In the school curriculum, some subjects tend to be regarded more highly than others. Various accounts have been proposed to explain this phenomenon. Most of them draw attention to the nature of different subjects and the type of knowledge that these promote. While such epistemological narratives help to illuminate the origins of the curriculum…

The change to online delivery in March 2020 provided an opportunity as well as a requirement to change the way we work in Higher Education (HE), from a traditional stance focussed on hierarchy and roles to one that embraced individual core skills and competencies. The Transformation Academy (TA), Solent University's response led by the Solent…

Employers participate in mental health initiatives in a number of ways. Key amongst these is the provision of accessible places and events for employees to discuss mental health issues. Inspired by these conversations, we held a workshop for staff to encourage the discussion to develop more widely, facilitated by the first two authors of this…

This article draws on insights gained from three projects described as participatory action research (PAR) undertaken in the UK. What binds them together is that each project coordinator raised the issue of the under-representation of opportunities for disruption in the possible trajectory to knowledge democracy.PAR places a relational process at…

This paper draws on the technical, elite and political interpretations of the purpose of management, to identify demands for particular forms of educational knowledge in the management studies curriculum. The varied character of this knowledge is discussed using Bernsteinian concepts of verticality, grammaticality, classification and framing, and…

This paper focuses on formative assessment in the field of higher education. It examines Bernstein's work on vertical discourses and knowledge structures with the view to deepening understanding of the concept of assessment "for" learning. The first part of the paper draws on Vygotsky's work on concept development and Bernstein's work on…

This article argues that many Conservative and Labour backbenchers have reacted to the Downing Street spin on the 2005 Education White Paper rather than to the White Paper itself. But it is acknowledged that an increase in the variety of secondary schools can lead to division, discrimination and a disturbing emphasis on hierarchy.

This article argues that the proposals in the 2005 White Paper can be largely explained by a New Labour emphasis on "meritocracy" merging with a right-wing belief in education as a means of creating an hierarchical society.

One of the most striking, and almost universal, educational trends of the last decade has been the shift in the relative achievements of males and females. In almost every OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) country, girls now do better than boys at almost every level, up to and including doctoral, and in almost every…

In comparing and contrasting the year (horizontal) and house (vertical) systems of pastoral (guidance) organization and management in British secondary schools, this article examines a model combining pastoral and academic concerns by establishing a vertical system. This system is proposed as the most effective way to integrate these two concerns.…

Examines the role of accounting calculations in reorganizing manufacturing capabilities of a vertically integrated global retailing company. Introducing teamwork to replace line work extended traditional, hierarchical management control systems. Teamwork's self-managing demands contravened workers' established sense of self-identity as…