The Work of the Course: validity and reliability in assessing English Literature

© 2017 National Association for the Teaching of English This article reflects on the values and practices of a revolutionary UK A level (senior secondary) course that achieved a high degree of validity and reliability in assessing the study of English literature. John Hodgson and Bill Greenwell were involved in its teaching and assessment from an early stage, and Greenwell's comments on an early draft of the article have been incorporated. The practice of literary response enshrined in the course was based on a striking application of “personal response” to literature, gave students opportunities to show capability in studying and writing a range of literary styles and genres, and engaged teachers regionally and nationally in a developed professional community of practice. It remains a touchstone of quality as well as of innovation in English curriculum and assessment

The development of readers

SIGLELD:1745.91(30) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Instrumental policies : causes, consequences, museums and galleries

Instrumentalization has been seen to have taken place in the museums and galleries sector in Britain, and across the cultural sector as a whole. This article locates this instrumentalization in the context of changes in both the public management of goods and services within the British political system and the dominant ideologies that are used by political parties. The specific characteristics of the cultural policy sector are shown to have mediated these changes and, consequently, how instrumentalization has been introduced, and managed, within it. The ability of endogenous actors to manage the instrumentalization process demonstrates that it is neither inevitable nor unmanageable

Getting organizational change right in public services: the case of European higher education

The purpose of this article is to instigate further debate on why organizational change is currently being initiated and how it is being managed in European Higher Education. It provides suggestions on how to avoid major downsides that come with managerialism and how to enable managers and academics in the sector to concentrate on what Higher Education should be all about: to contribute to the further development of society through knowledge generation and transfer. The article is based on observations of the current developments triggered by the rise of the audit culture and adoption of managerialism. It suggests that not all change currently initiated in Higher Education is required - or indeed in the best interest of the sector or wider society - but rather, based on personal interests resulting in less efficiency and a waste of resources. Furthermore, the article argues that the audit culture and managerialism have created an environment that encourages opportunistic behaviour such as cronyism, rent-seeking and the rise of organizational psychopaths. This development will arguably not only lead to a waste of resources, change for the sake of change, further centralization, formalization and bureaucratization but, also, to a disheartened and exploited workforce, and political and short-term decision-making. The article proposes ways of managing organizational change in Higher Education successfully by providing a new conceptual change management model and a decision-maker's change manifesto

From community theatre to critical management studies: a dramatic contribution to reflective learning?

Scotland has a distinctive history of participative art making, especially in community theatre where concerns for mutual learning and collective engagement have a radical edge and close correspondence with the agenda set by enthusiasts for critical and reflective management studies. Reporting experiences from student-centred theatre workshops, this article suggests that insights and innovations associated with community theatre can help to promote a critical pedagogy in management education. Participation, in this instance, encouraged management students to draw on a broader range of ideas and reference points and to invest more of themselves in their studies, calling more confidently on personal experience to explore tensions and dilemmas in management activity, to illuminate contested aspects of organizational life, and to reflect upon the controversial assumptions and preconceptions that frequently inform pronouncements and practices in this area. Caution is required when evaluating the wider significance of this approach, however. The scope for realizing these benefits and extending the reach of community theatre innovations is heavily influenced by institutional contingencies and constraints, including conservative assessment and accreditation systems and the pressures on staff, notably from research and other commitments

Violence against social workers

Full text of this article is not available in the UHRAThis article examines issues of violence against social work staff in England and Wales. Although there is a good representation of work addressing how individuals can best try to cope for themselves when confronted with violence, there is little published material that refers specifically to agency strategies that can best support workers in the front line of service provision. The underreporting of violence is considered, and the implications of this are discussed in relation to planning procedures that can help prevent violence. Particular attention is paid to issues of gender and ethnicity.Peer reviewe