Creative Compliance and Behaviour in Response to Mandatory Changes in Accounting Policy: Three Cases from Pre-Dearing Britain

This paper employs three British case studies to examine the nature of creative compliance and the way in which it may be implicated in preparers' and standard-setters' behaviour in the face of proposed and adopted mandatory changes in accounting policy. The period before the implementation of the Dearing reforms is chosen because standardisation was then a relatively new phenomenon and enforcement powers limited, so that there is an opportunity to observe relatively unsophisticated and unconstrained behaviour. It is suggested that the scope for creative compliance, sometimes quite subtle and elusive in character, may play a part in explaining preparers' and standard-setters' behaviour and that as parties come better to appreciate the scope for creative compliance, their behaviour and lobbying position may change. It is argued that "political" models of the lobbying process need to incorporate both the scope for creative compliance and the way in which the parties concerned come to appreciate and manipulate it

Making the difference with active parenting: Forming educational partnerships between parents and schools

Although parental involvement is often a priority on the quality agenda of schools for primary and secondary education, it is still not usual to involve parents as an educational partner in the actual learning process of their child. Rather than adopting an open approach, teachers tend to tell parents what they should do or keep them at a safe distance. At the same time, parents are increasingly becoming better informed, more critical and thus are more strongly positioned towards school. They address teachers more directly in case of problems or disappointing results of their child. Clearly, this might lead to a negative impact on the mutual relationship especially when parents’ emotional involvement conflicts with a professional and detached attitude of teachers. Based on the results of several studies that provide ample evidence that parental involvement in the learning process can improve learning outcomes, it is argued that there is much to be gained in forming educational partnerships between parents and schools. Different dimensions of active parenting are discussed, as well as prerequisites for successful implementation

Research methods teaching in vocational environments: developing critical engagement with knowledge?

Knowledge of research methods is regarded as crucial for the UK economy and workforce. However, research methods teaching is viewed as a challenging area for lecturers and students. The pedagogy of research methods teaching within universities has been noted as underdeveloped, with undergraduate students regularly expressing negative dispositions to the subject. These are challenges documented in university-based higher education (HE), yet little is known of the practices and pedagogies of research methods teaching in the college-based HE setting, where the delivery of HE has grown in prominence in recent years. Because college-based HE is widely regarded as primarily vocational, incorporating research methods into curricula may be seen as an additional level of complexity for staff to negotiate. In this article, we report on the data collected within a study to examine research methods teaching in social science disciplines on HE programmes taught in college-based settings in England. Drawing on data obtained from college-based HE lecturers and students, we discuss features of research methods teaching and how these may be applied with a diverse student body, within vocationally focused institutions. Issues of institutional culture, resourcing and staff development are also considered as these are identified as integral to the successful embedding of research methods teaching

Social Constructions of People with AIDS: Target Populations and United States Policy, 1981-1990

This paper examines the United States policy toward people with AIDS (PWAs) using a theory of the social construction of target populations (Schneider and Ingram, 1993). A policy narrative is developed which focuses on the ways PWAs have been categorized throughout the epidemic and how the characterization of these constructed target populations has influenced the design of policies aimed at these groups. The Ryan White Act of 1990 and the debate surrounding its passage is examined and found to be consistent with the expectations of the theory. Propositions which extend the framework are offered as a guide for future research. Copyright 1993 by The Policy Studies Organization.