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This paper aims to conceptualise the changing nature of work within Higher Education that continues in response to a number of drivers, not least the impact of neo-liberal ideas. One important aspect of the discourse on changing work practices is the blurring of historic boundaries between academics and administrators as universities search for more efficient ways of managing resources and inter-disciplinary teams. In particular, the idea of the 'third space' has been put forward to explain the emerging dynamics within Higher Education -- but how inclusive is this conceptualisation of the working environment within universities? This paper reports on the perceptions of Associate Lecturers of their position within a Business School and suggests that we may need to think beyond the third space in order to understand their experience of work, and explore the possibility of a fourth space. The research was conducted through interviews and informed by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings support the idea of a fourth space to locate Associate Lecturers and inform a conceptual framework centred on the key findings of context, contract, communication and coherence.

Research undertaken has reported profound differences in the studying practices of students across the globe. This research has ascribed difference to cultural dimension theory and the idea that there are clear differences in the way that certain societies approach teaching and learning. Cultural dimension theory has contributed to the bifurcation of learning into convenient classifications. 'Asian' practices have been described as excessively teacher-centred and preoccupied with knowledge transmission, whereas teaching and learning in western societies is portrayed as being more student-centred and knowledge creation. The purpose of this article is to test these generalizations through empirical research with reference to Sri Lankan students enrolled onto a blended degree in Business and Management. The principal research question for this research is as follows: In what ways do national culture influence study behaviours of Sri Lankan management students? The findings suggest that instead of accepting stereotypes of students, we should search for a deeper understanding of how, as individuals, contemporary students learn.

Purpose: The purpose of this conceptual paper is to advocate the adoption of heutagogic principles within management education and to show how it could be implemented. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is the outcome of a review of the literature on learning theory and management education. Findings: This paper demonstrates how heutagogic principles have been introduced in three areas--entrepreneurial education, executive coaching and e-learning. Originality/value: This paper makes an original contribution to the discourse on heutagogy through the OEPA model that maps the heutagogic learning journey.

The re-professionalisation of those who work in education is a common theme explored in the literature. This paper reports on research undertaken at an English Business School that was concerned with how academics responded to external accreditation and the introduction of five categories that demarcated them according to their academic achievements, professional experience and standing within the sector. In reporting on this way of re-professionalising academics, this research makes a contribution to the discourse on working in Higher Education, and how academics view this process. The research adopted an approach based on interviewing and analysed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings suggest that although academics often question the imposition of an artificial identity, they adopt a pragmatic position of compliance.

The purpose of this article is to highlight the benefits to both organizations and individuals in adopting heutagogy within management education to develop individual capability. This conceptual paper is based on a systematic review of the literature relating to heutagogy and learning theory. This article calls for the adoption of heutagogic learning within management education alongside traditional pedagogy and andragogy. It provides a number of practical examples of how heutagogy may be implemented in a variety of contexts, ranging from undergraduate study to senior leadership positions within organizations. This article contributes to the growing interest and literature related to new forms of student-centered learning and, in particular, heutagogy. This article is an original contribution to the discourse on student-centered learning and the contribution that heutagogy may make to the professional development of individuals.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a fertile ground for research into learning in higher education. Until now, the dominant research methodology has concentrated on quantitative analyses of separate components within the Zimmerman model with the aim of isolating possible factors in learning trajectories and evaluating their relative importance in the process of learning. Recent approaches to SRL research have sought not only to measure students' progress, but also to investigate how interventions may generate a positive impact on learning from a qualitative perspective. This research adopted a qualitative approach, and so contributes to the creation of new avenues for SRL research. The research, conducted over two years in a business school at a post-1992 university, involved students enrolled on undergraduate degree in an evaluation of learning diary as a learning aid. The findings suggest that learning diaries may provide scaffolding support for students, especially those who lack confidence.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the reform and development of the MBA within pre-1992 and post-1992 universities in the United Kingdom with reference to New Institutionalism and field theory. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology adopted the approaches of Navarro (2008) and Kars-Unluoglu (2016) that involved a web-based review of those pre-1992 universities listed in the Financial Times "top-100" MBAs, as well as a review of a regional grouping of four post-1992 universities. Findings: The findings echo the work of Wilkins and Huisman (2012) who argued that British business schools were stratified into distinct organisational fields, each catering for their own market. While the pre-1992 universities are able to offer a wide array of electives and pathways to enable personalisation and specialisation of the curriculum, post-1992 universities appear to offer a more constrained curriculum offer. The reform of the MBA should be seen as part of a wider agenda of professionalisation. Research limitations/implications: Albeit following on other research that used this research strategy, this web-based review would have benefited from closer interrogation of curriculum content through interviews with Programme Leaders/Directors. Future research should involve a larger sample from the post-1992 sector. Originality/value: This paper provides an up-to-date analysis of the direction taken by British universities. It shows that the MBA market is differentiated with an elite focussed more catering for an international market than the post-1992 universities who still exhibit a commitment to their local market.

Tarsia Formulator is a software package that enables management teachers to create innovative and engaging learning materials that test understanding. Available freely on the Internet via Hermitech Laboratory, it is widely used in the United Kingdom in the school sector. The author has used Tarsia in management classes and has received very positive comments from both undergraduate and MBA students who see it as a fun activity that really stretches their capacity to recall information and think logically. Tarsia can generate a range of puzzles that can serve as a way of consolidating knowledge for small groups of two to three students, or as a summation exercise at the end of a half-day session.

Around 8-10% of the English undergraduate population study in further education colleges. Colleges in the post-compulsory sector have offered a variety of higher education (HE) programmes for decades, some as articulated "top-up" courses, others as full degrees or vocational programmes such as the Higher National Diploma. Reports from both the press and academic research have reported on those who decide to study for an HE qualification at a local college rather than attending a university. These reports appear to coalesce around a number of common issues: the convenience of combining part-time study with work and familial responsibilities; lower costs and greater responsiveness to students' needs; and a distinctive learning culture, with a perception of more support from lecturers and smaller classes. It is within the research context that this study was undertaken. The liberalisation the HE market not only threatens the established position of colleges but also impinges on students as they make their choice of study, whether this is campus-based, college-based or distance learning. This study investigated the reasons why 75 students at three colleges decided to study for a higher education qualification in a further education college in preference to a university. The findings contribute to the corpus of knowledge and, in doing so, call for more innovative ways to cater for those future students who would benefit from studying a HE qualification at a college.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the distribution of leadership practices in Sixth Form Colleges (SFCs). This is an area where very little research has been undertaken and the intention was to investigate the topic from a critical perspective using social constructionist methodology. Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology was based on social constructionism. The research took place over two years at four SFCs and involved a range of teachers. An initial questionnaire was followed up with co-constructed discussions in which participants were able to express their views and develop the trajectory of the discussion. Findings: The findings indicated that SFCs have been under pressure to distribute work roles in order to maximise efficiency and this has led to both opportunities for career advancement and work overload. Research limitations/implications This is a limited research exercise. As a social constructionist research project, it was deliberately aimed at providing a deep insight into a few colleges rather than making generalisable observations about the nature of the sector as a whole. Originality/value: There is very little research undertaken into the SFC sector. This research places an important concept such as distributed leadership into this niche sector. It also challenges the idea that distributed leadership is inherently positive in nature.

The growth in opportunities to enter higher education in the past two decades has led to a remarkable increase in the proportion of the British population who are now educated to graduate level. This transformation of the landscape of higher education has also been associated with an increase in student dropout, increasing dependence on lecturers, and ultimately failure. In short, although the agenda of widening participation has many worthy aspirations, it has also engendered some issues relating to students' outcomes. As a new recruit to academia from teaching in the sixth form college sector, the author was interested to see how students made the transition from college to university study. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the approaches taken by two groups of undergraduate students to study during their first term at a business school. The research involved a cohort of 50 students and a 25-item structured questionnaire together with feedback from focus groups. This research sought to bridge the conventional methodological and theoretical divide between those who focus on self-regulated learning (SRL) and those, particularly in British context, who choose to investigate students' approaches to learning (SAL). In doing so, this research serves both as a primer for further exploration and debate for a possible synthesis between these two approaches. In particular, the findings highlight the importance of self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and self-image, and how these concepts may be linked to strategic, deep and surface forms of learning.

The sixth-form college sector is often marginalised in policy and academic discourse, where the much larger school and further education sectors dominate. This paper sets out to describe the sector's key features, assess its position within the wider education system and consider its future in an increasingly competitive education market. The research involved discussions with senior managers and teachers, as well as analysis of policy documentation from within and without the sector.

The English education sector is undergoing major restructuring with the coalition government placing great emphasis on two key principles of policy: deregulation and marketisation. This development follows on two decades in which the British state has sought to raise performance levels and reduce costs through a variety of policies that are drawn broadly from the New Right. Sixth form colleges are a small sector of the post-16 education system, numbering 94 in total and largely concerned with university entrance. As a result of the "opening-up" of the education market post-2010, they are confronted not only by the much larger general further education colleges and the better-funded school sector, but also by the likelihood of new forms of competition and predatory threats from competitors. Organisational theory offers two competing visions of how institutions may respond to environmental change: isomorphism and adaptation. This paper will explore the validity of these two theoretical positions and consider how sixth form colleges may respond to the changes taking place.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether servant leadership can be applied to college management. The research methodology involved questionnaire and co-constructed discussion eliciting the views of teachers on how they interpret leadership in a sixth form college. Three other models of leadership were discussed along with servant leadership. The results suggest that servant leadership is the least recognised form of leadership in colleges. Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology involved two phases. The first phase involved a probing questionnaire that elicited teachers' views on institutional leadership and enquired about the purpose of leadership. This pilot questionnaire was followed up with a series of co-constructed discussions with teachers. Findings: The findings suggest that servant leadership is not prevalent within the sixth form college sector. Transactional leadership was the most identified form of organisational leadership, with distributed and transformational models coming ahead of servant leadership. These outcomes highlight the shared instrumentalism that exists within colleges as they confront the developing education market in the UK. Research limitations/implications: This case study, albeit echoing other larger investigations, was undertaken at a single college and is therefore limited in its generalisability. Originality/value: There is very little research undertaken into the leadership and management of sixth form colleges, and even less on the relevance of servant leadership to the education sector. This paper offers a tentative view of how teachers view leadership and the dominance of transactional leadership in the college system.

During 2009-2012, one Sixth Form College (SFC) introduced Building Learning Power (BLP) as a new philosophy and framework for learning and teaching. This short paper sets out to explain why and how BLP was introduced, and discusses how effective this process has been.

In order to understand the changing nature of professionalism we must consider how the work of teachers has changed in recent years and place this into its wider political and social context as the British State moved from a social democratic model of the State to one based on neo-liberal ideology. Although much of the literature of teacher professionalism has focused on the school sector, we should recognise that the term also applies to the education sector as a whole and consider the changing nature of work as well as the wider social construction of professional identity. The purpose of this paper is to interpret the development of professionalism in the sixth form college sector by drawing from the work of Critical Theory and Jürgen Habermas in particular. It also explores the views of teachers on how their professional identity and personal orientation to work are changing. In doing so, the paper will explore the power relationship that exists between teachers and the state bureaucracy, the interplay between practice and ethics and the re-professionalisation of teachers in an age of neo-liberalism.

Purpose: This paper aims to focus on the changing nature of quality assurance systems within the sixth form college sector. Design/methodology/approach: Ten sixth form colleges were surveyed across England and staff from varying levels within college hierarchies questioned about how quality assurance systems were implemented. Research involved interviews and questionnaires to staff, as well as documentary research. Findings: The main finding was that there is no single model of quality management system within the sixth form colleges sector and that the clearest differences in practice are between the colleges in the north and south of England which may suggest different organisational cultures in play. Research limitations/implications: This paper was limited by the relatively small sample size--ten from 94 sixth form colleges. However, it does provide a foundation for further research and a basis upon which to debate whether the sixth form college sector should aim for a standardised model of quality assurance. Originality/value: Insufficient research is undertaken into the work of sixth form colleges compared to the school and general further education sectors. This paper provides an insight into an under-researched area. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

Together with the former Polytechnic sector and General Further Education Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges have witnessed major change since the enactment of the Further and Higher Education Act (1992). Change within the post-compulsory education system has taken place on different levels in the UK: at the macro level with change manifest in the structural relationships between the State, the sectors of the post-compulsory education system and individual institutions; at the meso level with changes that have taken place within the Sixth Form College sector; and at micro level within individual institutions through the redefinition of roles and responsibilities. This research was concerned with an investigation into how teachers in Sixth Form Colleges viewed the practice of "leadership". It is a term that has been promoted by Central Government as it has re-engineered the education system and presented as a critical factor in raising performance levels within the education system. (Contains 3 figures and 7 tables.)

The Spending Review announced by the Coalition Government in 2010 represents a challenge to those who lead a variety of state-sponsored institutions, not least in post-compulsory education. For General Further Education Colleges (GFECs) who are confronted with a reduction in funding for a wide variety of programmes, and Sixth Form Colleges (SFCs) who have had their funding for tutorial provision and enrichment curtailed, the Spending Review heralded a major financial challenge. How principals respond to this challenge, together with the long term drift towards the marketisation of education, is reflected in their values and priorities. This investigation set out to explore how teachers in a variety of SFCs and GFECs viewed the response and leadership style of their principal. The findings suggest that principals are primarily driven by institutional interests. Although colleges may claim to contribute to the economic and social regeneration of their local community, social democratic values are likely to be subordinated to neo-liberal exigencies in the current financial and ideological climate. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

In the "age of austerity", educational institutions in many countries are under pressure from a variety of sources to work more closely, reduce costs and raise educational performance. There are a number of possible outcomes that follow on from developing closer institutional ties: sharing of professional expertise through best practice networks, developing greater coherence within the local curriculum and opportunity for students' progression within the education system, and of course, ultimately merger and take-over. The environment within which institutions operate is in a state of flux but is moving clearly towards meeting the challenges presented by Central Government. There has been a shift in British Government policy during the past three decades which has been influenced by ideas drawn from economic instrumentalism, New Public Management and Public Choice theory. Colleges are increasingly viewed by Central Government as a convenient vehicle for local, economic and social regeneration, as they are able to act both independently or as part of a local hub of diverse educational providers. This research project investigated the nature of change, focusing on four case studies of new organisational forms. The findings are contextualised within a wider discussion of organisation theory. Is there a future for British colleges beyond their once traditional educational remit, and what is the future balance between state and private sector providers, are questions at the heart of this investigation. Although there was some opportunity for targeted interviews, the research was primarily desk-based and involved the analysis of documentary material. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

This study proposes new pantograph testing methods for railway pantograph/overhead catenary systems (OCS), based upon substructured testing consisting of a physical pantograph and a numerical OCS model. Hence, this work builds upon a previously presented work, (using the dynamically substructured system approach developed by Stoten and Hyde), which was conducted on a relatively simple mechanical structure in the Automatic Control and Test Laboratory (ACTLab), University of Bristol, UK. In this current paper, the dynamically substructured system (DSS) testing method is applied to a real shinkansen pantograph, using various actuator/DSS configurations that have been implemented at the Railway Technical Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan. In the first of these tests, a conventional servohydraulic actuated rig is used to represent phenomena due to the dropper-passing frequency. Resulting DSS test data are compared with those generated by a numerical simulation of the emulated system, i.e. the system to be represented by the DSS experimentation. Then, in the second set of investigations, the DSS method is used in conjunction with a new 'rotational disc' test rig that is arranged to be in dynamic interaction with the shinkansen pantograph contact head. This novel experimental system enables the investigation of dynamic interactions between the overhead catenary system contact wire and the pantograph head, due to span-passing. Again, results from this experimental investigation are compared with those generated by a purely numerical simulation of the emulated system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology for testing railway pantograph/catenary systems based upon the dynamically substructured system approach for combined physical and numerical components, originally developed by Stoten and Hyde. The main advantage of the dynamically substructured system is that it can provide more stable substructured testing than alternative schemes, such as the commonly used hybrid simulation method, often referred to as hardware-in-the-loop simulation. The developed method is validated through experiments using a simple pantograph rig, together with a numerical simulation of the catenary. In order to realise a real-time simulation of the large catenary model, for the first time in dynamically substructured system testing this study uses (i) a modal analysis technique to reduce the dimension of the contact wire model and (ii) a moving window approach to represent long-distance travel of the pantograph. Finally, the experimental dynamically substructured system test results are compared with simulations of the benchmark pantograph/catenary emulated system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]