Amid the horrors of the Second World War, a group of Board of Education officials met to plan a new public education system which would be fair to and free for all. In the seventy years since then, successive governments have not only failed to live up to their vision but have increasingly sought to interfere with the teaching and learning process…

This article examines current debates surrounding British higher education funding from a political economy perspective, drawing on "positive" and "institutionalist" political economy. Adopting the lens of political economy enables a critical assessment of the use of terms drawn from economics by many higher education…

Universities are often enjoined to "get" with the "real world". In this article, Mary Evans gives an account of interpretations of literary realism in order to consider the "coercive realism" of the contemporary university. The prevailing assumptions that universities must contribute to the "real" world are…

National governments in Britain have consistently promised that, while they would legislate for a curriculum, it would not tell teachers how to teach. Our article suggests, however, that this policy is compromised with the current programme to "remodel the workforce" and augment the role of the classroom or teaching assistant. It does…

It has long been acknowledged that adult and lifelong educators have exercised little influence over national education policies. This article addresses the issue, with particular reference to the research elements of policy advocacy. Researchers and policy-makers are distinguished and related as communities of practice and intellectual categories…

The bureaucratic problems that can emerge when public safety laws are applied to a college are described. (JD)

The reconstruction of the postsecondary sector described in the 1991 White Paper "Education and Training for the 21st Century" leaves many questions unanswered and falls short of labor force demands. Retaining A levels and instituting differentiated diplomas will not bridge the vocational/academic divide. Reliance on the Training and…

It is argued that political input at a local level can be justified in terms of the importance of the institution to the community, of the total responsibilities of a local authority, and of a need for some other power to offset the power of a national body. A regional policy for higher education in Great Britain in advocated. (Author/LBH)

Asserting that traditional egalitarian objectives for education have been rejected by the government as incompatible with a modernized system offering diversity and choices, examines some effects on educational opportunity of British policies, both Conservative and New Labour, which have both preserved old forms of relative advantage and created…

This paper argues that, using Eric Ashby's writing on academic freedom and autonomy and Burton Clark's essay on different modes of coordination, the British government has unnecessarily terminated the University Grants Committee and, in its overreliance on market forces, is threatening the future academic integrity of British universities.…

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…

Two higher education finance systems with a common cultural heritage are compared. The characteristics of each from the last 20 years are described and suggestions for the future are offered. (Author/MLW)

Recounts the activities of the University Grants Committee (UGC) in the funding of British universities from 1979 to 1986. Discusses two surveys of British university development strategies conducted by the UGC in 1983 and in 1985. Relates the questions and responses to changing funding patterns. (LS)

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)

Perceptions and attitudes of a group of British primary school teachers toward educational changes and the inclusion of students with disabilities are examined. Teacher frustrations with widespread changes in demands made on them and with increased responsibilities for students with disabilities are noted. (DB)