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This article reports the findings from interviews with ten primary headteachers on the roles, responsibilities and relationships of the heads and their deputies, particularly in the light of the 1998 Green Paper 'teachers meeting the challenge of change'. These heads were selected because their schools had figured well in the 'Performance Tables 1999: Key Stage 2 Test Results' and so should exemplify good practice. The findings suggest the following key characteristics for an ideal partnership between a head and a deputy: shared values and vision; close personal and professional relationships; clarity about boundaries; provision of non-contact time. Moreover, the article proposes a distinctive role for the deputy in an era of performativity: the 'leading professional' within the school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new Dutch curriculum for the upper levels of secondary education requires students to use research skills. Students have to conduct a number of small research projects, culminating in the writing of a research paper as a formal part of the new examinations. Although the literature offers abundant advice on how to write a good research paper, comparatively little research seems to have been done on this subject as it relates to the classroom. This article describes some results of a study which examines the problems encountered by students when carrying out research projects and which looks into the difficulties teachers face when coaching students in research skills. These obstacles are particularly apparent in the initial stages of the research process. Problem finding is revealed to be an underdeveloped skill in education. Although teachers score much better than students on a test of research skills, finding an effective way to channel these superior skills into coaching methods that benefit students remains problematic. It is evident that procedural knowledge cannot be seen separately from declarative knowledge. Working together in interdisciplinary teams might help teachers overcome some of these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main problems in assessing reflective learning and to seek ways of tackling them. Lessons are sought from HE's long engagement with critical thinking that can be transferred to reflective learning. A solution to the problems is offered that is based on a questioning approach to reflective learning. In so doing, the paper explores the nature of reflective learning and advances the idea that the distinction between "surface" and "deep" learning can be generalised to the domain of reflective learning. It concludes with some implications for the development of reflective learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore the distinctiveness of the professional doctorate in education (EdD). To deliver on this aim the paper contextualizes the local and particular EdD by locating it within its wider perspective. First the development of Higher Education (HE) in England is considered. Next the historical development of the EdD is examined. Finally the paper argues that the EdD is distinctive and challenges the university tradition. Moreover the paper begins to provide tentative suggestions to the way in which practitioners and researchers doing the EdD might act as knowledge workers, knowledge producers and work for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a wealth of research into various forms of educational export such as distance education and study abroad, but this paper focuses on the delivery of foreign-supplied courses and programs within a host country-in this case, China. Key findings include a high level of demand amongst Chinese students for business and management courses and programs delivered by foreign universities and their Chinese partners, and a marked preference for relatively unadapted foreign programs and, courses, which give the students an idea of what it would be like to study at the foreign university campus-for example, in USA or Canada. These and other findings contained in this paper are of value to foreign universities seeking to develop and deliver a range of educational courses and programs to China and other large, emerging education markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article distinguishes research—the discovery of new knowledge—from innovation, which is understood to be the transformation of practice in a community or the incorporation of existing knowledge into economic activity. From a survey of roles served by vocational education institutions in a number of OECD countries the paper argues that vocational education institutions have a potentially crucial role in mediating between the creators of new knowledge—researchers and their institutions—and the users of knowledge. They are ideally placed to develop this role since innovation is a local activity and vocational education institutions are much more widely geographically dispersed than research intensive institutes. The paper concludes by posing six steps vocational education institutions should follow to establish a role in national innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study describes and evaluates a pedagogical procedure that allows multicultural college freshmen to devise and research topics indigenous to their communal backgrounds. The researcher wishes to ascertain whether a method delineated by an academic procedure and limited to a classroom setting can have extended social implicationsfor the inner-city student. Specifically, critical thinking and inquiry techniques are applied to the student research paper process, thus integrating communal issues with the academic curriculum. A further goal is to ascertain how the focus and motivation inherent in the modified research process affects student critical inquiry of text material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines claims that recent reforms to UK education have led to significant organisational changes in primary school and higher education. It also examines two main theoretical explanations for these, namely post-Fordism and New Managerialism. Examples of changes in both schools and universities, including flexibility and teamwork, are explored. Up to the mid-1980s, publicly funded educational organisations did display bureaucratic features, including rules, staff hierarchies and complex procedures. However, professionals employed in these organisations retained discretion and autonomy in their work. Since then, the introduction of an audit culture and a greater emphasis on management and regulation of the work of teachers and academics has decreased discretion and autonomy. This paper suggests that theories of New Managerialism offer a more satisfactory explanation of the changes explored than post-Fordism, which has more often been used as a normative model of what contemporary organisations should look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the experience of one university in quality assuring higher education courses that were to be delivered by E-learning, or blended learning. The form of blended learning relies upon the use of staff from partner institutions who may not have been employed primarily solely to deliver higher education courses, be it by face-to-face or E-delivery. The paper examines approaches to quality assurance, transformation and enhancement used at the university. It describes a four phase, or dimension, model of quality assurance specifically designed to ensure that the quality of the new forms of delivery was as robust and rigorous as that of the more traditional face-to-face delivery methods. Finally, the paper reflects upon the efficacy of the new approach to quality assurance and comments upon the changes that have been provoked by these new approaches to learning and assurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To examine the role that corporations can (and are) playing in removing restrictions to a college or university education for their employees - the educational glass ceiling. Design/methodology/approach - An interview format is used with an experienced academic, and learning and development practitioner, drawing upon experiences and lessons learned from the creation of a corporate university within Sodexho corporation. Findings - Directly connects the introduction of "performance-based degrees" with the opening up of educational opportunities for the previously disadvantaged to corporate performance and achievement of commercial objectives. Research limitations/implications - The paper primarily draws upon insights from the creation of the Sodexho Corporate University, but sets this within the context of best practice elsewhere. It identifies the educational glass ceiling that exists for employees of major corporations, opening the door for further study. Practical implications - There are reputed to be around 2,000 corporate universities in the USA alone. This paper has implications for the scope and objectives for those developing or leading corporate universities and corporate business schools, or contemplating such an intervention. Originality/value - This paper sets out an original train of thought, has useful pragmatic insights, and provides scope for significant further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work presented here follows up the authors' paper, in the previous issue of this journal, which (i) explored modernizing leadership in a public-private partnership, principally from the perspective of the senior managers of a private company contracted to run school support services by a local education authority (LEA), and (ii) suggested that their leadership approach resembled what was termed an adaptive public service (APS) model. This second, companion paper analyses data from secondary school head teachers to see if their perceptions and experience confirm or challenge the APS model as an interpretation of the leadership approach of the private company's senior managers. It was concluded that the model, with its basic commitment to a public service ethos, is largely affirmed as a way of reflecting the latter's leadership, particularly in its early stages. However, by the end of the period of study, a change in strategy and leadership approach was creating a more target-driven culture. With regard to the impact of outsourcing, although some improvements in services were identified by head teachers, it was also evident that other core support services for schools had continuing deficiencies. This is consistent with experience of private participation in public sector education which has generally not lived up to the expectations placed on it. Tensions were found between the practical power relationships within this public-private partnership, and the idea of partnership that is built into the policy discourse that labels it as a partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, based on an ethnographic study of an Israeli kindergarten, describes the practice of hugging, by the girls, of the teacher, and the latter's response to the girls' initiative. Based on Bourdieu's concept of habitus and the assumption that embodiment is crucial to social-cultural learning, the paper demonstrates the complex interweaving of social meanings that may be experienced through, and read into, the practice of hugging. By focusing on this single bodily practice, and endeavouring to reveal some of the richness of interpretation that emerges out of such a focus, the paper aims to show how the educational researcher, in setting out an array of possible readings, may provide teachers with innovative ways of seeing the routine practices of classroom life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores constructions of the 'new' university student in the context of UK government policy to widen participation in higher education. New Labour discourse stresses the benefits of widening participation for both individuals and society, although increasing the levels of participation of students from groups who have not traditionally entered university has been accompanied by a discourse of 'dumbing down' and lowering standards. The paper draws on an ongoing longitudinal study of undergraduate students in a post-1992 inner-city university in the UK to examine students' constructions of their experiences and identities in the context of public discourses of the 'new' higher education student. Many of the participants in this study would be regarded as 'non-traditional' students, i.e. those students who are the focus of widening participation policy initiatives. As Reay et al. (2002) discovered, for many 'non-traditional' students studying in higher education is characterized by 'struggle', something that also emerged as an important theme in this research. The paper examines the ways in which these new student identities both echo the New Labour dream of widening participation and yet continue to reflect and re-construct classed and other identities and inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the management of planned change and considers the following question: what effect does a continually shifting balance between environmental turbulence and stability have on the implementation of annual school development plans? In addressing this question the paper has sought to test the generalisability of Wallace & McMahon's 1994 contingency hypothesis. This hypothesis states that to the extent that the environment faced by educational organisations is turbulent, a continual process of creation, monitoring and adjustment of plans is necessary. However, if the environment is stable, a more systematic and cyclic approach to planning may be possible. It will be argued that in a small state where policy makers have sought to avoid the imposition of too many innovations within a restricted time frame, an approach to the management of planned change in schools based on the production and use of annual school development plans is sustainable. However, school development planning processes still need to be sufficiently flexible to cope with the exigencies of school management. Accordingly, it is necessary for headteachers to combine the continual creation and monitoring plans with a more cyclic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper applies the concepts of the horizon problem, agency costs, monitoring, and special interest incentives to trustee management of public schools and higher education. We examine whether South Carolina's 1984 Education Improvement Act, a major restructuring of educational organization and spending in South Carolina, is related to the ratio of pupils in private versus public schools. We employ 30 years of county level data in South Carolina, and we uncover several things. There is no statistically credible relation between public school expenditures per pupil and the private school/public school enrollment ratio. However, we do find that the directed changes in rules, organizational structure, and incentives mandated by the 1984 Educational Improvement Act are associated with a reduction in the relative number of children attending private school. We interpret this to mean that the features of the law requiring better accountability and the like were perceived by parents to make for better education while the increased money spent was only a transfer to teachers or some other groups; we find that organization matters more than money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In bringing together two important contemporary preoccupations, namely the development of new approaches to leadership and the push to ‘personalization’, this paper argues against the poverty of much contemporary work on personalization. In its stead it proposes an approach to leadership and management grounded, firstly, on a particular view of how we become persons and, secondly and commensurately, on a particular view of education and human flourishing. It offers a four-fold typology and practical framework severally identifying ‘impersonal’, ‘affective’, ‘high performance’ and ‘person-centred’ approaches to leadership and management. Having considered the first two it goes on to explore the third and most dangerous organizational type, the high performance learning organization, which currently dominates much of contemporary advocacy and practice. It then argues for what it suggests is a more satisfactory alternative, the person-centred learning community. Having acknowledged the dangers of what it calls ‘the soulful turn’ in leadership and management it then sketches out some of the key features of what it takes a person-centred approach to be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the factors influencing the development of widening participation policy in 16 higher education institutions (HEIs). It utilises documentary research, followed by interviews with key policy makers in three of the institutions: an ‘old’ university, a ‘new’ university and a college of higher education. The paper demonstrates that HEIs have some agency, but this is bounded by the need to take account of the external environment within which they operate. The article argues against overly simplistic assumptions about the rationale underpinning HEI policy on widening participation. Instead it contends that policy develops out of a complex combination of economic and political influences, mediated by the organisational culture of HEIs. As such, both agency and structure influence the policy‐making process. The paper discusses the complexities involved in the development of HEI policy on widening participation. It also highlights some of the problems involved in disentangling institutional rhetoric or ‘spin’ from the values that actually underpin institutional policy. The paper concludes by arguing for more institutional autonomy in the determination of widening participation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a case study of a Chinese educational leader who was in charge of an institution when it was in the process of being upgraded from a secondary vocational school to a self-funded tertiary vocational institution. Using a life history approach, the paper furnishes an informative picture capturing the dual transformation process of the informant's leadership and the institution under his leadership. It describes how the informant adopted a diversity of leadership images in winning various stakeholders for his institution in the leading process. It reflects enormous challenges that tertiary vocational education leaders have to face in the commercialisation process of tertiary education on the Chinese mainland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on three research projects (undertaken in 1997–99, 2002 and 2004–05) that have examined innovation in learning and teaching methods in UK higher education. The first two of these focused on such matters as departmental and institutional cultures and the factors that have either enabled or inhibited change. The third has begun to monitor the impact of the process of establishing Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The prospects for introducing innovations in teaching and learning in higher education are considered in relation to these wider contexts in terms of policies, structures and cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The on going debate about the (World Trade Organisation) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) framework brings out conflicting views about cross‐border education the world over. Between the enthusiastic views of trade promoters, at one end, and the sceptical reflections of academics with a traditional outlook, at the other, there are many different viewpoints. Academics who support the view that education should not be treated as a tradeable commodity argue that cross‐border education should always have a revenue generation approach that would be to the disadvantage of developing countries. There are trade enthusiasts who are convinced that the commercialisation of higher education at the global level is unavoidable in the near future and that it is up to the countries to prepare themselves to benefit from the new opportunities of the global market. Sometimes strong criticism of these academics is based on false understandings. It is also true that the views of trade promoters might be equally wrong in some national contexts, based only on optimistic overestimations rather than on grounded realities. This paper explores these false understandings and overestimations that shape the arguments about cross‐border education in the Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa has embarked on a process of education renewal by adopting outcomes‐based education (OBE). This paper focuses on the linkages between total quality management (TQM) and the outcomes‐based approach in an education context. Quality assurance in academic programmes in higher education in South Africa is, in some instances, based on the TQM model because of a strong focus on the employers of graduates. The development of performance standards and the identification of outcomes are highly relevant to quality management in educational systems. This is directly applicable to OBE, therefore, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the linkages between TQM and OBE in an educational environment. The challenge is to successfully align TQM principles with OBE principles so that quality in higher education provisioning could be assured. This comparison will illustrate that the implementation of OBE in an academic environment does contribute to quality improvement. The future of an economic system is directly tied to the ability of a nation to establish and maintain a high quality higher education system with a strong focus on quality teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks critically at the government's year 2000 initiative to make school governors responsible for headteacher performance management (HTPM). A case study, carried out at John Wiseman Community Primary School by the author as an insider-researcher, is augmented by questionnaire and interview data from other institutions. Critical incident analysis illuminates the procedures and problems of HTPM. The role of the government's appointed external adviser is considered. Results suggest HTPM by governors can be effective in circumstances which are defined by the study. The paper suggests a series of criteria that describe successful HTPM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching is a critical consideration in investigations of primary school leadership and not just as an outcome variable. Factoring in instruction as an explanatory variable in scholarship on school leadership involves moving away from views of teaching as a monolithic or unitary practice. When it comes to leadership in primary schools, the subject matters. More sophisticated constructions of teaching are necessary that take into account the subject matter (e.g. mathematics or literacy) and the dimension of teaching (e.g. content and teaching strategies). This paper explores how the practice of leadership in primary schools is structured differently depending on the school subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The paper presents empirical research that investigated significant dependent relationships between 'type' of influencer, e.g., parent, sibling, friend and total number of influencers, and levels of satisfaction within the context of an extended service buying process, i.e., application to an institution of higher education. The type of influencer is investigated in terms of the relevance of their indirect prior experience. The total number of influencers is considered as a useful representation of the level of self-monitoring. Satisfaction, although considered as an attribute of service quality in previous literature, is here modelled as an attitude, viewed from the consumer's internal mental and emotional processing, rather than from the service quality perspective. The findings indicate a strong dependent link between the measure of self-monitoring and the major measure of cognitive satisfaction. There was no such strong link between 'type' of influencer and any measure of cognitive or affective satisfaction, nor was it proved that the 'type' of influencer caused a difference in levels of satisfaction. The relevance of prior experience of others does not exert a very strong effect on levels of satisfaction. Finally the level of self-monitoring, expressed as a behavioural variable, i.e., total number of decision-makers, was found to effect both cognitive and affective levels of satisfaction. The implications for higher education marketers are that affective or emotional satisfaction or dissatisfaction can remain in the applicant's memory for longer than cognitive or thinking satisfaction or dissatisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet has the potential to reshape college recruiting; however, little research has been done to see the impact of the Internet on marketing graduate programs, including medical schools. This paper explores the Web sites of 20 different medical schools, including traditional four-year and bachelor's-M.D, degree programs, to ascertain whether universities are attempting to meet the informational needs of their core audiences. Research showed a significant change in content between 2001 and 2003 but no significant difference in the online marketing strategy for these two student groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationship marketing has made its way into the practices of university administrations. With it have also arrived many problems associated with the aggressive use of CRM technologies. One particularly effective and healthy approach to relationship marketing in higher education is to treat the university, with all of its stakeholders, as a brand community, and to pursue policies and programs to strengthen the relationships that define the community. With this paper, we examine an important class of relationship often neglected in the CRM literature, i.e., the relationships among the customers who support the brand and who ultimately give it its meaning and vitality. Specifically, we explore how the nature of relationships among students affects their long-term loyalty to a university. The results of a telephone survey of university alumni demonstrate the importance of certain types of university experiences on student relationships and, thereafter, on loyalty to their alma mater and their intentions to support the university in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the increasingly competitive Australian tertiary education market, a consumer orientation is essential. This is particularly so for small regional campuses that compete with larger universities in the state capitals. Campus management needs to carefully monitor both the perceptions of prospective students within the catchment area, and the (dis)satisfaction levels of current students. This study reports the results of an exploratory investigation into the perceptions held of a small regional campus, using two techniques that have arguably been underutilized in the education marketing literature. Repertory Grid Analysis, a technique developed fifty years ago, was used to identify attributes deemed salient to year 12 high school students at the time they were applying for university places. Importance-performance analysis (IPA), developed three decades ago, was then used to identify attributes that were determinant for a new cohort of first year undergraduate students. The paper concludes that group applications of Repertory Grid offer education market researchers a useful technique for identifying attributes used by high school students to differentiate universities; and that IPA is a useful technique for guiding promotional decision making. In this case the two techniques provided a quick, economical and effective snapshot of market perceptions, which can be used as a foundation for the development of an ongoing market research program. Practical steps for such a program are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article builds a conceptual framework to examine how school leaders can move away from a planning framework that emphasizes only short-term target setting and move to an effective strategic approach. It examines early evidence from research on what dimensions are critical in establishing a strategically focused school within a medium-term timeframe. It concludes by outlining possible characteristics of strategically focused schools. This article builds a conceptual framework to establish a model for researching the characteristics of the strategically focused school. This is the first part of a National College for School Leadership (NCSL) research project focusing on strategy and strategic leadership in schools. While indicators from the research will be used to illuminate the framework of the conceptual model, the full results will be the subject of later papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students in institutions of higher education are becoming more "consumer oriented" than ever before. As a result, the turnover rate is increasing--students are leaving universities almost as fast as new students are enrolled. This is both costly and inefficient. Major efforts are underway in all areas of traditional for-profit institutions to reduce their churn rate. Efforts to attract students whose needs best fit what the individual academic institution has to offer should be fruitful in reducing the rate of drop outs and transfers. This paper proposes a model of retention that considers student values congruence with the university and faculty as a significant component of academic fit and ultimate student satisfaction and retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will explore some of the tensions that arise for Ghanaian headteachers in trying to resolve traditional and tribal expectations with 'Western' conceptions of leadership roles and competencies. These are particularly acute in rural communities where expectations of school leaders often reflect, and are constrained by, ascribed status in the tribe or village. Gender issues illustrate these tensions as successive governments initiate strategies to ensure that gender equality concerns are integrated into all their policies and programmes. The starting point for this paper--the process of research itself--sets the scene for an exploration of a complex multi-faceted leadership culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to report how school leadership is challenged by the three waves of education reform and development in Hong Kong. Since the 1970s, school leaders in the first wave were mainly concerned with achievement of the planned goals through improvement of teaching and learning. In the 1990s, school leaders of the second wave often focused on interface improvement through various types of quality inspection and assurance. In facing the challenges in the new century, the third wave of changes in Hong Kong is moving towards the pursuit of future effectiveness. The school leaders need to be concerned with enhancing educational relevance and creating new goals. This paper will discuss how the leadership conceptions and concerns of the third wave in Hong Kong are completely different from the traditional thinking. Implications are drawn for educators, policy-makers, and scholars in different parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patterns of lifelong participation in adult education and training in Wales are distinctive within the UK. Participation, qualification and economic activity tend to be lower than for the other geographic regions of the UK, and remain systematically structured by age, sex and social class. A problem facing practitioners and policy-makers attempting to increase participation rates in Wales is the very low population density and accompanying problems of travel to institutions. Wales is therefore a prime site for testing the notion of 'anytime, anyplace, anywhere' inherent in virtual participation. The results presented in this paper show that, so far, technology has simply replicated existing societal divisions. Of a random sample of 1000 households from a 2002 survey, no one in Wales reported ever using the UK's University for Industry/ learndirect , for example. Using life-like logistic regression analysis of patterns of participation in post-compulsory learning, the paper shows that many of the determinants of adult learning are social and economic. Access to, and use of information and communication technology (ICT), are not good predictors of participation in learning. Rather, access to ICT is an outcome of the same socio-economic determinants as participation itself. Perhaps the money spent on high-profile initiatives such as the University for Industry would be better spent on more traditional forms of adult learning, whether involving technology or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much is made of the potential of lifelong learning for individuals and organisations. In this article we tend to make much less of it, certainly with respect to its use in universities to discipline academics. Nevertheless, we argue that academics now need to re-learn the positions they occupy and the stances they take in response to the marketisation of Australian universities. In particular, we suggest that the position of (pure) critique no longer commands attention in Australian contexts of higher education, although the paper does not suggest a disregard for a critical stance purely for the sake of participation. It is in understanding the interconnections between position and stance , and how they might be strategically performed during the everyday practices of academics, that a more promising way of engaging with the venalities of the market is envisaged; a strategy that could be described as 'sailing into the wind'. In discussing these matters, the paper draws on semi-structured interviews with academics located in university faculties/departments/schools of education along Australia's eastern seaboard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the enactment and early implementation of remedial education policies in Massachusetts and Oklahoma. Remediation reforms are part of a larger group of policies that seek to motivate students by raising the stakes for their academic performance. This study's findings suggest that efforts to end or restrict remediation are driven largely by status attainment concerns--the desire by policy makers and administrators to create "competitive advantage" for certain public higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper challenges the claim of the public administration community that universities are playing an important role in transferring public sector technology to local governments. We provide data from the Lower Mississippi Delta to show that graduate programs in public management and planning are not filling the severe expertise gap facing nonmetropolitan counties and municipalities. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations on how universities can better fulfill their promise of technology transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects a fairly pessimistic view of Hungarian higher education (HE). The reason for this is not the quality of Hungarian HE or the prevailing processes in it, but the contrast between the present situation, achievements and trends, and the unique opportunities for development and the introduction of new paradigms offered by the restructuring of society, the prominent role of HE in the preparation of the integration processes as well as by outside assistance and international cooperation. Comparing the position of HE with other sectors of society or of the academic sphere (e.g. the research institutes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) HE can be seen to have a considerable comparative advantage: due to the relatively favourable government policy of the past years which has protected the sphere from devastating budget cuts, the universities and colleges are more or less intact and can operate without greater restrictions. Furthermore substantial developments have been carried out mainly on the basis of outside assistance and cooperation. The main problem lies in the fact that, unfortunately, these developments have not considerably altered the structure, the 'philosophy' of the system, the main frameworks, the activities at grassroots level and the way staff and students think. Comparing the main characteristics of Hungarian HE with those of Western European HE systems, a set of consistent differences can be listed. Consequently the restructuring of Hungarian HE would require a change of paradigms, i.e. introduction of a set of consistent and coherent measures, the transition from the present system of operation to another harmonising with the HE systems of Western European democracies. There seems to be no other possibility: experience of implementing excellent ideas has shown that changing only some parts of a consistent system is unsuccessful. This paper was prepared before the favourable changes at the Ministry of Education and Culture in the... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1950 and 1980 the number of school districts fell from 83,642 to 15,987. Data for the fifty states for 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1980 are used to identify the factors that contributed to this decline. The focus is on the tradeoff between cost savings through scale economies (a few large districts) and a diverse population's demand for choice in public schooling (many small districts). We find that much of the decline in the number of school districts has resulted from: 1) the decline in the farm population and increase in population density, which has made it easier to take advantage of scale economies; 2) the growing importance of state aid, which reduces quality variation among districts within a state; and 3) the increase in the fraction of teachers that belong to the National Education Association teacher's union, which may reflect increased political influence used to lower the costs of organizing. Several states have laws that require school district and county (or state) boundaries to coincide. In the last section of the paper we estimate the costs of these laws. First, we compare the predicted number of districts, using the regression results in the earlier section of the paper, to the actual number in these states. Then we estimate a demand equation that is used to generate the dollar amount of the cost due to diminished interjurisdictional competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this paper we argue that middle managers (i.e. heads of department) are the key to developing successful departments and successful schools. We report the results from a pilot research project into the changing role of the head of department in which we have shadowed eight heads of department in Catholic secondary schools in Birmingham and Manchester. We test the validity of a typology for analysing the leadership and managerial roles of these heads of department and report on structured interviews with them and their deputy heads. In particular, we focus on initiatives and obstacles to improving teaching, learning and achievement in their departments. This research, drawing on the 'contextualised perspective in action' as an appropriate methodology, provides an audit of the strengths and weaknesses of the leadership of the heads of department and of the other internal conditions within their departments, and a focus for development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate whether the distance between school and the pupil’s home is related to social background in a six borough area of East London. Also investigated is the extent to which schools in the area perform in line with expectations on the basis of the social composition of their intake. The research involves analysis of the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) to which geodemographic codes supplied by Experian have been attached. We demonstrate that the six schools in the area which achieved the highest average points score at GCSE recruit pupils widely from within the area (and to a lesser extent outside), whilst the lowest performing six schools recruit from much more narrowly defined catchment areas. In terms of school performance, we show that whilst we might expect schools to perform better as they become more distant from inner East London and nearer to the M25, this is not necessarily the case. In our conclusions we argue that these data support the claims made on the basis of ethnographic data about the class nature of school selection and parental choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty women who are mothers and primary school headteachers were interviewed regarding their understanding of the self and how this interacts with the role of parent and professional. The data are read as an illustration of dialogic identities where the self is in constant negotiation regarding how to position as mother and as headteacher, and how they are being positioned by organisational and social structures. Training and preparation for headship does not engage with the person as subject outside the organisation, and this paper provides an opportunity to examine how professional and personal positioning are interrelated, dynamic and vital to how practitioners do and value their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Netherlands, as in many European countries, classrooms display a growing cultural diversity. There are only very limited empirically supported data on the interpersonal competence teachers need in Dutch classrooms and studies from other countries cannot be generalized because of differences in the composition of the student population. This paper reports on an exploratory study in two schools on teachers' experiences in multicultural classes followed by an in-depth case study of one expert teacher. We use this study to answer the question to what degree this teacher displays interpersonal competence (teaching behaviours, knowledge and attitudes) specific for teaching in multicultural classrooms by comparing this teacher's competence with generic interpersonal teaching competence. The teacher studied seems to be aware of special needs of students from different cultures and to use this knowledge to apply specific teaching strategies and interpersonal cues to create a positive classroom atmosphere and to cater for needs of diverse students. Further, the results indicate that many elements of this teacher's interpersonal competence in teaching a multicultural class can be considered aspects of generic teaching competence. It seems that the multicultural classroom puts heavier demands on this competence than a less diverse classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1993 the UK Economic and Social Research Council funded the Parental and School Choice Interaction (PACSI) Study into the marketisation of education, conducted by the author along with Philip Woods and Ron Glatter of the Open University. The findings from the PACSI study highlighted the localised and complex nature of markets in education and reported the ways in which senior school managers adopted a variety of strategies to respond to the local competitive arena in which they found themselves. In more than ten years since this study the UK Government has changed from Conservative to Labour and policy discourses on choice and competition have been situated alongside those of collaboration and partnership. In this shifting policy landscape the paper utilises analytical tools and findings from the original study to revisit one of the case study areas and examines the market environment in which senior school managers find themselves today. The findings reveal a stronger ‘parent as consumer’ marketing orientation and responsiveness on behalf of schools and an environment in which competition and rivalry has intensified and continues to discursively predominate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article contributes to the literature on the internal management of colleges and provides a research based analysis of the college sector in the wider public management interface of strategy, policy and service delivery. Internal college management showed considerable evidence of a strategic approach to management practice within colleges. At the public management level, the work was contextualized within debates regarding the reduced role of central state delivery of public services, the concomitant and sometimes divergent positions of strong central executive action and local partnership delivery of services. The research indicated an absence of strong central control with instances of individual institutional influence on policy. Local partnership activity, as a key part of the public management and governance environment, was analysed. It was found that not all types of partnership were equally effective. The paper highlighted a key area to be addressed, the strategic capacity gap within the sector. It also signposted the need for further research on college participation in partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite extensive attention (positive and negative) devoted to the philosophical, public policy and political dimensions of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in education, little attention has been devoted to their managerial implications as well as the broader organizational context (strategic alliances) within which they are a special case. In this paper we seek first to identify what they are and then examine PPPs in education that have been recently created and are operating in England. It is worth noting that PPPs appear to be indistinguishable from the larger set of strategic alliances in fields other than education, and their recent arrival in education reflects its evolution towards a multi-sector, alliance-oriented field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the analysis of student mobility in the EU as a means to stimulate convergence of diverse higher education systems. The argument is based on official texts and other texts of political communication of the European Commission. The following discussion is placed within the current context of the Bologna process and its aim to introduce system-level changes towards convergence and harmonization that were not achieved through EU schemes of student mobility. Without disregarding the tension between popularity and limited impact of EU mobility programmes, I argue that promoting student mobility was not an act of a limited ambition, but on the contrary, an initiative aiming at the foundation of a system of higher education institutions at a European level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most school heads in England, especially secondary heads, once appointed remain in their schools until retirement. However, recent years have seen a considerable increase in opportunities for head teachers to undertake other forms of education-related work. The range of these new opportunities is examined with particular attention given to ‘consultant leaders’ and the growing role they are playing or will play in implementing government strategies, such as the New Relationship with Schools, the leadership strategy of the London Challenge and the National Primary Strategy. Drawing on a recent evaluation of the London Leadership Strategy directed by the authors, the paper examines what is known about consultant leaders and raises a number of issues that need consideration. As the importance of consultant leaders is likely to grow in the near future, there is a clear need for further research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, based on a two-year study involving interviews with 30 principals about the impact of computers on their work, explores their responses through the concepts of talk, distributed leadership, professionalization and knowledge management. Gronn's elucidation of the ways power is handled through discourse is an interesting counterpoint to the principals’ accounts of the use of email and the push for immediacy. The current emphasis on distributed leadership mimics the distributive power of the network. There is some evidence that schools are becoming networks rather than hierarchies while professionalization has created communities that go beyond the boundaries of the school. Knowledge management is evident both in regulated activities and in informal communities used to support the dynamic structure of school life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality assurance in higher education is a mess: the ‘problem’ of quality is embedded in complex sets of interacting issues that are of concern to many and varied stakeholders. Developing higher education systems that have responded to issues of quality through a ‘best practice’ model of external quality assurance has produced mixed results. Systemic analysis using systems concepts and critical systems thinking is used to explain the divergent conclusions about transferability of external quality assurance models. Selected reports of external quality assurance models from developing countries are reviewed. The paper also examines the model adopted in the Maldivian higher education system, which is characterised by its small size and scale of operation. Small, emerging higher education systems contemplating the adoption of ‘best practice’ prescriptions for external quality assurance activities should consider carefully the fit of those prescriptions to the local environment, rather than taking for granted the appropriateness of generic models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper derives from a National College of School Leadership sponsored study conducted within schools in three English local authorities exploring what distributed leadership looked like in practice and how it was seen by headteachers and teachers in the 11 participating schools. On the basis of questionnaires, shadowing and workshops with representatives from the schools, six models of distribution were derived. In the final stages of the project these were tested with teachers and headteachers and further refined and published by the National College as a professional development activity. These six models from ‘formal’ to ‘cultural’ distribution may, it is argued, be seen as a developmental sequence, adapted to the context and stage of development of a school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]