Higher education staff and Brexit. Is the UK losing the youngest and brightest from other EU countries?

Tertiary Education and Management - Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, and the formal act of triggering article 50 by Theresa May’s cabinet in 2017, the UK has entered a period of...     

To what extent is capital expenditure in UK higher education meeting the pedagogical needs of staff and students?

Capital expenditure at United Kingdom (UK) universities is rapidly rising, with new buildings erected on the premise that national and international competitiveness must be maintained. We examine students’ engagement with and conceptualisation of university estate, and explore broader questions about the extent to which building design can support, and indeed change, students’ approaches to learning. Drawing on data collected from 10 staff members and over 200 students at a major UK institution, including detailed one-to-one interviews, we capture users’ often complex interactions with their university environment. Our findings confirm that when asked what would most improve their learning experience, students do not rank building design highly; interactional factors, such as contact time with staff, are considered more valuable. Our conclusion is that returns on capital investment would be boosted if pedagogical needs were prioritised more highly in the design of university buildings, and pedagogical opportunities communicated more clearly to users upon completion.     

Learning from the past? History and development education

This paper discusses changes in approaches to development education that stress that development is something that happens in every society and not just in ‘developing countries’. In particular it focusses on one development relationship, that between Britain and Ireland, as a microcosm of global problems of colonialism, dependency, nationalism and misunderstanding. It ends by suggesting a historical approach to teaching about development relationships between countries.     

Does education foster trust? Evidence from compulsory schooling reform in the UK

Although many studies document that education and trust are positively correlated, few studies examine whether this correlation represents a causal effect. This paper fills in the gap with data from the British Social Attitudes Survey. Firstly, using the OLS method, this paper finds that education and the three measures of trust—trust in people, trust in politicians, and trust in government—are all positively and significantly correlated. Secondly, to examine whether this correlation represents a causal effect, this paper exploits exogenous variation in educational attainment induced by the compulsory schooling reform in 1972. The regression discontinuity estimates suggest that the effects of education on the three measures of trust are all small and statistically insignificant. The findings imply that the OLS estimates may suffer from omitted variable bias and the effects of education on trust may be small.     

International students in the higher education classroom: initial findings from staff at two post‐92 universities in the UK

A significant body of work has emerged over the last 10 years investigating the experiences of international university students. These studies have covered various challenges faced by some groups of international students relating to culture, language and integration and have been prompted by the increase in international students studying in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. A smaller strand of research has also begun to focus on the experiences, perspectives and reactions of academic staff who have seen the composition of their cohorts change substantially over recent years in terms of numbers of international participants. This article reviews relevant literature in this field, reporting on a questionnaire study based at two UK post‐92 universities. Respondents associated a range of traits with international students and suggested that the increasing number of international students enhanced the environment, but also required a higher level of support. This study also found that staff resorted to informal methods when developing means of adapting their practices to the increasing number of international students, preferring discussion with colleagues and students themselves to formal development programmes or advice from specialist departments such as student support. The article concludes that in order to encourage diversity in a meaningful way, universities need to recognise the challenge of increased numbers of international students and support staff accordingly.     

A world apart? Higher education transformation in the US and South Africa

Higher education transformation is context dependent. However, through a comparison of transformation in South Africa and the United States, this paper highlights challenges and issues confronting higher education leaders and policy makers. Contrasting the experiences and issues of transformation in a long-standing democracy and in a newly emerging one surface key elements such as the structures of national mandates, challenges of urgency and abundance, the importance of a language of “transformation”, and issues of legitimate and tested decision making processes. This paper raises some of the implications for effecting change based upon this trans-national comparison, and concludes with implications for leaders interested in affecting transformation.     

Links between general and vocational education: Does the one enhance the other?

The answer is YES. The hallmark of successful schooling is the creation of portable skills and efficiency in future learning. This paper examines the linkages between and within levels of schooling, and between education in schools and apprenticeships and other forms of work-associated training. It shows that elementary schooling is of too great a vocational importance to risk feeding children vocationalism. School-work programmes are rarely effective pedagogy, but theory is an important element in apprenticeships. Quality counts heavily whatever the educational content and setting. And the general elements in skill development are critical for both individuals and societies in a world of change.

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Zusammenfassung Die Antwort auf die Frage, ob bei den bestehenden Verbindungen zwischen allgemeiner und berufsbezogener Bildung, die eine die andere verbessert, ist ja. Als Anzeichen für eine erfolgreiche Schulbildung gelten übertragbare Fähigkeiten sowie Effizienz beim späteren Lernen. In diesem Bericht werden die Verknüpfungen zwischen den und innerhalb der verschiedenen Schulebenen, zwischen Erziehung an Schulen und in der Lehre und anderen Formen von berufsbezogener Ausbildung untersucht. Es wird der Beweis erbracht, daß die Elementarschule von zu großer berufsorientierter Wichtigkeit ist, um das Risiko einzugehen, Kinder mit berufsbetonten Programmen zu überfrachten. Schulprogramme zur Berufsbildung sind nur selten pädagogisch wirksam, während die Theorie einen wichtigen Bestandteil der Lehre bildet. Der Qualität wird ein hoher Stellenwert beigemessen, unabhängig von dem erzieherischen Inhalt und dem Umfeld. Darüberhinaus sind allgemeine Elemente in der Entwicklung von Fähigkeiten für den Einzelnen als auch für ganze Gesellschaften in einer Welt, die sich im Wandel befindet, entscheidend.

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Résumé La réponse est oui. Une scolarité efficace est marquée par la transmission de compétences utiles et efficaces pour un apprentissage futur. Cet article examine les liens entre les niveaux de scolarité et au sein de ces niveaux, entre l'éducation dispensée par les écoles et un apprentissage ou d'autres types de formations axées sur le travail. Il montre que l'enseignement élémentaire est d'une importance trop grande pour la formation professionnelle pour risquer de surcharger le programme des enfants d'éléments professionels. Les programmes scolaires à vocation professionnelle sont rarement efficaces pédagogiquement, alors que la théorie constitue un élément capital dans un apprentissage. La qualité compte considérablement quels que soient les structures et les contenus éducatifs. En outre, les éléments généraux du développement technique sont cruciaux pour les individus et les sociétés d'un monde en mutation.

     

Restrictive and expansive policy learning – challenges and strategies for knowledge exchange in upper secondary education across the four countries of the UK

Abstract

This article examines the challenges and possibilities for UK policy learning in relation to upper secondary education (USE) across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (NI) within current national and global policy contexts. Drawing on a range of international literature, the article explores the concepts of ‘restrictive’ and ‘expansive’ policy learning and develops a framework of dimensions for examining what is taking place across the UK at a time of change for all four national USE systems. From an examination of recent national policy literatures and interviews with key policy actors within the ‘UK laboratory’, we found that the conditions for expansive policy learning had markedly deteriorated due to ‘accelerating divergence’ between the three smaller countries and a dominant England that has been pursuing an ‘extreme Anglo Saxon education model’. The article also notes that some aspects of policy learning continue to take place ‘beneath the radar’ between UK and wide civil society organisations. This activity is more prevalent across the three smaller countries although each, to differing degrees, is still constrained by its position in relation to the UK as a whole.     

Where Do All the STEM Graduates Go? Higher Education,the Labour Market and Career Trajectories in the UK

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Problems with the supply of highly skilled science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workers have been reported by employers and...     

Do education and income affect support for democracy in Muslim countries? Evidence from the Pew Global Attitudes Project

Using micro-level public opinion data from the Pew Global Attitudes Project 2005, this study investigates the effect of educational attainment and income on support for democracy in five predominantly Muslim countries: Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Turkey. Holding all else constant and compared to not finishing primary education, this study finds that secondary education and higher education encourage support for democracy in Jordan, Lebanon and Pakistan. The results therefore suggest that support for democracy is a social benefit of education in Jordan, Lebanon, and Pakistan. Regarding income, the results indicate that relative to the poor, those belonging to middle-income groups are more supportive of democracy in Lebanon and Turkey. Curiously, there is no statistical relationship between belonging to the richest groups and supporting democracy.     

Is combining child labour and school education the right approach? Investigating the Cambodian case

The paper considers whether letting children combine work and school is a valid and effective approach in Cambodia. Policy makers’ suggestions that child labour should be allowed to some extent due to household poverty appear ungrounded as no significant relation between children's work and household poverty is found while arranging school timetables flexibly in order to accommodate households’ perceived need for children's labour may increase problems of insufficient teaching hours if schools conduct their timetables unreliably. Considering these issues, the paper suggests the need for a more diversified approach to dealing with the impact of child labour on their school education.     

Primary mathematics teacher education in Australia and China: What might we learn from each other?

The preparation of teachers to teach mathematics to primary school children differs across nations and cultures. This study used mixed methods to examine the basic content knowledge of trainee teachers in Australia and China. A simple test (30 questions) of content based on an international comparative study in mathematics teacher training found that many of the Australian trainee teachers struggled with material that they might be expected to teach, while the Chinese teachers largely demonstrated mastery. The significance of this finding is examined in the context of the teacher preparation programs in two teacher training institutions. Cultural commentary is added by leading academics in each institution. It was found that in the Australian teacher training institution there was a focus on generic skills and relatively limited opportunity to develop trainee teachers’ content knowledge or specific pedagogy. The relevance of the findings is discussed through the framework of different beliefs in the nature of mathematics and mathematics teaching that have been reported to dominate the different educational systems in China and Australia.     

Learning ‘about’ and ‘from’ religion: phenomenography,the Variation Theory of Learning and religious education in Finland and the UK

The paper addresses the relationship between the twin tasks of enabling pupils both to learn about and learn from religion in the state education systems of Finland and the UK. Recognising that the relationship between these two tasks is the subject of considerable confusion, it is argued that the most appropriate way to view the connection is fundamentally ontological. In a plural society in which there is no basic agreement about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, there nevertheless remains a common concern to enable pupils to live flourishing lives in harmony with the ultimate order‐of‐things. The paper draws on phenomenography and the Variation Theory of Learning to unpack the pedagogic implications of this argument.     

Have the changes introduced by the 2004 Higher Education Act made higher education admissions in England wider and fairer?

‘Widening participation’ and ‘fair access’ have been contested policy areas in English higher education since at least the early 1990s. They were key facets of the 2003 White Paper – The Future of Higher Education – and the subsequent 2004 Higher Education Act, with stated objectives that the reach of higher education should be wider and fairer. In particular, there has been considerable concern about admissions to ‘top universities’, which have remained socially as well as academically exclusive. The principal policy tools used by the Act were the introduction of variable tuition fees, expanded student grants, discretionary bursaries and the new Office for Fair Access (OFFA). This paper draws on publicly available statistics to assess whether the changes implemented by the 2004 Office for Fair Access (OFFA). 2004. Producing Access Agreements: OFFA guidance to institutions, Bristol: OFFA.  [Google Scholar] Act have indeed made access to English higher education wider and fairer in relation to young people progressing from state schools and colleges and from lower socio‐economic groups. It concludes that, while there is some evidence for modest improvements, these have been concentrated outside the ‘top universities’, which have seen slippage relative to the rest of the sector. The paper concludes with a discussion of the reasons why financial inducements appear to be a flawed and naive approach to influencing student demand.     

Collegiality and managerialism: a false dichotomy? Evidence from the higher education literature

Collegiality and managerialism are often portrayed as opposed ideas or practices, with the latter, in particular, either held up as a necessary response to the massification of higher education or portrayed as a betrayal of long-held academic ideals (as supposedly reflected in collegiality). This article explores how collegiality and managerialism have been conceptualized, presented and researched in the higher education literature. It concludes that the two concepts are not as dichotomous as some have argued, and that both have a role in our thinking about the future of higher education.