Diverse provision in higher education: options and challenges

"This report was originally produced as advice to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in July 2010. It was therefore written in a different context, before the Browne Review and changes to higher education policy announced in late 2010... This report was produced in response to a request in our grant letter for 2010-11, issued by the previous Government. In that grant letter, the then Secretary of State indicated that he wished to see a shift away from full-time three-year degrees and towards a wider variety of provision. He asked us to assess current trends in demand, and to provide initial advice as to how ‘diverse provision’ can be encouraged." - Page 2

Re-defining Post-Literacy in a Changing World

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

FE and Skills across the four countries of the UK:New opportunities for policy learning

This report showcases research across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland concerning national specificities and shared problems and challenges. It concludes that in the area of further education and skills there is greater opportunities for policy learning involving these countries than in general education in which there are deep divisions between the three smaller countries and England

FE and skills across the four countries of the UK: new opportunities for policy learning

This report showcases research across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland concerning national specificities and shared problems and challenges. It concludes that in the area of further education and skills there is greater opportunities for policy learning involving these countries than in general education in which there are deep divisions between the three smaller countries and England

Aircraft System Design Graduate Curriculum: A Lifecycle Focus

Aircraft system design encompasses technical, social and lifecycle topics, and is suitable for graduate studies at the masters level and beyond. Several degree programs in MIT’s School of Engineering offer opportunities for students seeking subjects and degrees in this area. These programs are summarized, and one subject on Aircraft Systems Engineering is introduced as an illustration of content and pedagogy addressing lifecycle topics. Based upon several years of experience of participation in these programs and in offering curriculum, the authors put forward seven observations to stimulate further dialog and progress on this topic

E-learning for lifelong learning in Latvia

This White Paper on e-Learning for Lifelong Learning in Latvia is one among a number of white papers dealing with e-Learning and lifelong learning in specific countries in Asia and Europe. The production of these white papers is an Asian-European initiative, with offspring in the e-ASEM network ― the research network on the Development of ICT skills, e-Learning and the culture of e-Learning in Lifelong Learning ― under the ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning. The aim of the White Paper article is to explore the concept of e-learning and lifelong learning in the context of Latvia taking into account the relevant government policy, regulations and financing issues

Disrupting dangerous illusions in international education: performativity, subjectivity, and agency in English language courses for overseas students (ELICOS)

This study investigated the illusory nature of international education by focusing on English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS). As a business model, ELICOS is designed to recruit from a niche market – international students with low English language proficiency. The purpose of this study was to interrogate the performativity of ELICOS in order to map the damage and dysfunction in the business model while seeking and sowing seeds of hope for more empowering alternatives. Performativity was utilised as an operationalising concept to address three research questions: (1) the external and internal historical influences on ELICOS; (2) how selected teachers have experienced the ELICOS system; and (3) how ELICOS students (as international students) have been constructed. These questions were framed to investigate the functioning of ELICOS as project, product and process, drawing on three sources of data: the scholarly literature; teachers’ accounts in interviews with me, and my own experience. A postmodernist conceptual framework underlaid the approach to analysing the knowledge economy, neoliberalism, internationalisation, performativity, subjectivity and agency. The methodology included genealogical analysis, thematic analysis, rhetorical analysis, and auto-ethnographic analysis to interrogate the data. These analyses revealed many instances of dissonance, discontinuity and disconnection, giving rise to psychological, linguistic, pedagogical and ethical concerns. The underlying purpose of addressing the illusory nature of international education and ELICOS has been to generate new theoretical, methodological and pedagogical understandings. For example, the issue of acculturation can be considered as a potential risk to both education and business. As well, a new vision of pedagogical, linguistic and ethical challenges was articulated as international students as consumers were identified as bilingual/plurilingual learners within a monolingual oriented system. This study can provide insights for revising the present business model to become more ethical, equitable and sustainable for institutions, to make ELICOS more transparent for students and teachers, to provide teachers with a way to make more sense of their teaching practice, and to provide insights for policy-makers