Index to Volume XLI

Other Index

Index to Volume XLI     

QUALITY IN TEACHER EDUCATION: RELFECTIONS ON A DECADE

This article reflects on the changing definitions of quality as they have been applied to teacher education in the 1980s and looks forward to the decade ahead.     

American Influence on British Higher Education: Science,Technology, and the Problem of University Expansion, 1945–1963

The increased support of science andtechnology were fundamental factors in theexpansion of university education in post-warBritain. American technical assistance toWestern Europe, exemplified by the MarshallPlan, also focused upon the role of appliedscience and technology as a means of boostingproductivity and competitiveness. This commonconcern for science and technology led Britainto consider the adoption of American models,specifically a British version of MIT, in thesearch for an effective higher education policyfor applied science and technology. However,this paper argues that, whilst America offeredimportant models for change, British policieswere ultimately shaped by British traditions.     

The Labour Party and Higher Education: The Nature of the Relationship

Higher education policy has rarely been a major concern of the Labour Party in the second half of the twentieth century. This article explores the reasons for this and analyses the ideological coalition of the Labour Party in the context of the Welfare State and the commitments to moderate social democratic reformism. Three strands in particular are explored: the dominance of vocational, technological and professional priorities in HE expansion; the influence of utilitarian thinking, broadly construed; and the various social purpose, equality perspectives of those on the Left of the Party. Alongside these strands, has been Labour's reluctance to adopt interventionist policies especially in relation to the so‐called elite Universities, and the persistent advocacy of ‘modernisation’. Finally, the article considers, within a context of the debate in general political analysis, the potential of the Labour Party within this period to achieve significant reform in the field of higher education, drawing inter alia on the work of Ralph Miliband.     

The Labour Party and Higher Education: 1945–51

Assessments of Labour's achievements in education in the immediate post‐war period have been largely critical, but almost exclusively focused on schools’ reform. This article in contrast considers Labour's policies for higher education, particularly universities. Three themes dominated the post‐war agenda: science and technology, expansion (and access), and appropriate models of higher education. The demands of science and technology and the conse‐quent need for expansion were the main drivers in Labour's programme. But the failure to offer a clear view of post‐war development in higher education, together with a deep‐seated ambivalence as to the role of technology and vocational education in universities, meant that plans for science, technology and expansion were only partially realised. The issue of appropriate models of higher education has bedevilled subsequent Labour governments, including the present administration, in their search for a policy for higher education.