Dictionary of British Education

Professor Peter Gordon, Peter Gordon, Professor Denis Lawton, Denis Lawton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781135783105
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This is an up-to-date guide for teachers and parents, administrators, governors, students and others to help the find their way about the increasingly complex world of education. The main section provides a dictionary that is more than a simple set of definitions: many words in education have been put into some kind of historical context to become fully meaningful. The second part gives some important landmarks from the nineteenth century to the present time, and also provides a list of political heads of education since state education was established. The final section is devoted to a list of acronyms and abbreviations, both of which have been the subject of multiple definitions in recent years.

SECTION TWO
The Dictionary An Alphabetical List of Definitions in Education and Training

A

A Level (See Advanced Level) ability The 1944 Education Act stated that children should be educated according to age, aptitude and ability. Age caused little difficulty, but it was never clear what precisely was meant by aptitude and ability, although the phrase was occasionally used to justify selection for different kinds of secondary school. It may have been the intention to link ability with academic ability, and aptitude with a more specific aptitude for a technical curriculum. There is now a tendency to use ability in a more general way and to confine aptitude to more specific kinds of ability; both words are closer to ‘capacity’ than to ‘attainment’—it is quite possible to have high ability but low attainment, achievement or performance.

ability groupings Most education systems group children mainly according to their age. Some countries, e.g. Japan, make the assumption that it is reasonable to expect uniform achievements; other countries, including the UK, expect differences. (See also mixed-ability grouping, setting, streaming, unstreaming)

Abitur The German examination for 18- to 19-year-old school leavers. Like the GCE A Level in England, it is a university entrance qualification as well as being recognised as a general educational qualification for entry into some kinds of employment. Unlike the A Level it is a broadly based examination, more like the French Baccalauréat.

academic (1) A teacher or researcher in higher education. (2) An adjective applied to scholarly activities, sometimes as a term of abuse.

Academic Audit Unit (AAU) Responding to demands for greater accountability in United Kingdom universities, the Committee of Vice- Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) set up the Academic Audit Unit (AAU) in 1989. The purpose of the AAU was to look at methods for monitoring academic standards, to spread good practice and to keep the system under review. The AAU, together with the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA), were replaced by a single quality audit unit as a result of the Further and Higher Education Act (1992), and by the Higher Education Quality Council (HEQC) and the quality assessment divisions of the Higher Education Funding Councils, the functions of which were transferred in 1997 to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).

academic board A group of academic staff in a college or university normally elected in order to regulate academic affairs; usually one of the most senior committees, possibly responsible only to the senior governing body of the institution. Academic boards rarely exist in schools, but it is sometimes suggested that such an organisation would be highly desirable.

academic disciplines (See disciplines, academic) access course Many universities are prepared to accept mature students without standard qualifications (i.e. a minimum of two A Levels), provided that they can be satisfied that the students have reached appropriate standards by other means. One of the alternative routes is an access course, run either by the higher education institution itself or by another approved college. This may lead to a General Certificate of Secondary Education and A Level examinations. Those wishing to be considered for initial teacher training degree entry would normally offer GCSE mathematics, English, science and appropriate A Levels.

Access Course Recognition Group (ACRG) The ACRG was set up by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals and the Council for National Academic Awards to provide a framework of national recognition of access courses to higher education. The ACRG allowed certain higher education institutions to be Authorised Validating Agencies (AVA) which could approve access courses regarded as appropriate. This function was later transferred to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

access funds Access funds are used to make small payments on a one-off basis to young people, aged 16 or over, in full-time education, with particular financial needs. They are intended as a safety net for short-term emergencies. Access funds are administered on a discretionary basis by schools, colleges and universities in order to help students continue on their courses. (See also education maintenance awards)

access to higher education In 1998 when the Secretary of State for Education announced additional funding for higher education from 1999, he said that he expected resolute action to broaden access to universities from under-represented social groups. The higher education access fund was increased for that purpose as well as to encourage such schemes as Access Advisory Partnerships, which deliberately set out to encourage applications to prestigious universities from those living in deprived areas. The Education Select Committee Report on access was published in March 2001. In the process of reviewing the proportion of applicants from comprehensive schools to Oxford and Cambridge, both universities were concerned at the under-representation of working-class, comprehensive school pupils, both in terms of applications and admissions. Oxford and Cambridge both attempted to improve that aspect of access and they were urged by the Labour Government to ensure that the situation improved in 2000–1. In March 2001 the Foyer Federation launched a guide, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, to help encourage young homeless people into higher education.

accountability A word imported from business and commerce into education during the 1960s, initially in the USA. Despite various academic attacks on the concept of accountability on grounds of lack of clarity, and the fact that education is more complex than the world of business, the use of the term has continued. (See also performance indicators)

accreditation A process by which one academic institution, perhaps a university, officially approves the awards of another institution and guarantees that they are of a certain standard.

achievement This term indicates actual attainment or performance and is to be distinguished from other words such as ability and competence.

achievement test A test that measures achievement (attainment) in a particular subject or occupation rather than potential.

action research A study of a particular social situation (which might or might not be concerned with education) in which the intention is not simply to understand and report, but to bring about certain improvements. A well-known educational example concerned the study of educational priority areas (EPAs). (See also research and development)

active learning Learning that encourages the student to do more than receive information from a teacher or textbook, memorise the information and reproduce it. Active learning would require the student to make something, be involved in a project or experiment. When revising, for example, students are often advised to ‘do’ something such as construct their own notes, rather than just read. (See also experiential learning, passive learning)

active vocabulary The words that a child (or adult) is able to use in speech or writing (or both), not just recognise and understand. (See also passive vocabulary)

Adam Smith Institute A right-wing pressure group/think tank founded in 1978 by Madsen Pirie and Eamonn Butler to promote free market ideas— in particular the work of the economist, F.A.Hayek.

admission appeals Parents may appeal against a decision not to admit their child to a particular school. For this purpose, governing bodies are required to set up independent appeal panels excluding the school’s governing body and the local education authority from their membership but including lay people. School adjudicators also deal with issues relating to maintained schools admissions. Decisions are binding on the admission authority.

admission to school (See ‘rising fives’) admissions Governors, unless given delegated responsibility, have a duty to admit pupils who have been offered places by the local education authority. In the case of a refusal, the local education authority can refer to the Secretary of State for a direction under Sections 496 or 497 of the 1996 Education Act. However, foundation and voluntary aided schools are responsible for their own admission policies. Governing bodies are empowered to delegate their functions to an admissions committee which must include the headteacher as one of its members. One aspect of admissions that attracts much criticism concerns the parents’ right to ‘express a preference’ for the school at which they wish their child to be educated. This arises from the differing admission requirements of schools, variations in popularity, and the exemption of foundation and voluntary aided schools from normal requirements. Between 1995 and 1998, the number of appeals by parents in England who were unsuccessful in obtaining a place for their child at their first choice of secondary school had doubled. Nevertheless, in 2002, 92 per cent of pupils secured their first- or second-choice primary or secondary school. (See also admission appeals)

adult education Courses of an informal character provided for adults in a range of interests: these are usually held in institutions different from colleges and universities attended by school leavers. They range from leisure pursuits to higher degree qualifications. (See also community college, continuing education, recurrent education, U3A, village college)

Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) Until Her Majesty’s Inspectorate (HMI) was reorganised following the Education (Schools) Act (1992), HMI were responsible for inspecting all spheres of education except universities. After the 1992 Act the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) was concerned mainly with schools and initial teacher training, and other specialist inspectorates were developed, including the ALI, each with its own Chief Inspector. The ALI was set up in August 2000 to become operational in April 2001, taking over responsibility for: adult education, all work-based learning 16–18 (both public and private), and training under the new deal. In some cases where there is an overlap of responsibility, e.g. some tertiary colleges, ALI and OFSTED inspect jointly. The ALI grades courses and aspects of management on a 1 to 5 scale from outstanding (1), to very weak (5). (See also Learning and Skills Council)

adult literacy The setting up of an Adult Literacy Research Agency in 1975 was the first official recognition of the large proportion of the adult population in need of literacy skills. A national campaign was mounted and local authorities and voluntary agencies were given short-term financial assistance in starting their schemes. In 1978, an Adult Literacy Unit was established but was replaced in 1980 by an Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU), which covered other areas such as English as a second language and numeracy. It became the Basic Skills Agency in 1995. The Kennedy Report, Learning Works, the deliberations of a committee appointed by the Further Education Funding Council, dealt with aspects of this problem, particularly the under-participation of young adults from deprived areas. (See also Basic Skills Agency, Moser Report, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education)

Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU) See Basic Skills Agency (BSA) Advanced Extension Awards (AEA) Curriculum 2000 included plans for Advanced Extension Awards, starting in the summer of 2002. They were intended to stretch the most able A Level students by requiring greater depth of understanding. The award is based on a paper taken in addition to the usual A Level examinations but covering the same subject matter. AEA has two grades, merit and distinction. (See also Matriculation Diploma)

Advanced Level (A Level) The advanced level of the General Certificate of Education (GCE) is an examination taken by more able pupils, usually after a two-year period of study following the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). It is closely associated with the traditional sixth form of a school. A wide range of subjects is available at A Level, though candidates normally choose two or three to study. This specialisation and narrowness has been criticised, but attempts at its reform have not been successful. Passes in at least two A Level subjects are normally required for admission to university. In 1993 an alternative ‘Vocational A Level’ was introduced on an experimental basis. From 2000, the A Level structure was modified. Students were encouraged to begin their A Level course by taking four or five Advanced Subsidiary (AS) Level subjects in their first year, and to proceed to full A Levels in fewer subjects in their second year. Unfortunately, in 2002, when the new pattern of A Level examinations was marked for the first time, there was some confusion among the Boards and examiners about the required level for AS examinations. Some re-marking was needed, and the whole process was investigated, at the request of the Secretary of State for Education, by the recently retired Chief Inspector for Schools, Mike Tomlinson. In his Report, it was clear that the increased number of examinations, combined with growing numbers of candidates, was putting pressure on Boards and examiners and making errors more likely. Tomlinson and others doubted the wisdom of the fact that England, unlike most other countries, did not make much use of internal assessment by the teachers themselves. (See also Curriculum 2000, GNVQ)

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Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Introduction
• Section One: British Education An Introduction to Four Systems
• Section Two: The Dictionary An Alphabetical List of Definitions in Education and Training
• Section Three: Historical Background
• Section Four: Political Leaders
• Section Five: Acronyms and Abbreviations