Given that elevation to permanent secretary is widely recognised as the apotheosis of a career in the Whitehall bureaucracy, it is remarkable that so few have been the subject of sustained biographical research and that this key role remains largely un-theorised. As such, this paper reports on aspects of a longitudinal study which set out to…

The central admissions systems of Victoria (Australia), Great Britain, and Ontario are outlined and analyzed. It is proposed that although these programs are important and their control is in the hands of the governing bodies, little thought is given to their development and they may become more significant than anticipated. (MSE)

Corporate management is a reorganization of local government promulgated in Great Britain by the Bains Report and reinforced by the 1974 reorganization act. It emphasizes that the departmental orientation of much of local government must give way to a broader, unifying, corporate perspective. The example of how corporate management has not worked…

The ultimate concern that faces teachers of economics in Great Britain is how their pupils will fare in the externally assessed examinations at the secondary level. This article puts in historical perspective the recent moves toward centralized control of the assessment of the curriculum. (RM)

Illustrates how some bureaucratic elements are being strengthened at the expense of participation in organizational decisions by examining several sectors of British administration--industry, local and central government, development planning, and the health service. (Available from Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West 17 Street, New York, New…

The applicability of Britain's University Grants Committee funding structure to higher education institutions in the United States is examined. Implications of the British block grant system, which purposely limits decision-making inputs, are discussed. (LBH)

Free but compulsory state education systems may be untenable. Contradictions appear between education in newly democratized eastern Europe and in Britain, where the government advocates free market but centralizes control of curriculum and instruction. Other contradictions lie between state education as social control and consumer choice. (SK)

Problems in the impending transfer of British polytechnics away from local control and toward centralization are discussed. Political and practical considerations in the decision to centralize are examined. (MSE)

In 1992, the Further and Higher Education Act unified higher education in England, Wales, and Scotland, ending the "binary policy" that sustained two separate sectors with different missions, funding arrangements, and institutional titles. This article explores factors leading to this outcome and some consequences. There was no grand…

Academic decisionmakers must be helped to use the right kind of information so that the implications of the difficult alternative choice decisions are fully spelled out. The great overriding benefit of an integrated management information approach is that it can further the institutional view and can show a broad overall picture. (Author)

Describes debates over general education and the common curriculum in Great Britain and Canada. In Great Britain, the central government's Department of Education and Science supports a core curriculum. In Canada, the National Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, may recommend a common curriculum to the provincial ministries of education.…

This paper introduces and explores new counterpressures in educational governance, the central theme of this symposium. Drawing on research in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, but giving particular attention to Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Canada, and the United States, this paper provides an…

An educational planning exercise that increased centralization in Britain's public sector colleges in 1984-85 is described, and the issues it has raised about the relationship of government and institutions and the nature of educational policymaking are discussed. The responses of eight institutions to the changes are examined. (MSE)

Implications of British government policy decisions for cooperation with universities in developing countries are described. Governmental methods of organizing technical assistance are seen as expensive in terms of cost and staff time and unsuited to institution-to-institution collaboration, which is essential if aid programs are to be effective.…

Since the 1960s, the world has undergone transformations in trade, industry, and technology. Some assert that the postmodern society needs organizational structures that allow for diversity, instability, unpredictability, and mobility. However, this paper argues that the headlong rush toward such organizational forms may well encourage the…