Population policies and education: exploring the contradictions of neo-liberal globalisation

The world is increasingly characterised by profound income, health and social inequalities (Appadurai, 2000). In recent decades development initiatives aimed at reducing these inequalities have been situated in a context of increasing globalisation with a dominant neo-liberal economic orthodoxy. This paper argues that neo-liberal globalisation contains inherent contradictions regarding choice and uniformity. This is illustrated in this paper through an exploration of the impact of neo-liberal globalisation on population policies and programmes. The dominant neo-liberal economic ideology that has influenced development over the last few decades has often led to alternative global visions being overlooked. Many current population and development debates are characterised by polarised arguments with strongly opposing aims and views. This raises the challenge of finding alternatives situated in more middle ground that both identify and promote the socially positive elements of neo-liberalism and state intervention, but also to limit their worst excesses within the population field and more broadly. This paper concludes with a discussion outling the positive nature of middle ground and other possible alternatives

The NATFHE handbook of initial teacher training

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:6015.66415(1991) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply Centre28. edGBUnited Kingdo

Working a fraction and making a fraction work: a rough guide for geographers in the academy

Little is known about the issues facing geographers working on fractional appointments in higher education institutions in the UK. This paper draws on a survey of UK geography departments and personal experiences to explore some of that territory for the first time. The purpose is both to set the agenda for institutional policy issues and to provide some immediate points of reflection for staff intending to take up fractional work. We consider the place of fractional working in the dominant discourses around paid work, problems of workload division and the impact on professional standing (including the RAE). We suggest that while personal 'life' reasons for fractional working are often positive, fractional workers in the academy risk professional marginalization

Social science contract researchers in higher education: perceptions of craft knowledge

The past two decades have witnessed a trend towards the use of fixed-term and part-time contracts in higher education in the UK, where over a third of routine academic work is now carried out by staff on fixed-term contracts (Ainley 1994). This increased casualisation of academic labour has been driven by the need for universities and colleges to reduce labour costs. The move towards a more ‘flexible’ and cheaper workforce is largely a response to governmental resource restrictions and the need to cope with increased student numbers. External research grants and contracts play an increasingly important role in the finances of many institutions, with a concomitant rise in the number of researchers employed on fixed-term contracts. Despite increasing numbers of contract researchers, their importance for the research profile of universities and colleges and the publication of a concordat on their career management (CVCP 1996), relatively little research has been published on the occupational lives of this marginalised group. The current article addresses this lacuna, and explores the occupational culture of social science contract researchers, in particular focusing upon their use of tacit and 'craft' knowledge

14-16 year olds in further education colleges: lessons for learning and leadership

The views of 14-16 year olds who have undertaken vocational courses in further education, and those of parents and staff raise issues about the ways in which schools and colleges support learning. Staff differ in how they understand vocational education, reflecting not only conceptual differences, but also differences in the market position and interests of their organisation. Nevertheless, the experience of young people in further education is generally seen as very positive. The article suggests that the success is due to a pedagogy which makes use of experiential and social forms of learning in an environment which allows students to connect more fully to a future adult world. The article concludes by exploring the possibilities of making this successful experience more widely available to 14-16 year olds. Government plans are suggested to be inadequate in addressing the degree to which the competitive environment and different cultures will undermine collaborative arrangements

Capturing contracts: informal activity among contract researchers

Contract researchers constitute an expanding occupational group in UK higher education and contribute significantly to national research output. Despite recent concern and debates over their marginal status and inferior conditions of employment, little is known about the actual complexities of contract researchers’ working lives. Drawing upon qualitative interviews, an attempt is made to remedy this lacuna, by portraying certain kinds of occupational knowledge and practices utilised by social science contract researchers. The paper focuses on the understandings and strategies which are developed and refined as researchers attempt to sustain employment in a highly insecure realm. What is portrayed is not the technical expertise required for this kind of research, but rather the knowledge, acumen and action which are more informal, tacit and indeterminate. This paper examines the cognitive and interactional processes which need to be developed and combined with technical expertise, if employment is to be maintained in such a competitive and insecure field