Aimhigher was discontinued on 31 July 2011. This paper reviews the literature analysing its contribution to widening participation to higher education in the UK. Successes of Aimhigher are considered alongside its challenges; particularly the necessity to situate policy within the diverse demands of 42 areas covering England. These issues are…

This paper aims to improve the understanding of classroom-based gender differences that may lead to differential opportunities to learn provided to girls and boys in low and high performing primary schools in Kenya. The paper uses an opportunity to learn framework and tests the hypothesis that teaching practices and classroom interactions explain…

This paper focuses on the patterns of teaching styles and active teaching across subjects and between low and high performing schools in an attempt to examine what accounts for differences in performance between schools which are within the same locality. It uses data collected in 72 primary schools spread across six districts in Kenya. Video…

The imperative of transforming education continues to permeate the discourse of UK education reform. Although the Coalition government's publications herald a "new school system", they reveal the same neo-liberal thinking as their New Labour predecessors. The context of the national budget deficit is now being brought to bear to promote greater…

The early twenty-first century is characterised by rapid change. Commentators note how permeating digital technologies engage increasing numbers of children, young people and adults as consumers and also producers. In the shifting technological landscape, childhood and youth are changing. Connectivity around the clock, with a parallel existence in…

Brainstorming is the default method of idea-generation in organisations, and is widely applied in higher education by students, academics and support staff. Its popularity is mainly attributable to an illusory belief that groups working together are more productive than individuals working apart. Shared responsibility, the need for collaboration…

Between 2008-2010 the School of Medicine at Queen's University Belfast funded and supported two unique and intensive three week interdisciplinary performance projects in which medical and drama students worked together to create an experimental dance theatre piece. One of the unique aspects of this collaboration was that the medical students who…

This article argues that creativity has the greatest potential to flourish if a learning environment is embedded within a community that emphasises a deep sense of place. Yet in a globalised world, rootedness is often regarded as antithetical to creativity. But far from representing dead artefacts that are anti-modern and non-economic, culture and…

This reflective piece--written primarily to provoke discussion--raises some questions about and for the recent "creativity agenda" in educational policy in England, suggesting that something fundamental is missing. The author argues that "creativity" has characteristically been defined in recent policy discourse as a set of skills concerned with…

Many organisations are under increasing pressures to recruit and retain creative individuals as a core asset in the emerging knowledge economy. In universities, such people are often academics who focus on high impact, innovative and interdisciplinary research. Yet, instead of feeling supported, many of these academics face structural,…

Whilst much of the rhetoric of current educational policy champions creativity and innovation, structural reforms and new management practices in higher education run counter to the known conditions under which creativity flourishes. As a review of recent literature suggests, surveillance, performativity, the end of tenure and rising levels of…

Humanities within universities faced challenges in the latter half of the twentieth century as their value in the modern world was questioned. This paper argues that there is strong potential for the humanities to thrive in the twenty-first century university sector. It outlines some of the managerial implications necessary to ensure that this…

The period since the election in May 2010 has seen a number of very far-reaching reforms enacted in the higher education system in the UK, and especially England. These have been driven in large measure by the economic situation, but also by the aim to introduce a more market-based approach into the sector. At the same time, the higher education…

This paper is written in the context of practice at Nottingham Trent University, using elements of its management as example or counterbalance to the literature. The challenge at the heart of the paper is that of practically balancing a managerial and business-focused culture and processes to support the aspirations and motivations of the…

The relationship between teaching and research is a touchstone in thinking about higher education. However, the last 40 years has seen the "dislocation" of these core academic activities as a result of policy and operational decisions to distinguish the way they are funded, managed, assessed and rewarded. The activities of "teaching" and…