall impact of the business challenge by student age and gender. In addition, the semi structured design enabled the authors to explore the qualitative "rich data" of individual student experience based on their reflections. Findings – The findings reveal a positive impact in terms of enhanced attitudes towards the attainability and attractiveness of an entrepreneurial career. The findings reveal that the business challenge provided the students with a significant enhancement in generic enterprise skills including team working, leadership, communication and specific business skills such as sales and marketing behaviour. The students valued the opportunity and personal responsibility offered by the business challenge to apply their theoretical knowledge in a real world context. Several individuals reported that the positive experience with their business venture meant that they wished to continue the business alongside their graduate studies. Originality/value – The paper contributes to a limited literature in assessing the impact and benefit of business challenges. It will be of value to enterprise education providers in organising and planning such activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper seeks to outline four scenarios developed for the future of the South West Midlands region of England. Like many depressed regions in the UK, the foundation industries that initially developed the region have gone. Manufacturing is continuing to decline and the low-skilled economic underpinnings of the region have all but disappeared. The population, however, has not changed with the times, but remains low-skilled and largely unemployable to many of the industries the region is trying to attract to regenerate itself. Despite this economically depressed picture, the region is renowned for its sense of community and regional identity, and hence crime is uncharacteristically low given the economic and demographic circumstances of the region.Design/methodology/approach – A range of methodologies were employed to inform scenario building for the future of the region, including a literature review, interviews with employers and community leaders, a word association exercise and questionnaire with children approaching school leaving age, and data analysis of demographic and economic trends.Findings – Four scenarios were developed as possible futures for the region to help inform policy making, in particular educational policy to encourage more young people to remain in education for longer and gain higher qualifications.Practical implications – The paper offers practical ideas for (re)engaging young people in education in a depressed region where the value of education has never really been appreciated.Originality/value – This paper offers readers alternative perspectives on an area of education that might otherwise be ignored and finds positive ways forwards to further promote education in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about changing concepts of equity in UK higher education. In particular, it charts the moves from concepts about gender equality as about women's education as a key issue in twentieth century higher education to questions of men's education in the twenty-first century. These changing concepts of equity are linked to wider social and economic transformations, the expansion of higher education and the growth in the knowledge economy, or what has been called 'academic capitalism'. Feminist theorists and activists, often called second wave feminists, developed concepts of gender equality in education, including higher education in the twentieth century, and these have been incorporated into higher education and policies with the expansions of higher education, especially around notions of widening participation. Notions of widening participation in policy and practice arenas focus on equity as about social class, socio-economic disadvantage, ethnicity and race, rather than specifically on gender questions. Equity is now twinned with diversity and where gender is now invoked it is largely about young and working class men's disadvantage in relation to higher education. In this paper, I will also provide research evidence from the UK's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) which has been the UK's biggest ever initiative in education research about equity and diversity as currently conceived in UK higher education. I will show how gender has been incorporated with diversity questions and has lost its critical and feminist edge. I conclude with addressing questions about the future of higher education policies and practices to address questions of equity and diversity, attempting to counter the systemic inequalities in current forms of UK higher education. There are opportunities for developing new, critical and feminist pedagogies. More inclusive or 'connectionist' approaches, rather than 'teaching to the test', would engage socially diverse men and women students in a range of higher education subjects and settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

British Muslim women lag far behind other sections of the British society in educational achievement, particularly in higher education. This paper examines the conservative culture of first-generation Muslim immigrants that discourages social interaction and learning in a liberal Western setting. It surveys the underlying theological aspects of Islam to show that no racial, cultural or gender bias is promoted when it comes to who should learn and pursue knowledge; on the contrary, learning in Islam is an obligation for all. It then explores two of the critical factors that influence British Muslim women's participation in education namely, the issue of arranged marriages and the wearing of modest dressing and veils. These issues have become somewhat of obstacles to Muslim women in their participation in educational institutions and career progression in Britain. Do these factors necessarily hinder Muslim women? What other aspects of British life contribute to their lack of academic achievement? If so, what is the way forward? The paper attempts to answer some of these issues in an exposition limited by both length and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the role of electronic simulation case studies in enterprise education, their effectiveness, and their relationship to traditional forms of classroom-based approaches to experiential learning. The paper seeks to build on previous work within the field of enterprise and management education, specifically in relation to the role of simulations and case studies in higher-education pedagogy, which have previously been considered as distinct techniques. Design/methodology/approach - Following the use of a specifically designed simulation case study of a small and large business, 57 undergraduate students in a UK university were surveyed using an electronic voting tool and their responses used as the basis for two focus groups, which were conducted with the same students. Findings - Students saw a link between using the application and learning, found the environment to be immersive and more engaging than a text-based case study, though opinion was divided over its entertainment value. Focus group results highlighted that students believed the environment felt "real" and that students were encouraged to engage in deep and double-loop learning. Students preferred the option of a mixed range of classroom learning experiences, though experienced gameplayers were less likely to find the simulation case entertaining than non-gameplayers. Research limitations/implications - This article builds on existing research on simulations and case studies, while going some way to show the common issues that these "models of reality" share, in terms of both design and utilisation in the special context of higher education. This paper highlights the value and need for further work appraising emerging educational media and the importance students place on these experiences in their study programmes. Originality/value - Given the increasing interest in e-learning within higher education, and subsequent attempts to improve the student experience through electronic media, this paper highlights the importance of focusing on effective learning opportunities in developing experiential enterprise education tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions in the UK are required, by law, to make anticipatory reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities. Inclusive teaching practice, if adopted across the sector, would ensure that the needs of students with disabilities are considered and provided for, before they even arrive on campus. This paper sets out the background and key findings from an institutional research project at a UK university that aimed to discover if academic staff's attitudes would be problematic or conducive to the implementation of inclusive teaching practice. The paper concludes that there is little evidence of widespread “resistance” but rather, the research discovered a prevailing belief in the rights of students with disabilities to education, albeit a belief which is limited in its practical application in the classroom. The paper also reports on a number of recommendations made to the case study university as a result of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a critical overview of the way in which higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK have had their research activity subject to review. There have been six such reviews to date, the first two carried out by the Universities Grants Committee and, from 1992, by its replacement, the four UK higher education (HE) funding bodies (HE Funding Council for England, HE Funding Council for Wales, the Scottish HE Funding Council and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland). The paper provides a broad outline of the key elements of the process, focusing on the two more recent research reviews and their impact on the subject of education, with the references providing specific detail for those interested in the minutiae of the reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development is now widely held as a transcendental ideal of town and country planning, yet the way in which it is taught in planning schools remains problematic. This arises from a range of factors, including the all-persuasive nature of sustainability and the lack of solid examples of success through implementation. The issue of how best to promote learning for sustainable development in planning has arguably intensified in the last two years in the case of the Royal Town Planning Institute-sponsored 'fast track' one-year Masters, which has reduced the opportunities for students to engage in wider (and perhaps even deeper) concepts, including that of sustainable development. This paper explores this through discussion of a specific project developed at Queen's University Belfast, facilitated by a grant from the UK Higher Education Academy. Working with a local community, this entailed a group of students working on their Masters thesis collectively addressing issues of sustainable regeneration in a small Irish market town. The design of the project draws heavily on the concepts of enquiry based learning, experiential learning and action competence, which are seen as being central to improving education for sustainable development (ESD). The paper explores the benefits of such an approach and discusses the ways in which this experience can help enhance student's experience of ESD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports and discusses some of the practical and contextual difficulties facing the teaching of Islamic studies within the British higher education environment. The main problems in the author's view stem from the haziness surrounding the discipline definition and the methodology employed in teaching it. This is particularly observed when 'Islamic Studies' is taught within an academic environment which does not recognise the fusion that Islam holds between the spiritual and material. The paper also examines contrasting voices debating the subject and its methodology. Finally the paper provides suggestions for how Islamic Studies could be more effective in the West and particularly in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the current assumptions behind vocational training for graduate teaching assistants at a large, urban, research-led UK university. Through qualitative evaluation it reflects on the perceptions of participants on a graduate teaching assistant 'learning and teaching module' in terms of an interpretation of their views on pedagogic practice. These reflections suggest that three of the assumptions upon which GTA training has been, and still is, predicated view the process in a relatively simplistic manner. The paper suggests that the pedagogic socialization process has been inaccurately homogenized as a postgraduate issue, ignoring the possibility that relatively sophisticated perceptions of good teaching practice are already firmly in place when a graduate enters a doctoral programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contrasts two types of "autodidact" located in the UK in different historical periods, which utilised different learning/research technologies to different ends. From the 1920s to the 1960s some working-class activists committed to the Communist Party of Great Britain became "educated" in Marxism (and more) through the processes intrinsic to their politics. This radical acculturation was undertaken outside the universities in consequence of both an absence of access to higher education and because of the relatively enclosed social world of British Communism. The widening of educational opportunities and the decline of political Marxism effectively extinguished this kind of autodidact. New technologies have meant that the 21st century is witnessing individuals and cyber-communities that are creating knowledge-based challenges to professional and institutional power in the face of personal/family "medical" crises. The paper outlines the characteristics of these two categories of autodidact and a new terrain of counter-hegemonic learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is inspired by, and constructed around, a number of fundamental questions that are relevant to teacher educators working within the context of the government policy initiatives and implementations that are influencing Higher Education in the UK at the present time. Using teacher education practices as sites of inquiry, and a number of figures from the work of Deleuze, the paper investigates approaches to teaching and learning that are described as having an aesthetic and ethically sensitive character. Mindful of such approaches and of the pervasiveness of policy influences, the paper also encourages a careful and thorough re-thinking of the theory and practice of teacher education as a terrain of complexity, multiplicity and interconnectedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the ways in which UK higher education (HE) has become increasingly commercialised and commodified in the post-1980s. It critiques the strategies adopted by successive UK governments to reinvigorate the relationship between educational and economic life, and to facilitate a more corporate and entrepreneurial spirit within the academy in line with the pressures of a 'knowledge-based economy'. Arguing for a more critical exploration of teaching and learning within HE, the paper presents evidence from work carried out by the Reinvention Centre for Undergraduate Research, a Centre for Excellence in Teaching in Learning (CETL) which adopts a research-based learning approach to teaching and learning at undergraduate level.1 Within the context of ongoing debates surrounding the relationship between teaching, learning and research in UK HE, the paper advocates a reinvention of curriculum design through an engagement with the broader principles of critical pedagogy, and in so doing, presents a critical engagement with the commercialisation of HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current situation of academic LIS research, specifically in the UK and to provide some thoughts considering the future of the discipline. According to the opinion of the authors, this situation is characterised by a lack of cohesion, the need for justification of academic research in terms of its immediate applicability to the professional education of practitioners, and a disjuncture between the information profession and information research. The paper attempts to offer introductory thoughts regarding these circumstances. Design/methodology/approach - The current situation is briefly reviewed and commented on from the authors' viewpoint. Aspects of Pierre Bourdieu's study of the university as a hierarchically structured field of forces are considered. Some reference is made to previous literature. Findings - The paper advances the view that the role of academic US research, debate and theory formation needs to be strengthened and that this needs to be reflected in the curriculum more strongly. Originality/value - The paper attempts to highlight consistently overlooked contributing factors, and thus aims to shift the perspective towards role and position of LIS research within academia, rather than vis-à-vis the professional education it is connected to. It aims to stimulate discussion of the current situation, of how it can be perceived, and of ways to address it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the origins of the concept of personalisation in public sector services, and applies it to school education. The original conceptualisation stressed the need for ‘deep’ rather than shallow, personalisation, if radical transformation of services were to be achieved. It is argued that as the concept has been disseminated and implemented through policy documents, notably the 2005 White Paper, it has lost its original emphasis on deep personalisation. The focus in this article is particularly upon gifted and talented students whose education provides the best case example of how the theory of personalisation might work in practice. Two examples of the lessons in a sixth form college are used to illustrate the character of personalised pedagogy in practice. The implications for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to examine the potential usefulness of animated learning materials for supporting students with dyslexia in a UK higher education setting. Design/methodology/approach - An experiment was conducted with a set of 13 undergraduate computing students with dyslexia and a control group of 13 non-dyslexic undergraduate computing students. Findings - Overall it appeared that appropriate animated learning materials were perceived as being more useful than equivalent static learning materials by both the students with dyslexia and the control group of non-dyslexic students. However, the control group appeared to find them more useful than the students with dyslexia. Research limitations/implications - Although the experiment reported in this paper was small in scale it did appear to indicate that animated learning materials may potentially be useful for undergraduate students with (and without) dyslexia. Originality/value - There appears to have been little research done in the area of animated learning materials in a higher education setting and in particular with regard to students with dyslexia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of design for learning has arisen as education faces up to the implications of modern pedagogy, student diversity, and the affordances of information and communication technologies. This paper examines some of the benefits and issues for teachers in further and higher education surrounding the idea of learning design and its practical implementation in blended learning. It looks particularly at questions of documenting and representing learning designs so that they can be communicated to others. It explores the differing requirements of representations at various stages in the planning and sharing process, and for different communities of users, finding that multiple perspectives on a learning design are usually necessary. However, few representations to date have succeeded in capturing the essence of a good piece of teaching. Ways of representing designs as dynamic processes, rather than static products, may need to be developed. The paper is based on the outcomes of work with practising teachers during the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)-funded Models of Practice Project, part of JISC's Design for Learning Programme, which runs from 2006 to 2007. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encouraging skills development is a key part of the UK Government’s strategy. This emphasis on skills has led to changes in Higher Education, where there is an increasing recognition of the need to enhance students’ employability. This paper reviews the data on the type of employer skill needs available in the existing literature with a particular emphasis on those skills required by engineering and manufacturing employers. Statistical data related to skill gaps in engineering and manufacturing in the UK and London/Thames Gateway are presented with the intention to determine whether and how these relate to the employability skills and competences listed by various organisations. The paper arrives at a number of conclusions. In summary, for the ‘engineering and manufacturing workforce skills development’ ethos to become widespread in London (and the UK in general), a lot more needs to be done to understand the needs of industry to be able to develop provision that supports Londoners (and the UK citizens in general) in gaining appropriate skills in engineering. This can only be achieved through cooperative, inclusive, transparent and centrally coordinated approaches to skills assessment, monitoring and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘independent learner’ is a key construct within discourses of educational policy and practice in the UK. Government policy statements stress the importance of developing learner independence, and higher education pedagogical practices tend to rest on the assumption that students are independent learners. This paper draws on research with undergraduate students in a post-1992 university to offer a critical appraisal of the discourse of the independent learner. The paper examines students’ perceptions of independence in both their first year of undergraduate study, and in the later years of their degree courses. Support for learning and issues related to asking for help are discussed. Whilst students tend to both expect and want to be independent, it is suggested that dominant constructions of the independent learner are gendered and culturally specific, and as such are inappropriate for the majority of students in a mass higher education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose ? Despite the abundance of research on quality management there is no universal consensus on how best to measure quality in higher education. This paper undertakes a critical evaluation of the different methods used to assess the quality of provision in higher education departments in the UK. Design/methodology/approach ? Drawing on relevant literature, the authors develop a quality audit tool that incorporates all key components of effective quality management programmes and apply it to a single UK case study department. Findings ? The findings suggest that the potential for quality enhancement is determined by the manner in which the evaluation is conducted and subsequent change implemented. Perhaps unsurprisingly there is currently an emphasis on internally derived quantitative data and there is potential to enhance the management of the quality of HE programmes. Originality/value ? This paper concentrated on the development of a quality audit tool and tested this within one UK department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines aspects of the relationship between teaching and research in higher education in social science research methods, with particular reference to the subject area of Education. There are three main themes: reflections on how social science research methods should be (or are) taught; a review of current debates about the relationship between teaching and research, both in higher education and for school teachers; and finally, reporting how a group of educational practitioners (mainly school teachers) studying at Masters level experience learned about research methods. The paper is illustrated by qualitative data from a case study of student experiences of research methods teaching on a Masters degree in Education in a research-intensive UK university. It is suggested that studying the journey embarked upon by taught postgraduate students inexperienced in research is helpful in understanding how learning about research methods takes place, which in turn can assist future research methods teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The United Kingdom (UK) has recently published secondary education value added measures. This paper examines whether the approach used could also offer a possible method for measuring value added in higher education (HE). Design/methodology/approach - Previous attempts to measure HE value added in the UK, such as comparative value added (CVA), met with criticism relating to their estimation of the "expected" degree class (DegCL). This paper examines whether the recent experiences in secondary education give any insights into solving this problem. Findings - The paper identifies that the techniques applied in secondary education are remarkably similar to those used by CVA, and it argues that they appear to suffer from similar pitfalls. It is shown, through a statistical analysis, that in practice a whole range of factors have a significant influence on degree performance. Research limitations/implications - The data set used in the statistical analysis of HE performance is relatively old. Future research could repeat this study with recent data. Practical implications - The development of an accurate measure of value added in HE will need to apply measuring techniques that are significantly more sophisticated than those used for UK secondary education. Originality/value - The value of this paper is that it identifies key issues that will need to be addressed before a credible measure of value added can be developed for HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for good higher education in which academics and students take responsibility for their scholarly activities. This ought to be the goal for higher education, not the fulfilment of quality criteria that may fail to capture the essences of an educated person. This proposal is offered, in part, as a response to the UK government's recent White Paper - on the future of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Britain's higher education institutions (HEIs) face fundamental and unprecedented competitive pressures due to lower government funding (Cm 5735, The Future of Higher Education , Department for Education and Skills, 2003) and a government agenda focused on a "widening participation agenda". We employ the resource-based view (RBV) of strategy development to explore potential coping strategies. The RBV has not previously been applied to HEIs, partly because of limited relevant strategic data. The paper explores whether or not universities possess sustainable competitive advantages and concludes that they do, particularly knowledge-based, reputational, innovative and architectural related advantages. Further research is proposed into the competitive advantages of individual HEIs. The paper argues that a resource-based perspective could provide new and valuable insights for strategy development at UK universities and that these same principles can be applied in other parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barnett, in several of his published works, often refers to pragmatism in rather ungenerous terms. Most recently he criticized pragmatism as an allegiance to anything goes. In response to that caricature this paper shows that the most prominent of current pragmatists—Richard Rorty—offers his strong allegiance to a range of principles which actually coincide with many of those Barnett himself actually espouses. These principles—or ideals of the university as Barnett calls them—include cheerfulness, tolerance, reasonableness, generosity and a will to go on. The paper examines what Barnett has to say about each of these in his latest book and then shows where they have their counterparts in Rorty's work. Overall the paper suggests that Barnett has a problematically limited view of Rortyan pragmatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent UK government Green Paper proposes reform for the supply side of 14-19 education, establishing four key goals. This article focuses on the first of these goals: meeting needs and improving choice. The article draws on research on sixth form colleges, general further education colleges and schools. It argues that employers, one of the two groups highlighted in the Green Paper, are a relatively weak force in shaping provision. The second group, young people, are more powerful due to current funding incentives, it presents evidence which suggests that colleges and schools perceive both practical and attitudinal difficulties in collaborating to meet needs by offering flexible routes and a distinctive range of choices. A long history of intervention in the supply side has not achieved widening participation nor equity amongst the choices offered. A more radical approach to influencing the demand side may be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the relationship between social engagement, particularly civic engagement, and education. It is well known that more highly educated people are more likely to engage in voluntary work in formalized settings. It has been difficult to disentangle the effect of higher education from that of family origin and occupational socialization. This paper examines the effects of tertiary education on the social and civic engagement of young people, using the British Household Panel Study. The social and civic activity of young people is observed in their late teens, before entering the labour market or tertiary education, and compared with that of the same young people in their early 20s, after completing tertiary education courses or gaining labour market experience. It was found that the social and civic engagement of young people who would enter higher education was higher in their late teens than that of their peers who did not enter. However, higher education had a small additional effect on civic engagement, for both young and mature students. The children of professionals were the social grouping most likely to be involved in civic activities. The relationship of higher education, professional occupations and family socialization is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we employ ethnographic data to illustrate that disabled children encounter discriminatory notions of 'normality' and 'difference' in both 'special' and 'mainstream' schools, and that these experiences relate to both the structural forces in schools, and the everyday individual and cultural practices of adults and children. In contrast to much of the literature in the field, this paper examines the everyday life experiences of adults and disabled children from their own perspective. We highlight disabled children's own criticisms of 'special' and 'mainstream' schools to illustrate the fluid nature of disabled children's lives within educational settings. We argue that schools will be prevented from becoming fully inclusive until adults who control schools take account of children's views of specific educational processes and until educational policy makers adopt a more nuanced multi-level approach to inclusion. Children should be enabled to challenge the structural, cultural and individual conditions which create disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health and welfare practitioners in the United Kingdom have experienced and continue to experience considerable turbulence as services and occupational boundaries undergo restructuring. To a significant extent such turbulence is driven by policies that promote interprofessional agendas. This paper reports on an evaluation of a higher education programme that adopted a social policy approach to the analysis of interprofessional working. The retrospective views were sought of nursing, midwifery, social work and community and youth work post-qualifying students with use of semi-structured questionnaires and focus groups. Although difficulties were encountered with the political science focus to the programme, overall the participants very positively evaluated the opportunity to engage in policy analysis in a shared learning environment. Given the highly politicised, complex and shifting environment of interprofessional working, it is suggested that the study lends support to the argument that 'policy acumen' is a central skill for contemporary health and welfare practitioners. The paper, therefore, starts to explore issues of particular relevance for educationalists involved in developing frameworks for interprofessional programmes particularly in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of teacher educators in schools and universities in England and the changes that have arisen within the field of initial teacher training (ITT) as a result of the Coalition Government’s (2010–2015) School Direct initiative. The discussion which follows and the conclusions suggested are live, current and of pivotal interest to all universities with ITT programmes, as well as all schools involved in the delivery of ITT, and to all parties with a policy interest in the supply of effective teacher education. After setting the context, the discussion starts with a critical examination of ITT policy in England over the course of the last 20 years. We then consider troubling binaries inherent in teacher education and go on to explore insights from research: the importance of beliefs; the problem of enactment; and the theory/practice divide. These insights are then used to craft the enabling constraints for third-space activity designed to set in motion a hybridisation process from which a new breed of teacher educator could emerge. We suggest that university and school colleagues working together in collaborative partnership can provide a principled pedagogical path through a changing landscape of education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]