Where Do We Go from Here? The Future of English Higher Education

A Delphi study has been carried out, soliciting views from higher education experts on likely and desirable developments in English higher education until 2025. The paper reports the most salient findings of the Delphi questionnaire and presents two scenarios that focus largely on the institutional fabric of the system. The first scenario follows the general agreement emerging from the two rounds of the Delphi study and suggests a smaller higher education system and the return of a binary divide between about 25 research‐intensive universities and about 70 other higher education institutions. The second scenario is a counter‐scenario that intends to present an alternative picture of English higher education in 2025. That scenario suggests a compact system of six research‐intensive universities, about 40 comprehensive institutions and five private providers. With respect to the steering of the system, a key difference between the two scenarios is that the former assumes a continuing role of market forces, whereas the latter is based on a much stronger role of the government.     

Patterns of Provision for Pupils with Behavioural Difficulties in England: A study of government statistics and behaviour support plan data

This paper gives as full an overview of the patterns of provision made in England for disaffected and excluded pupils and those said to have emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) in England as the available data allow. It draws upon government statistics, local education authorities' (LEAs') first 'Behaviour Support Plans' and related literature. The BSPs were intended by the English government, but sometimes failed to give, comprehensive accounts of current local provision and future inter-agency plans. However, when analysed alongside government figures, certain features become clear. While in 1998 local education authorities were attempting to move towards prevention and on-mainstream-school site interventions, the need for off-site special units ('Pupil Referral Units') continued to increase and the numbers of pupils in EBD special schools remained roughly constant. Despite national pressure to move towards the inclusion of all pupils, LEAs continued to find it impossible to educate a small percentage of pupils with behavioural difficulties on mainstream sites.     

American Schooling and History: an English view

Abstract

One, increasingly damaging, feature of the British higher education system that stems from its institutionalisation in the early nineteenth century is a sharp distinction between what is termed ‘education’ on the one hand and what is termed ‘training’ on the other.

It is claimed that this over‐sharp distinction lies at the root of much of the current dissatisfaction in Britain with the universities, even though much overt criticism is couched in terms of the curriculum and ‘relevance’. Recent initiatives at the University of Salford designed to transcend these distinctions and to bring about a closer relationship between the university and industrial and commercial concerns are described.     

中美两国大学校际田径竞赛管理比较研究

运用文献法、实地考察法、专家访谈法、比较研究法等研究方法,对中美两国大学校际田径竞赛管理的组织机构与职责、田径竞赛种类与年度计划安排、竞赛分组与参赛方法及田径竞赛赛事运作的现状进行了比较研究。研究结果揭示,两国大学的校际田径竞赛管理既有共性特点,又存在明显差异。对中国大学校际田径竞赛管理的启示是：建立健全合理的大学校际田径竞赛管理组织机构和规章制度是顺利开展大学校际田径竞赛的重要组织与制度保障;建立科学的大学校际田径竞赛体系和科学规划竞赛系列安排是充分发挥竞赛杠杆作用的前提;科学的田径竞赛分组和严格的运动员参赛资格规定是大学校际田径竞赛健康、可持续发展的重要保证;规范的赛事运作是大学校际田径竞赛高效举办的关键。