DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 093 074 EA 006 273

AUTHOR Ewan, E. A., Ed.TITLE Management of Resources. Proceedings of the Annual

Conference of the British Educational AdministrationSociety. (2nd, Edinburg, Scotland, November 10,1973).

INSTITUTION British Educational Administration Society.PUB DATE Mar 74NOTE 36p.; Published as part of subscription to

Educational Administration BulletinAVAILABLE FROM Mr. D. L. Parkes, Associate Editor and Business

Manager, Educational Administration Bulletin, FurtherEducatior Staff College, Coombe Lodge, Blagdon,Bristol BS18 6RS (England) (1 pound)

EDRS PRIf:E MF-$0.75 HC-$1.85 PLUS POSTAGEDESCRIPTGRS Conference Reports; *Educational Administration;

Educational Assessment; Educational Finance;Educational Needs; *Educational Planning; EducationalResearch; Elementary Schools; Higher Education;Interinstitutional Cooperation; Models; ProblemSolving; *Resource Allocations; Secondary Schools;*Staff Utilization; Teacher Supply and Demand

IDENTIFIERS *Great Britain; Resource Management

ABSTRACTThis publication contains four conference addrestes,

responses to those addresses, and a synopsis of eight discussicngroup reports. The report begins with a paper on staff resources insecondary schools, then considers the problem of assessing thestaffing needs of secondary schools and ensuring an adequate supplyof qualified secondary teachers, and attempts to establish forScotland a rationale for the apportionment of teaching resources toand within the secondary school sector. The next paper discusses thejoint use of resources by schools and Further Education colleges. Itconsiders the reorganization of educational facilities for the 11-18age group. The synopsis of eight discussion group reports centers onkey aspects of the first two papers. The third paper considersresources for education and their management in British education;the partnership between central and local government and theorganized teaching profession; and the system of central planning andcontrol of public educational expenditure exercised by the centralgovernment. The final paper concentrates on the implications foreducation of corpprate management style implementation at regionaland divisional levels in the new structure of local governmept, withparticular emphasis on information, evaluation, and accountability.(Author/DN)

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British Educational Administration Society Limited

Honorary President: Lord Morris of Grasmere.

Council of Management 1973/74

Chairnitifi: Dr E. W, II. Briatlit, Education Officer, inner London Education Authority.Vice-Chairman: Mr D. P. J. Browning, Chief Education Officer, Bedfordshire,Honorary Secretary: Mr R. ()latter, Lecturer in Educational Administration, University of London Institute of Education.Honorary Treasurer: Mr R. P. Ilornung, Chief Administrative Officer, Middlesex Polytechnic.Honorary Membership Secretary: Mr D. P. .1. Browning, Chief Education Officer, Bedfordshire.

Professor G. Baron, Professor of Educational Administration, University of London Institute of Education.Mr J. L. Davies, Head of Department of Management in the Public Services, Anglian Regional Management Centre, North EastLondon Polytechnic.

Miss A. Ellis, Deputy Headmistress, ilarieliffe School, Bristol.Dr, E. A. Ewan, Head of Department of Educational Management & Administration, Moray House College of Eduttion,Edinburgh.

Professor G. T. Fowler, Professor of Educational Administration, The Open University.Dr. M. G. Hughes, Lecturer and Administrative Officer, Faculty of Education, University College, Cardiff.Mr A. J. Light:loin' Secretary, The Schools Council.Mr R. Long, Headmaster, Tulse Hill School, London.Mr V. McGcown, Senior Lecturer in Educational Administration, The New University of Ulster.Mr M. Mackenzie, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Glasgow.Mr D. L. Parkes, Head of Resources Group, Further Education Staff College, Coombe Lodge.

Membership

Membership of the society is open to individuals in the United Kingdom who are interested in promoting a fruitful relationshipbetween practice, teaching and reseal.- t in educational administration. Several local and national groups of the society havebeen established in various parts of the United Kingdom, a journal (Educational Administration Bulletin) is published twice ayear, and an annual conference and several other meetings are held. The current membership subscription, which includesmembership of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and all its publications, as well as a copy of eachof the society's publications, is £5 per annum (allowable against income Tax). All enquiries should be addressed to theHonorary Membership Secretary, Mr D. P. J. Browning, Chief Education Officer, Education Office, Shire Hall, Bedford.

Publications Subscription

Membership of the society is open to individuals only. However, institutions (e.g, libraries) in the United Kingdom and abroad,and individuals resident overseas who wish to receive the society's publications, may take out a publications subscription,which carries no rights of membership to the society Enquiries about this should be addressed to the Associate Editor andBusiness Manager of the Educational Administration Bulletin, Mr D. L. Parkes, Further Education Staff College, CoombeLodge, Blagdm, Bristol BS18

1.Q

Management of Resources

The Proceedings of the second annual conference of theBritish Educational Administration Society held atMoray House College of Education, Edinburgh,Saturday 10th November, 1973.

Edited for the Society by

[)r. E. A. ENV n

Moray [louse College of EducAtion

March 1974

3

Contents

Pre lace: Dr. E. W. H. Briault, Education Offiixr, Inner London Education Authority, and Chairman, British EducationalAdministration Society 4

I STAFF RESOURCES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLSJ. FORSYTH McGARRITY, FEM, Senior Chief Inspector of Schools, Scottish Education Department . 5

Responses:

A. G. ROBERTSON, Rector, John Neilson High School, Paisley 9

W. MURRAY WHITE, KNEE, Department of Education and Science 10

2 SCHOOL AND FURTHER EDUCATION: Joint Use of Resources1), BIRLEY, Director, Ulster College, The Northern Ireland Polytechnic

. 12

Respomes:

H. FAIRER:, Director of Education, Renfrewshire . 17

D. P. M. MICHAEL, Headmaster, Newport High School, Monmouthshire. 18

3 PROBLEMS IN PRACTICE: A Synopsis of the Eight Discussion Group Reports ,

Dr. E. A. EWAN, with assistance from the group reporters H. A. Ashmall, D. Gordon, J. P. Forsyth, Miss H. E.Jamieson, F. Macintosh, M. MacKenzie, W. F. Paxton, W. F. Train

Staff Resources in Secondary SchoolsModels and Norms

Public Administration AspectsSource and Nature of Resources

Objectives and Value Judgements

School and Further Education: Joint Use of ResourcesGeneral Considerations

Prerequisites to a Solution

Practical Problems

Steps towards a Solution

20

4 RESOURCES FOR EDUCATION AND THEIR MANAGEMENTPROU'o ;OR G. T. FOWLER, Professor of Educational Administration, The Open University . . 2S

Responses:

D. P. J. BROWNING, Chief Fdusation Officer, Bedfordshire . 29

J. L. DAVIES, Head of Department of Management in the Public Services, Anglian Regional Management Centre,North East London Polytechnic . 30

5 CORPORATE MANAGEMENTCHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY: A summary of the plenary discussionat the final session of the conference . . . . . . . . . . 33

DR, F. A. EWAN

6 ENVOI . . 35

D. P. J. BROWNING

4

Preface

This record of the Second Annual Conference of the 11.E.A.S, shows that the Society continues to concern itself with issues ofcentral interest to those involved in educational administration in the broadest sense and that it continues to attract theattention of a wide cross-section of those so interested. The Conference theme of Management of Resources could hardly bemore topical and discussions at the Conference were particularly valuable because of the range of perspectives of those takingpart. It is perhaps worth emphasising again that the sole criterion for membership of the Society is interest in educationaladministrationin whatever field.

The Society was sorry that Lord Morris of Grasmere, its Honorary President, was unable to be at the Conference and alsothat Dr. McIntosh, Principal of Moray Ilouse College, who has done so much on behalf of the Conference, had to cry offat the last minute through illness. However, an encouraging number of members made the trip to Edinburgh and the Societyis especially grateful to 1)r. Edmund Ewan for his unobtrusive management of the Conference "on the day" and his carefulediting of its proceedings.

Members of the Society now look forward to acting as hosts to educational administrators from many parts of the world whowill be attending the International Intei-visitation Programme in Bristol, Glasgow and London in July. The Progriunme isbeing organised by the Society on behalf of the Commonwealth Council fo: Educational Administration (of which the Societyis a constituent member) and plans arc now well advanced. We look forward keenly to the personal contacts which theProgramme will bring and the opportunities for developing our understanding of educational administration which it willafford.

E. W. II. Briault

March 1974.

Staff Resources in Secondary SchoolsJ. Forsyth McGarity

tier Majesty's Senior C'hier inspector or Schoots Scottish Education Department

The National Problem

The problem of assessing the stalling needs of secondaryschools and of ensuring an adequate supply of qualifiedsecondary teachers is but one of the %skier problemsassociated with the total system of teacher supply anddemand. These in turn are substantially conditioned bythe share of national resources which can he devoted tothe educational system as a sshole.

What this paper is largely about is the attempt in Scotlandto establish a rationale for the apportionment of teachingresources to and stahin the secondary school sector. Theresults of dn. attempt are incorporated in a set of propaatkfor a system of stalling complements applicable to individualsecondary ,,cnoot. the proposals, and the steps leading upto them, are deserikt1 in the report "Secondary SchoolStaffing" and the aceImpanying eircularl published inApril 1973 as a basis for consultation. The proposals arealso part of the Government's policy, as set out in theWhite Paper "Education: A Statement of Policy", issuedin December 1972, on the resources to be made availablefor education in Scotland in the remainder of the presentdecadea7 'this paper should be read in conjunction withthese documents.

The White Paper, in setting out a national teacher supplytarget for secondary schools consistent with the StaffingReport proposals, carried the implication that the Govern-ment would endeavour to ensure that sufficient resources ofmoney and teachers would be available to meet, but notsubstantially exceed, the proposed standards.

In education, as in other social services, there can be noabsolute standard; and little in the way of a measurableoutput of performance. Standards tend to evolve out of ageneral consensus of what is needed balanced against whatcan he afforded, In both of these aspects the Governmentcannot remain long out of step with public opinion butequally it is expected that the Government, representinggeneral rather than sectional interests, ought to take a leadwith a coherent and rational policy.

The major problem in setting staffing standards for schoolsis to tind a method of relating educational aims anddevelopments to the numbers of teachers needed, havingregard to the wide variety of types and circumstances of theschools. Traditionally in Scotland the only method of con-trol has been the prescription of maximum class sizes, butthis is no longer considered to be the most suitable measurefor either primary or secondary schools. Thus from August1972 the concept of prescribed maximum class sizes inprimary schools was replaced by a system of staff com-plements related to the total roll of the school andincorporating provision for the various non-teaching dutiesof the stafT,3 This new method of prescribing complementsgives the headtcacher discretion to depart from the trad,i-tional forms of class teaching if he wishes. Nevertheless themethod can be readily related to given class sizes. Thecomplements which education authorities are asked toachieve in primary schools by 1975-76 are in fact based onthe consideration that in a school organised on traditionallines the average class size should not exceed 30 pupils.This is clearly an easily recognisable standard for thepublic to grasp.

The pilot study carried out by S.E.D. in 1967-68 demon-strates how much more complex are the factors which affect

S

the stalling needs of secondary schools and how difficult itis to relate intuitively such measures as maximum class sizeor pupil teacher ratio to the real needs of the schools.4Nevertheless the study led to the conclusion that the widedisparities in stalling standards which existed betweenschools could not be justified on any observable objectivecriteria. Thus with the agreement and co-operation of theeducation authorities and the teachers' associations, S,E.D,embarked on a more comprehensive investigation into theorganisation and staffing of Scottish secondary schools withthe objective of developing as fair as possible a method ofassessing stalling requirements. The investigation took twoforms:

A detailed survey of the organisation and stalling ofall Scottish education authority and grant-aidedsecondary schools at January 1970; and

(ii) Theoretical studies of the organisation and stalling ofsecondary schools with the aid of computer-basedmodelling techniques.

The results of the 1970 survey were published in twovolumes of statistics and a commentary.5 The survey pro-vided a factual basis for the theoretical studies which led tothe publication of the report "Secondary School Stalling".These will be discussed in more detail below, First, however,it is necessary to put the proposals in the repots into thecontext of the overall teacher supply-demand system inScotland.

Establishing staffing standards for individual schools isonly part of the problem of assessing total teacher demand.This requires, in addition, the measurement and predictionof the numbers of pupils to be taught, and the conversionof individual school standards to a national pupil-teacherratio. Accurate prediction of demand is in turn a pre-requisite of an effective policy to secure art adequate supplyof teachers. Predicting trends in teacher supply involvesmany difficulties and uncertainties. The future stock ofteachers is determined not only by the numbers recruitedeach year but also by the numbers who leave teaching.Predicting trends in recruitment involves making assumptionsabout proportions of school leavers who arc likely to go onto various branches of higher education, and of these howmany are likely to want to enter teaching. Account has alsoto be taken of those who will come into teaching after aperiod in other employment. Trends in wastage are notori-ously difficult to predict. Wastage can take many formsteachers who qualify but do not enter teaching, youngwomen who leave teaching to bring up a family, and ageretirements are the main but not the only causes of wastage.Partly off -setting wastage arc "re-entrants"mainly qualifiedmarried women who, having brought up a family, want toreturn to full-time or part-time teaching.

Several factors complicate the task of ensuring an adequatesupply of teachers, First, teachers are not a homogeneousinter-changeable population. The teaching force is made up,in reality, of a variety of different categories of teacher, eachof which has its own particular pattern of demand, recruit-ment and wastage, and must therefore to a large extent beconsidered separately. In Scotland specialisation in theteaching force is taken further than in most other countries.Although the qualification to teach in a secondary school isa general one, in fact, all teachers employed in secondary

schools hold at qualification to teach a particular subject orsubjects obtained after a specialised course of training tt ithspecific degree- subject or other entrance qualifications, It istrue that many teachers are qualified to teach mote thanone subject but narrower specialisation seems likely toincrease as the proportion of honours to ordinary graduatesentering teaching increases. Within the general schoolsystem, moreover, Roman Catholic schools form it largelt-separate sector!, although Roman Catholic teachers doteach in non-R.C. schools and vice versa, Thus, because ofthe limited inter-changeability of teachers in Seotland,shortages in one branch of the teaching force Cannoteasily be made up by surpluses in another,

Another important feature of the teacher slippl> -kit:1113ndsystem is the timelag between demand and supply. Theslice of the general population which produces pupils andcreates a demand for teachers is a different slid from thatwhich provides the teachers: consequently fluctuations inthe birth rate may produce a tendency for teacher demandand supply to be out of phase. As it takes up to S years totrain a teacher, supply is not readily responsive to changesin demand. There is thus a tendency for the system tooscillate between under- and over-supply through over-correction, unless there is careful prediction and planning,To take steps to remedy shortages or surpluses only sirenthey actually occur is likely to be too late, Since the SecondWorld War, demand for teachers has increased fairly steadilybecause of a growing pupil population, and despite measuresto increase recruitment, supply has only in the last year ortwo begun to catch up on demand, A new situation is how -ever developing, with a falling-off in the rate of growth inpupil numbers leading to an actual decline. This trend isalready affecting the primary schools and will begin to affectthe secondary schools in a year or two, although not beforethe traumatic experience of the present session, 1973 -74,when the much larger increase in pupils resulting from theraising he school !caving age has prodaced seriousalthough, tse trust, temporary difficulties in many schools.

Many factors bring about changes in the relative demandfor teachers of different subjects including changes in thedistribution of pupils over the various age ranges, the sub-jects they are offered, the balance of the curriculum and theaccepted sine of teaching groups, Because of the specialisednature of teacher qualifications, supply cannot quickly berelated to changes in relevant demand.

Geographieal considerations are also important. It warsthe existence or substantial disparities in the stalling ofschools in different parts of the country whieh providedmuch of the impetus for the investigations made by S.F.D.into secondary school stalling. The time-lag between demandand supply, coupled with a tendency for education authoritiesto lay claim to their own home-produced teachers, createssituation where, other things being equal, areas of popula-tion growth find it difficult to increase their teaching staffto keep up with rising demand. The distribution of RomanCatholic schools is another vital factor in geographicaldisparities, because of the relatively greater shortage ofRoman Catholic teachers. Where a variety of adverse(actors coincide, as in certain types of Roman Catholicschools in the west of Scotland, shortages can continue tohe serious even when the general supply of teachers isimproving.

In Scotland all teachers in primary and secondary schoolsmifa hold an appropriate qualification and be registeredwith the General Teaching Council for Scotland, 7 In effect,this means that teaching in Scottish schools is restricted tofully qualified and trained teacher:. It is no longer possibleto make up casual shortages by employing unqualifiedteachers,

It will be evident from this brief discussion that a greatmany complications and uncertainties attend any attempt topredict the national demand for teachers or to predict trendsin teacher supply. The penalties of wrong prediction, pro-ducing either over- or under-supply of teachers, can obviously

be extremely serious. It may be asked whether it would notbe better to leave teacher demand and supply to normalmarket forces,

The question is a pertinent one, and the answer must heto some extent a matter of opinion. It is the view of S.F.I),that the (iovernment's concern with the management ofnational resources, as se( Out for example in (he 1972 WhitePaper, requires a national planning effort to control andinfluence the teacher demand-supply system in Scotland inorder to achieve the stated aims in the interests of all con-cerned. Left to its own devices, it is probable that the systemwould produce an oscillation between over and under-supply which would be in no-one's interest. Without reason-ably well defined stalling standards, and a capacity toinfluence the teacher demand-supply system, it will not bepossible to achieve adequate and equal educational oppor-tunities for all pupils. The effort made by S.F.). to solvethe undeniably formidable problems will now be considered.

Ibis the problem is being tackledThe key to solving the problem of assessing needs and of

ensuring an adequate supply of teachers lies in an under-standing of the elements and inter-actions in the teacherdemand-supply system including not least the circumstancesand aspirations of the schools themselves. To achieve suchan understanding, to the point where reliable predictionscan be made, S. have adopted what has come to becalled a "systems approach", This involves creating con-ceptual and quantitative models of the system of teachersupply and demand, testing the models with real or hypo-thetical data, and observing the effects on demand orsupply, or both,

Mention has been made of the complications and un-certainties in the teacher demand-supply system, and indeedwhat has been said is Very much a simplified picture. Thereare, however, some characteristics of the demand-supplysystem in Scotland which are favourable to the understandingand control of the system, One is that the system is largelyclosed, with sufficient inherent stability for trends to bediscerned and predicted, This situation could change in thefuture, but at present Scottish teachers are almost entirelyproduced in Scotland to meet a Scottish demand-. there isrelatively little movement over the border and such move-ment as takes place at present can be accommodated withoutmuch difficulty, Teaching moreover is a career profession,and the stock of teachers does not change arbitrarily or atshort notice. Perhaps the most advantageous femme, how-ever, is that Scotland is a small tightly-knit community:communications between S.V.D. and other parts of thesystem are good, and the total amount of informationneeded to understand and influence the system is not toogreat to he dealt with economically, at least with modernmethods of storing and processing data.

Although S.L.1). have adopted a systems approach to theproblems of teacher demand and supply, and have developeda number of useful models, it must be stressed that ourability to predict and influence the future behaviour of thesystem is far from complete. There are many aspects of thesystem which are subject to considerable uncertainties: forexample, the effect of alternative job prospects on teacherrecruitment and wastage. We are conscious also of gaps andinadequacies in our system of collecting and processinginformation and have embarked on a radical overhaul ofthe whole information system on teacher supply and demandwhich will necessarily take sonic years before it can yieldfully adequate trend data. It has also to be recognised that,even if our predictive capability were improved, our abilityto influence the workings of the system would be far frontcomplete: we do not employ the teachers, and many vitaldecisions affecting teacher supply are and will continue tobe outwith our control. It is, however, desirable that wesho.ad constantly endeavour to improve our understandingof the system and our forecasting capability in order to

ensure so far as possible that action is taken by ourselvesand others to keep the supply of teachers as near as possiblein line with demand and, in particular, to prevent seriousshortages front Occurring.

The Secondary School Staffing Model

The models so far designed by S.F.D. cover variousaspects of the teacher demand-supply system, but specialmention will be made here of one of these, the SecondarySchool Stalling Model. This is of particular importancebecause it has been designed and used by S.E.D. to studythe factors affecting stalling needs in secondary schools andto formulate the system of staffing standards set out in theSecondary School Stalling Report, It has also been used inthe assessment of total secondary teacher demand on thebasis of the proposed standards.

The Secondary School Stalling Model is fully described inthe Secondary School Stalling Report, from which thefollow ing summary description is taken:

"Briefly, the Secondary School Staffing Model is asequence of mathematical operations which links togetherthe various factors affecting the staffing of a secondaryschool and enables a list of stalling requirements as wellas other relevant information to be produced. All thefactors affecting staffing are treated as input variableswhich can be given any desired value. Thus the modelcan be used to simulate any conditions or organisationalpatterns likely to be found in a secondary school with aview to studying their effeet on stalling, The contributionof the computer to this technique is that it enables thecalculations to be repeated quickly and accurately fordifferent sets of input variables, and the results compared,in a way which would not otherwise be practicable."

The input variables recognised by the model include theroll of the school at each yearly stage, the courses and sub-jects offered and the proportion of pupils taking these, theacceptable maximum size of teaching group for each subject,stage and level, period allowances, allowances for variousnon-teaching duties, and a "float" of teacher-equivalents,expressed as a percentage addition to the total teacherscalculated by the model. The purpose of the "float" is toprovide is measure of additional flexibility: in the use ofteachers, covering for example timetabling difficulties andcasual absences. It could also be used by an individualheadteacher to make more generous provision in anyparticular aspect of his school's organisation which he con-siders requires it. As the percentage "float" is a variable,it can also be used by the modeller to move standards upor down with relatively minor limits while keeping the othervariables constant. The output of the morel consists ofestimates of teachers required for each subject and stage,together with such other information as as:erase class sizes,average pupil contacts per teacher, and overall pupil-teacher ratio.

Provision for remedial education is covered by the modelin two ways, both or either of which may be used: first, intire form of separate classes for the least able pupils, secondlyby a special allowance of teacher-equivalents to cover theremedial education of pupils withdrawn from normal classes.In either case the item is treated as a variable so thatdifferent levels of provision can be modelled.

It is important to stress that the model itself is merely aset of logical steps which produce a teacher requirementaccording to the values assumed for the input variables. It istherefore entirely neutral and does not itself incorporatevalues. More than 400 sets of variables representing a widevariety of types and circumstances of schools and differentorganisational patterns have so far been tested, using themodel. Among the particular aspects studied were thefollowing:

(1) The effect of the size of roll on pupil-teacher ratio,other assumptions being held constant.

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The characteristic curve shown in Appendix 1 to thispaper was obtained, demonstrating that economy in stallingincreases k1ith the size of school, Beyond a given point,however, the increments of roll produce a diminishing returnin terms of increase in pupil-teacher ratio. The position andslope of the curve varies according to the particular assump-tions made about internal organisation and other factors,and it is not possible therefore to generalise on what is an"economic" size of school, The use of the model howeverenables given assumptions to be quickly assessed in termsof the effect of size on P.T.R. and so, amongst other things,contributes to a more informed consideration of the pointat which the stalling economy of large schools is outweighedby other possible disadvantages.

(2) The effect of type of school on pupil - teacher ratio,other assumptions being held constant,

Again the results are dependent on the assumptions nude,for instance about courses offered and class sizes. For agiven set of assumptions a comprehensive organisation wasfound to be less economical than a combination of selectiveforms for the same number of pupils, In practice, however,comprehensive schools serving is given catchment area willbe larger than selective schools: for a town of around25,000-30,000 inhabitants, the modelling of differentarrangement:, of schools of different types suggested thatan arrangement of two comprehensive schools each ofabout 1,425 1.upils would he as economical as any otherlikely arrangement.

(3) The effect on stalling requirements of differentassumptions of maximum class size.

The 'ihility to model different class sizes, keeping othervariables constant, is extremely valuable, not only in showingthe effect on total stalling requirements and costs but also inrevealing differential effects, for example on the numbers ofteachers needed for different stages or subjects. A constantreduction in class size for all subjects would, for example,alter the relative demand for teachers of different subjects.

(4) The effect of differences in curricular organisation.The term "eurricutar organisation" is used here to cover

such matters as the courses and subjects offered, the pro-portion of pupils allocated to examination and non-examination subjects, and the period allowances for dif-ferent subjects. This is possibly the most useful as well asthe most difficult feature to model, as in practice it isunlikely that differences will affect only one variable at atime, The method adopted was, broadly, to model a "con-sensus" view of a reasonable organisation for a comprehen-sive school of 1,140 pupils, and then to observe the differencein stalling requirements for a variety of alternative forms oforganisation extending from highly streamed limited-choicesystems to systems embodying setting across the whole of ayear group. In preparing the curricular assumptions advicesought front a group of experienced hcadteachers was usedto supplement evidence from the 1970 survey. Among th.:valuable insights provided by the model was the lightthrown upon the effect of different option arrangementson staffing needs,

(5) The effect of differences in option "take-up",The proportion of pupils who decide to follow particular

courses and subjects varies from one school to another andis affected by the particular arrangement of subjects inoption columns. The model was used to simulate differentoption arrangements and pupil take-up and study their effecton total and on subject teacher requirements.

Front the application of the model to a large number ofdifferent circumstances and assumptions, it was concludedthat the most equitable method of setting staffing standardsfor individual schools was by a system of staffing com-plements incorporating a "basic complement" related tothe roll of the school at the various yearly stages, sup-lemented by a number of allowances in teacher-equivalentslinked to particular characteristics of the school. The basic

8

complement incorporates a pro rata allowance Of non-teaching time for each teacher ant. I for itdministrative dutieswithin the subject department. A separate "F.D.A. (Extra-Departmental Administration) allowance" is added foradministrative duties outside the subject department, includ-ing those of the head and deputy heatheachers and ofguidance staff. Other allowances comprise a "remedialeducation allowance", the "float" already mentioned, andart allowance to cover leachers released for in-service training.The last two allowances are related to the basic complementplus fi.D.A, allowance and are equivalent respectively to

and 4 °u of the total complement, A further allowance,to provide it lighter load for teachers in their lustyear of probation, is included but is not intended to comeinto operation until 1976. The differing stalling needs ofschools with selective and non-selective forms of organisationare recognised by haVing three separate sets of complement,covering respectively non-selective schools, selective schoolswith certificate courses only and selective schools with non-certificate courses only the essential differences lie in thebasic complements for years Sill and SW and in theprovision made for remedial education.

The proposed set of complements for non-selective schoolsis shown for illustration in Appendix 2,

The assumptions on ahich the values of the basic com-plements were calculated are clearly set out in the SecondarySchools Stalling Report, which also gives an indication ofthe kind of variations which would be possible within thesame total complement. The assumptions incorporate anormal maximum class size of 30 for classroom subjects inSI-SW, 25 for classroom subjects in SV and SV1, and 20for all practical classes. Actual class size, will depend on theroll of the school and on its internal organisation. Theaverage size of class possible in a comprehensive school ofabout 1,150 pupils within the basic complement is around22 pupils, In addition, the 5% float could be used partly ifdesired to reduce class sizes selectivelyfor example, thoseof non-certificate pupils in Sill and SW; the Report showshow this might be done. The float and the various otherallowances provide for improvements on present generalstandards -for example in the provision made for remedialeducation and for in-service training,

The system of staff complements embodies a high degreeof flexibility. First, by having different complements for thethree stages SI MI, Slit SW and SV-' and forselective and non-selective forms of organisation, the com-plements can be automatically adjusted to the type of schooland the distribution of pupils within the school. A schoolwith it relatively large number of pupils in the upper stagesWill, for example, have a larger complement. The complementis also automatically adjustable for schools in a transitionalphase, for example, those changing front a selective to acomprehensive organisation, and for schools with an atypicaldistribution of roll. The remedial allowance and the in-servicetraining allowances are intended to be treated as normswhich may be increased or decreased according to the needfor remedial education the school and the actual incidenceof in-service training. An essential feature of the system isthat, although total staff complements are built up by asystem of basic complements and allowances, and arc clearlyrelated to identified needs within the school, the headteacheris left entirely free to deploy the teaching staff in any wayhe wishes within the total complement, thus maintaining histraditional freedom in regard to internal organisation andcurriculum, Indeed, it is proposed to remove the existingstatutory constraint on maximum class sires, so that,although the total complement will enable class sizes notto exceed the limits already mentioned, the hcadteacherwill be free to arrange larger groups, e.g. for lectures,as required.

The system of staff complements contains no prescriptionor guidance on how total complement should be distributedamongst the various subjects, This was deliberate. Theevidence of the 1970 Staffing Survey and of the extensive

use of the Stalling Model showed that the relative need forteachers of different subjects within an overall complementdepends on a variety of factors which may be classed in3 groups; external or given, e.g. the distribution of the roll;curricular -the courses and subject choices offered, periodallowances and so on: and the actual chokes made by thepupils. The interplay of these factors produces quite differentsubjeetteaeher requirement,, and it would, in our view,have been quite wrong to lay down standards for the number01' teachers required for each subject. It will, of course, benecessary for S.F.D, to be able to assess and predict thenational do rand for teachers of specific subjects. The adop-tion of a uniform system of total staff complements willmake it possible to monitor, by regular returns from schools,changes in relative demand for teachers of different subjects.

Finally it should be mentioned that it is recommendedthat the standards should not he mandatory. It is recognisedthat, despite the very high inherent flexibility in the systemof complements, exceptional circumstances may justifydepartures from the standards in specific eases. it is alsoconsidered to he impracticable and unnecessary to lay downstandards for very small schools-broadly those with under200 secondary pupils. For these reasons it was decided thatno power. should be sought to embody the standards inregulations.

The total available supply of secondary teachers inScotland, and the disparities which exist between differentparts of the country and between individual schools, makeit impracticable to suppose that the standards can he broughtinto effect immediately. Consequently it has been recom-mended that all authorities should adopt them as a targetto be achieved not latt:r than 1977-78 in all schools. In themeantime it is recommended that authorities should intro-du,,e the system of staff complements front ses.3icn 1974-75,w;th the actual standards adjusted in accordance withavailable supply.

it should be stressed that these proposals for new stallingstandards were put forward for consilcration and commentby education authorities and other interests. The process ofconsultation is well under way and it is hoped that final pro-posals will be issued early next year. Whatever the ultimateoutcome, we trust that he proposed system of staff com-plements is at least thought to be a worthwhile attempt torationalise the method of assessing staffing needs fur secon-dary schoois in Scotland. But much remains to be done torefine the technique and to provide for further developments.

From he point of view of education authorities andschools we bciieve that the publication of the Staffing Reportand of the results of the Secondary Schools Stalling Surveyhave given a fresh impetus to an already growing interest inScotland in efficient organisation and use of teachingresources, as illustrated for example by the introduction in1972 of a national centre for school administration, embody-ing an advisory' service on secondary school timetAling, inMoray lfouse College of Education, The emphasis onmanagerial problems in schools is a true sign of the times.It reflects the incredible complexity and difficulty of organis-ing a large secondary school efficiently. It also reflects thewide discretion and responsibility placed upon hcadtcachersand senior staff to ensure that schools are efficiently run. Itreflects above all the growing recognition that teachers are avaluable resource which must be carefully hushancied,Nothing in what is said in this paper detracts in any wayfrom the prime purpose and duty of schools, which to beconcerned with the education of the pupils. On the contrary,it is only by efficient planning and use of teaching resourcesthat the educational and social roles of the schools ert beefficiently maintained and progressively improved.

secoaclori. school shithi;,,, a report on NeCnildnrS SChod orgnilisti-I m and .stalling in Scotland, with proposals for new .staffingstandards, H.M.S.°, 1973. Price 85p (by post 93ip).Scottish Education Department Circular No. 865cccondarySchool Stalling Report, March 1973.

2. Education in Scotland. State/neva of Policy, Cmnd. 5175,H.M.S.O. 1972. Price I Alp thy post 163p).

1. Schools (Scotland) Code (Amendment No. 1) Regulations 1972.S.E. No, 776, 11.M.S.O. Price 5p thy post Sp).Scottish Education Depaionent Circular No. 819, 11w Staffingof Primary Schooh, March 1972.

t. Scottish education Department Memorandum, Stalling ofSecondary Schools in Scotland. 1969. Price 223p(by post 25p).

APPENDIX I

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9

5. Secondary School.- Stalling Survey 1970, 1Woones 1-3,1972. Prices: Volume I 11.90 (by post £2.081);

Volume 2 £1 '90 (by post £20811; Volume 3 90p (by post9810.

6. Roman Catholic schools are run by education authorities inthe same slay as non-denominational schools. Teachers inRoman Catholic schools are appointed by the educationauthority but the Catholic Church authorities have a statutoryright to satisfy themsehes as to the religious faith andcharacter of teachers appointed.

Response: A. G. Robertsonileadmasters are always prepared to state the aims of

their schools but find it much more ditlisult to explain howthese aims are achieved. 1 think all would agree that partof the answer lies in having the best possible quantity andquality of staff in the school, and I am, therefore, glad tohave this ovportunity to respond to Mr McGarrity's paperwhich is bawd on the Scottish Secondary School StallingReport (19731.

First of all I must commend several features of the Report.The data included are based on an analysis of a nationalquestionnaire to schools. The resulting "stalling model" isused to study the effect of changing a variety of schoolvariables. And the report contains a mass of relevant andinteresting information concerning teacher supply anddemand, school types and rolls, class sums, subject require-ments, pupil-teacher ratios, and implications of differentorganisations and curricula. All of these are worthy of study.

The Report makes certain specific recommendations aboutstaff complements, based on the stalling model. These com-plements are related to requirements at various stages of theschool, extra-departmental allowances, in-service training,absent teachers and remedial teachers. Thus it appears thata fairly sophisticated instrument of measurement and pre-diction has been developed, My main complaint here wouldbe that several of the allowances are inadequate, andshould be increased.

As an illustration, the model makes the following provisionfor a comprehensive school of 1,475 pupils: 24 teachers forS I and II (500 pupils), 30 teachers for S III and IV (600pupils), 22 teachers for S V and VI (375 pupils), 5 extra-departmental teachers, 3 remedial teachers, 3 for "float"and 3 for "in-service", a total of 90 members of staff,giving a pupil-teacher ratio of 16:4:1.

Two major assumptions have been made in the Report,which weaken the foundations, in my view. One is theestimate of teacher supply and the other is the percentagetaken for teacher wastage. Neither estimate is reliable, anderrors can affect the overall supply-demand situation quitedrastically.

Also, there are certain unyielding factors that this kind ofmodel cannot take into account. One is the relative imbalanceof staff from region to region, and the other is the shortageby subject, In ten Renfrewshire schools, for example, thetotal shortage is 100 teachers, and this is largely a geo-graphical shortage. In this County, nearly all subjects areshort of teachers, particularly art, technical, business studiesand modern languages, and to a lesser extent mathematics,science and English. Another County advertised nationallyfor over 50 teachers recently'. The shortage, in places atleast, is much more severe than national pronouncementsindicate.

As the Report states, the whole supply - demand mechanismis Very complex and tends to oscillate if left to operatenaturally. Whether the use of the stalling model will dampenthe oscillation about a satisfactory mean remains to be seen.

Another factor that may obliterate the model's sophistica-tion is that of comparative salaries and shortages in otheroccupations. One constantly meets students who have turnedaway from the teaching profession because of more attrac-tive salaries and conditions elsewhere.

In my experience, teaching has much to offer. A satisfyingand stimulating life if conditions are good; new methods,

10

subject content and facilities; a reasonable element of leisuretime, albeit relatively less than formerly, and associatedopportunities for developing, personal and communityinterests; a sense of security which is more important,perhaps, in these troubled limes.

Against these one can cite other factors. An atrociousstruggle in bad conditions. with antagonistic pupils andantipathetic parents and public; an increasing politicalpressure on the educational system such as B,S.L.A., withits consequent reluctant pupils, over-large classes, and staffand accommodation shortage: the enforced philosophy ofcommon courses in mixed ability classes for one or eventwo years in the beginning of the secondary school stage;the generally bad publicity given to the teaching professionby the media; finally salaries, an over-riding influence in thesupply of teachers which neither the country nor its politicianshave understood or accepted.

All of these factors, for and against, and many others,influence the long-term staffing of schools, The StallingReport and Model provide an incentive to study theproblems and to seek sonic perhaps too theoretical answers.But I am certain that the only real and lasting solution willbe provided by a substantial improvement in the salariesand status of the teaching profession.

Response: W. Murray White

I, Pressure of time forces me to condense my response toMr Mc Garrity's admirable paper to an extent which maywell prevent me from doing justice to the many major issueswhich it raises. In an attempt to minimise this injustice Ipropose to divide my response into 3 parts. The first willdraw attention to the similarities between the Scottish situa-tion and that obtaining elsewhere in the United Kingdom.The second will refer to certain markedly distinctive featuresand my third phase will attempt to look forward to boththe potential and the hazards of a sophisticated analyticalapproach.

2. First then, the common features, or those that werecommon until the new Scottish approach was developed.While overall financial constraints of various kinds havebeen exercised by central government, decisions about theinput of teaching resources have been largely delegated tolocal authorities and priorities in the deployment of resourcesso provided have been left to individual schools. In spite ofour quota system, aimed at limiting geographical maldistribu-(ion we rind that local authority input control, normallyexercised through imposed staff -pupil ratios reveals, evenmore than in Scotland, variations in input far in excess ofany measurable differences in needs. The outcome is topresent schools with irrationally varying complements ofstaff and rely on them to bend their assessments of need toconform to these resource constraints. The second commonconstraint, operating in the opposite direction, is the con-cept of maximum class SIM. This somewhat crude instrument,operated perhaps somewhat more rigorously in Scotlandthan elsewhere, was designed to act as a remote lever ensur-ing that overall provision in any school should not fallbelow an extremely modest minimum and to place limitson the extent to which large classes in one part of a schoolcould he used to subsidise much uneconomic provision else-where. A third shared feature is the growth of "middle-management- posts and an increase in the non-teachingtime allocated to the functions they are expected to perform.This development reflects both an increase in the size andcomplexity of schools, requiring structural arrangements formatters which in smaller schools might have been dealt withinformally and a marked growth in the responsibility ofschools to supportive functions mainly in the areas ofpersonal and vocational guidance.

3. The differences between England and Scotland towhich I wish to draw attention include:-

(0 England is larger, less compact, consensus is lesseasily obtained and there may be less response tocentral influence.

(iii England has 2 examinations, at treseitt, at Its, one ofwhich, C.S.E., has the obligation to examine what-ever schools choose to teach. This leads to a morediffuse pattern of options, with a greater tendencyfor the proliferation of small groups. A looser patternarises from the less clear demarcation betweenexamination and non-examination courses.

(iii) Indeed, the whole system is less cohesive with indi-vidual schools, all considered secondary, coveringdifferent age-ranges. The range of size is alsosomewhat greater.

(iv, While both countries share the simple definition of"qua/itied teacher" specialists in England are probablyless clearly defined; ambition, pressure and experiencecombine to produce teachers who have acquiredspecialisms additional to or different from thediscipline of their original training,

(v) Diversity extends to the time-table. The term "teacherperiod" has no longer any general meaning and maybe a unit of time varying in different schools from:15 minutes to over an hour, as well as being part oftint -.table cycles of any length from 5 to 10 days notexcluding such esoteric examples as a 7-day time-table round is fixed Wednesday.

4. I Lane briefly outlined similarities and differences inthe factual background to the two situations. The differences,especially the much greater range of organisational variations,together with the difficulty of defining the spccialisms ofteachers alongside considerable growth of new subjects andinter-disciplinary developments enjoying a variety ofumbrella titles, would make an English exercise, parallel tothe Scottish survey, almost impossible. On the other hand,the basis, similarity of the problems has led to the increasinguse of analytical approaches with aims consonant with thoseof the more massively detailed Scottish exercise. While thereis nothing in the way of an English survey, some authoritiesand some schools are beginning to use mathematical toolsto investigate the relationships between input and opera-tional variables. Four outcomes from this developmentmerit mention.

Ii) Many authorities have introduced more sophisticatedstaffing formulae, using differential ratios for variousage sectors, together with discretionary additionsdesigned to meet special needs. This sophisticittiondoes not derive from a precision of analysis com-parable with that in Scotland but could more properlybe described, in racing parlance. as by hunch out ofexpeinence.

(ii) Unfortunately', the only concession to site, a variablewhose importance is less recooi.ed in England, isthe occasional injection of an extra teacher to helpsmall schools, defined by authorities as below someerratically arbitrary minimum enrolment.

(iii) There is awareness of the size problem, however, in adifferent context. In the past few years there has beena slight but steady improvement, nationaliy, in averageteacher-pupil ratios and there is concern that thishas not led to any proportionate reduction, either inaverage class size or in the number of ovLr-sizeclasses. The explanation is that the additional teachersprovided as a result of improved ratios have beenmainly used in boosting the amount of non-teachingtime. For this, there are both positive and negativereasons. Positively, many schools have elected toincrease their nou-teaching time to enable the many

additional functions which they have sought or havehad imposed on them to be more adequately carriedout. Negatively, in some schools, there has Ixen noalternative to increased non-teaching time since fullyused accommodation provides no extra spaces inwhich the additional teachers could operate.

(iv) Failure to bring down the number of oversize classesarises from, among others, 2 main causes: (a) theconjunction of the concept of form-entry (in multiplesof 30 pupils) and the remedial problem. Some, butby no means all, of our schools choose to isolate aremedial group for all or much of its curriculum. Ifthe numbers in such a group arc restricted to 20, asthey commonly are, it follows that in a 6-form entryschool, either the remaining classes will exceed 32 orthe 6-f.e. school will have to operate, in part at least,on a 7-Ie. organisation: (h) the second cause is thatthe additional teachers have been fed into the upperparts of the schools enabling ever-widening choiceto be organised in small groups, subsidised by over-size classes in the earlier years.

5. May I conclude by offering a number of isolatedobservations on the Scottish survey, its staffing modelsand its general approach.

(i) I welcome this development and I am somewhatenvious of the amount of hard fact now available todecision-makers in Scotland and of the speed atwhich reaction is possible to changes in the inputvariables.

(ii) I am less sure about the operational variables. Theconcept of the float, designed to retain considerablefreedom to the individual school while preventingunlimited cost escalation, is admirable, but I wonderwhether external pressures may not force schools intousing the float to preserve the status quo rather thanfundamentally to re-examine their priorities. Thereare certainly schools in England which would Lind ithard to resist pressures to use any increased roomfor maneouvre to enlarge rather than to diminishpresent imbalances in the deployment of theirresources.

(iii) Models cannot take care of everything, and thepressures to which I have referred are one of theincomrnensurables. Another constraint to which 1have already referred, is that of accommodation, Imay not have read the Sottish papers with sufficientthoroughness but I did feel that this particular con-straint had been somewhat under-emphasised. I amnot sure whether we are yet sufficiently aware of thecircular nature of this problem. Existing curricularpractice influences current provision of accommoda-tion which in turn dictates or constrains thecurriculum of the future.

(iv) There is a similar circularity between the curriculumand requirements of the various categories of teachers.We aim to recruit the numbers of specialists neededto meet present curricular objectives and, if we getthem, the availability of their expertise then constrainsthe ways in which the curriculum can change. Thisis a problem which confronts schools anxious tochange. They may have long-term objectives requiring

a different balance of stalling and, theoretically, turn-over should make such changes progressively possible.Unfortunately, the impact of turnover is unpredictableand there 1$ an obligation on schools to sustaincurricular programmes to which pupils are alreadycommitted, This produces a conflict of objectives.long-term intention to change suggests replacementof one snecialism by a different one but the ongoingcommitment requires direct substitution.

(v) 1 am also concerned about the balance betweendelegation and accountability. I am sure that, inprinciple, we ought to preserve the freedom ofschools to determine their own priorities. But oughtthere to be limits within which this freedom shouldwork, not rigidly applied, but requiring reasons,susceptible to negotiation, if schools wish to moveoutside these limits? A particular example will makemy point. There would be understandable oppositionto any attempt to prescribe minimum teaching groupsizes, and rare, very minute groups can undoubtedlybe justified. The question is as to how far this cango, and the virtue of broad analyses of deploymentis that they encourage the critical examination of thecumulative effect of changes, each of which couldno doubt be defended in isolation.

(vi) Finally, I hope that these new developments will leadto a new scrutiny of contact time, in which emphasiswill shift from concentration on the quantity of con-tact to its quality. Ought we, for example, to re-examine three particular questions?(a) In our fourth and fifth years and I suspect also

in Scotland, there is the anomalous situation thatcompulsory subjects arc taught in the largestgroups, using the minimum of resources whilemore peripheral activities may be organised forvery small groups consuming resources at manytimes the rate of the compulsory sector.

(b) Should time allocations at all levels be morerelated to group size? Have we evidence, forexample, that the outcome of (say) 3 periods ofteacher contact with a group of 20 would be lessbeneficial than a larger number of periods spentin much bigger groups?

(c) Have we got the right balance between the commoncore of the curriculum and the optional elementsand if we continue to allow a vast range of choiceat 14 arc we satisfied that syllabuses and schemesof work arc planned accordingly? In England, Ifear that most subjects arc conceived entirely interms of those who will continue and no questionsare asked about the surrender value of thosesubjects which options systems permit or compelpupils to give up at an intermediate stage.

7. These last points have little direct connection withstaffing models. I have mentioned them because I am slightlyanxious that we could become over preoccupied with howwe organise at the expense of concern with what we areorganising for. I am sure that models and analyses canilluminate the professional value judgements that have tobe made. I do not think they can make these judgmentsfor us.

12

School and Further Education:Joint use of ResourcesDerek Ilir ley

Director. Ulster College, The Northern Ireland Polytechnic

have been racked by doubt ever since 1 undertook towrite this paper, Not so much because of lack of knowledgeof the subject, 1 presume it is not expected that I, uncon-nected professionally with either end of the problem, canoffer more than an amateurish and superficial comment ortwo. Nor did my doubts arise beCauSe, as "Education" nottoo delicately put it in their notice of the conference, twovery knowledgeable people "will be sharpening their wits onMr Bitiley". I am glad to accept the humble but useful roleof strop for their razors.

No, my real anxieties began when I sought help fromDeryck Mumford, Principal of the Cambridgeshire Collegeof Arts & Technology, who has long advocated amalgamat-ing school sixth forms and further education colleges. Illsstated objective "to provide a better range of opportunitieswith given resources' appeared admirable, but his solutionseemed by implication to be excluded from my terms ofreference, lie went on, "I have not given consideration tojoint use of resources by schools and Further Educationcolleges because long experience has suggested to me thatto get any two educational institutions to co-operate aboutanything is virtually impossible."

Even if this is only partly true it provides, as they say,food for thought. It has led me to conclude that we shouldconsider first of all the grounds on which we justify havingtwo separate sets of institutions each involved in the educa-tion of the s age group. And I am afraid that this inturn has led n,e, to some rather sweeping generalisations inthe next section. It would be presumptuous to call them astatement of principles, They are no more than the firstthoughts 1 tentatively bring to the matter, stripped of properqualification in the interests of space and perhaps ever-soslightly exaggerated here and there in the interests of stirringcontroversy.

Ilistory and all that1 wonder if you share my, growing fear that, as a country.

we may have too much history for our own good? Nationafter nation, since the last vs;tr, seems to have been able tobreak away from or build on its past, economically andpolitically, while we contemplate our ancestors' naxels. Weappear to seek confirmation there that the world owes us aliving. in spite of mounting evidence from more crediblesources that it acknowledges no such debt. Nor do we nowseem to have any great ethical, cultural or political con-tribution to make. We arc satisfied with what we considerto have been our virtues in the past tolerance, good sense.give and lake. Asa result sic depend too much on com-promise and not enough on declared and worked out

The close inter-action of educational and social factors inour way of life makes it inevitable that what applies tosociety in general applies to the education system in par-ticular. It is it chicken and egg situation, and no-one can beabsolutely certain what is influencing what. Education forus is part-determinant, part-product of social factors, andour system is such a precarious balance of interests localversus national. individual versus institutional, professional

versus lay, for instancethat it has become a kind of corn-promise machine. It is also one of such complexity that wehave to devote inordinate effort to secondary things, likemachinery and organisation.

Bence, perhaps, the inclination to regard as a matter forcomprothise thrOugh manipulating resources the questionnow at issue. Should we not first look at the cause of theproblem? Certain institutions called schools have grown upin one part of our system; certain others called colleges offurther education have grown up in another. It is not ourcustom to fret about such haphazard growth. We arc inclinedto dignify with the name of tradition the disreputable habitsthat have led us where we arc. Certainly we can say that theproblem stems front two separate traditions that haveinfluenced the creation of schools and of colleges and assumethat this means they must both continue unchanged. Butthis does not alter the fact that we have no national policyabout the right educational environment for 15 to 18 yearolds, and that we have two rival groups competing for thefavours of these young people,

The academic ethos of our maintained secondary schoolshas emerged rather than been created. I say nothing of thelegacy of a nonsensical tripartite division once proudly pro-claimed to reflect three categories of young human being,and the shaky foundations of past decisions about ages oftransfer, except that they illustrate how our education systemhas had the power of self-fulfilling prophecy built into itfrom the beginning. My immediate concern is the mixedheritage of public school and public elementary schoolattitudes with which history has endowed the secondaryschools now run by local education authorities.

The result, with a standard model that provides educationsimultaneously to children of I 1 and young adults of IS or19, seems to me open to criticism. And the doubts are notremovedin some ways they are increased-. by offering theseven-year stretch to children of all levels of ability. Whatimpels us to restrict curricula and aspirations to preserve anelongated age-range in schools for I t l8 year olds? At thetop of these schools there is the sixth form. flowering awayin the public school tradition. At the other end there hasbeen a gratuitous addition to the conventional age span.And in the middle we may have all or some of every variety01' subsequent educational thought or administrativelyconvenient notion.

One of the varieties is the product of a different tradition.A great deal of nonsense has been talked about the voca-tional element in education. The term is often used pejora-tively or at least patronisingly when applied to the educationof the hulk of the population but we tend not to apply it inthis way to training for, say, the law. In fact it exemplifiesone of our sillier snobberies. But what I refer to here is theprovision of vocational education for ordinary folk by thenight schools and their successors.

The inheritors of this tradition are the colleges of furthereducation. Today they are widely regarded with suspicionwhen they shots signs of extending their influence vulgarly,peddling their wares, likely to turn decent school childreninto nameless horrors with specious promises of adultatmosphere. Thus W. R, Elliott, Senior Chief Inspector of

the in a speech in 1970 poked mild fun at those whoclaim "that something seductively labelled Adult Atmosphereis what the young desire and need- and that this com-modity is the preserve, apparently for ever, of certain typesof institution: that a break N't WI one's past and a leapforward into the unknown is a tremendous stimulus."

One should not perhaps make too much of one smallconunent in a lengthy, wide-ranging speech land one that isfull of wit and charm) and no-one pretends that the furthereducation sector is without blemish. Just at this pointthough it SeCIlli a pity that Elliott's criticism was notdirected at the present organisation instead of at the desireto offer young adults an appropriate environment (a desireshared by many schools, as he himself implies),

But then, we are all organisation men today. In educationthis is no more than an extension or another tradition. Ourpreoccupation with creating and running institutions toooften leads us to put the claims of schools or colleges beforethose of the people they are intended to serve. We almostseem to assume at times that these places have a life of theirown, that they are somehow the reality and the youngpeople in them merely shadows,

Philosophy and all thatOur preoccupation in all branches of the service has teen

with institutions, not ideas. Of course it can be argued, andused as a defence, that it is not our practice to set upinstitutions 'with specific, laid dOSt a rules, but rather toindicate the broad limits of their territories and leave it tothe people in them to work out the details (like what theyare trying to achieve). Which is another way of saying thatwe are not notably good at creating the philosophical basisof what we are providing before we launch into the pro-vision. We can explain it, in the context of our tradition,as a reflection of education's ambivalent stance in relationto society: politicians, administrators and teachers whilehelping to shape the public mind must be responsive to it;demands.

The British people, struggling for a real voice in thegovernment of their country, have not yet been able toarticulate their needs clearly in relation to the education oftheir children at the secondary stage. Some parents are toofeckless or too inhibited to utter on the subject- -and it isto our shame, either way. For the rest, their demands gener-ally ale car to centre on the desire for their children to getpaper qualifications that will help them earn ,t good living.

It is fashionable to criticise the narrowness of the voca-tional concept. But is not (he fault in the narrowness ofthe way we conceive it and the unimaginative and insultingassumptions we make about the jobs we deem the majorityof people suited to perform? The notion of living in theworld of work could be and ought to be a richer and moreinfluential one in the minds of educators (as indeed in theminds of industrialists and politicians).

Working in a polytechnic have increasingly come toregard the sandwich principle as important, not only becauseof the pedagogical advantages of bringing together theoryand practice, but because of a growing feeling of the psycho-logical rightness of i t . I t Seems to me that we do a gravedisservice to many young people at a critical time in theirlives, by offering them as the educational ideal an unrelieveddiet of full-time formal education between the years of 14to 21. And in this I include not only the less intellectually-endowed but many of those who now go through sixthforms. and universities without failing an examination.

Educationally, socially and economically we seem to besuffering the consequences of neglecting these fundamentals.Our social and economic malaise is plain for everyone tosee: the growing problem of leisure is another facet of thesame neglect, Educational inadequacies are less easy to spot,but the signs are there. Admission to once-revered institutionsis no longer every young person's dream. There is no pointin having expensive and imposing schools and colleges if

13

they have the same status as Samuel Butler's musical banksand the real eu,reney is handled elsewhere,

The dilemma in which our secondary school teachers findthemselves has been \sell described by David I topkinsoni

"For the educationist the goal of his strategic designsmust always be the promotion of personal development,lie has, of course, to reconcile his views with those of themanpower planner, of industrialists and professionalbodies. His strategy must be such that those who controladmission to higher education are satisfied, Ills pupilswant jobs or admission to another stage of education,and it is no contribution to their personal developmentif this is ignored."

I topkinson's conclusion, "The factors that count are theinclinations of the young people themselves and the rangeof possibilities open to them" will be echoed by everyonein education, but it is hard to resist the conclusion that inpractice we too often put institutional considerations first.

Take another part of the speech by W. R. Elliott:"This concept of viability has led to the growth of mush-rooms, schools with an ominously explosive head, inMexhorough, for example, and Epsom. But a mixture of11-16 and 11-48 schools in the same area is not popular;perhaps if one must lose one's 16 is it is better to losethem to a 16-18 institution than to lose out to a rivalschool with a mushroom top."

llow do NS e react to that, I wonder? It is, let us agree. ashrewd and realistic observation. But do we have to assumethat such considerations must come before the education ofthe nation's children? When later on he says, "That thiscompetition between the advocates of schools and collegesis a real competition can be shown by the numbers of clientsinvolved," Elliott is doing no more than stating a fact wemust face. Hut it sounds like a description of a battle to sellsoap flakes, And even the consoling image of private enter-prise, with its implications of free choice stimulating thosecompoire, for custom, does not hold good. The youngpeople are not free agents; theta:, is no real choice for them.

Here we reach the core of the anxieties I expressed at theoutset. How can we talk of sharing resources if this is infact a contest ? In what spirit do we seek sharing solutions?Is it that of compromise merely? If so are we justified insetting aside what is really a clash of vital principle becauseof the accidental existence of separate sets of buildings aridtypes of institution?

Why not Junior Colleges?

1 certainly have not felt justified in producing this paperwithout some reference; however brief to the possibility of arational re-planning of the educational provision for theolder pupils.' The main objection to the notion appears tocentre on the question of whether we arc justified in settingaside traditions of proven worth for a leap in the dark. Asto the traditions, I suggest that though they may have servedsome of us well, they have done badly by many, manyothers, and that in any event, the world and its youngpeople have changed dramatically since sixth forms beganto flower.

1 do not know whether it was ever justified to have 18year olds and II year olds in the same educational unit, butit is surely not now. The earlier social maturity of our youngpeople today is presumably not at issue, with the voting ageat 18 as an official mark of recognition. It is not just "adultatmosphere" these people need, though that is important,but affinity of age with their colleagues, and, educationallyvital, the fruits of deploying the resources of largo institu-tions horizontally rather than vertically, Thcn again therewould be advantages in separating those studying com-pulsorily from those doing so voluntarily: to point to thelegislative and administrative gain is not a mere matter ofexpediency, for the resulting changes would help in securingthe sought-for relationship between teacher and taught. The

14

presence in the voluntary sector of part-time as welt as full-time students would surely work fas it does in colleges now)to the advantage of bolt?. Co-cdu4.4,1iion 1.oli)ii presumablybe the noted and I am aware of no serious argumentsagainst and a few itt favour off such a state for youngpeople of this age.

Amongst the various features of the tradition said to be:tt risk the hest-known are perhaps the withdrawal of sixthfornt teaehers from younger pOpits and the more nebuloustoss of sixth form influence on the lower school. Sixth formleachers probably always taught younger children to a lesserextent than was claimed and they probably do so less nowthan ever. in any event there seems to be more logic inusing scarce skills at the point of greatest impact, and morelikelihood of finding people who are good teachers ofchildren of all the ages that they meet if they meet only alimited age range,

The "loss of sixth form influence" argument seems evenweaker. Even where sixth forms have existed (not in everysecondary school by far) it is arguable whether the down-ward influence has always been uaivcrsally beneficial, andthey have obviously delayed opportunities for leadership toyounger pupils who in these days of earlier social maturitymight in increasingly large numbers have benefited frontthem. And what advantages can be claimed for the sixthformer; by the presence of the younger children?

The "leap in the dark" approach is, in a sense, unanswer-able, for no-one can ever know in education whether anychange will be better until after it has been triedif then,But by the came token it does not need to be taken tooseriously as it appears to reflect only general eoaservatismwith possible overtones of vested interest. The related argu-ment, that transfer at 16 would be an unhelpful break incontinuity, has the merit of being specific, though not, Ishould have thought, too many other merits. Why we shouldbaulk at a change for near-adults after four or five years inone school when we cheerfully uproot infants after two ishard to fathom. Any move for any individual can be upset-ting, but equally it can be an incentive. No-one proposes acompletely seamless garment for education: it is a questionof the best age for people to make their moves. Can it beseriously argued as likely to be too disturbing for a boy orgirl to move to another educational institution when manyof his or her colleagues are leaving to start work? Theargument that the break would provide an easy opportunityfor some to escape the net postulates a fairly sordid level ofrelationship between existing sixth form teachers and potentialpupils. Is it heard so often now that sonic junior collegesare operating? The further education colleges have not sofar been found lacking in the arts of persuasion, and therelationship between institution and client would presumablybe similar in the junior colleges to that now in furthereducation. It seems likely, of course, that the attractions of"going to college" will encourage many who could not facethe sixth form to continue their education.

Perhaps at this point I had better make it clear that 1 amnot talking in terms of putting an end to the contest betweenrival sectors by one or other winning the battle. I assumethat new organisations would be created that would under-take on a two- and three-year basis all the sixth form workof their localities, together with other appropriate full-timecourses, such as 0.N.D. They would cater for part-timestudents, too. I assume that such places would be able todo more than provide "adult atmosphere" of an unspecifiedkind but would cater for the varying psychological andsocial needs of individuals who might at various times andin various ways need varying admixtures of theoreticalstudy, practical application and opportunities to live andwork in the world outside.

There is no space to rehearse in any detail the argumentsfor or against. But one problem should be mentioned if onlybecause it reminds us that the difficulties for the secondaryschools, labouring under the weight of so many traditions,do not begin with the sixteen year old. What of the 15-year

old in the senior college era? What, first, of the flyers, heldback from sixth form studies by the need to complete "0"level and reach chronological adulthood in order to conformss-ith this divided system? There could be a difficulty forthem, though compared with the confusions and inadequaciesthat the less-favoured intellectually have often to contendwith at present, it would be on a small scale. At any rateingenious administrators would make nothing or this problemgiven lhe task of solving it. In my own view, if the juniorcollege; offered the Iwo- and three-year courses, or fast andslower stream approach of the sixth form, there would scenthide to be lost by the precocious student transferring, withall his earlier-matured talents, at 15.

A greater problem, both numerically and quatitativety,relates to those who at art earlier age than 16 are felt Whave vocational needs that cannot be satisfied for one reasonor another by the schools, Characteristic ally we tend toassociate these needs with the less able, and to assume thevocational poultice will suck out whatever is noxious intheir educational blood-streamsan assumption to whichwe can return later, However, a range of interesting andenterprising experiments havc already been made, notablyin the provision of linked courses.

Looser associations

Gerald Eowlei can conveniently introduce the topic:"A healthy development of recent years, affecting mainlypupils in the last year of compulsory school attendance,has been day-release front school to college, usually fortechnical, scientific or conuneretai studies The numberon such 'linked courses' was about 12,000 in 1970."

But he goes on, showing how compelling is the notion ofjunior colleges:

"Such schemes are however peripheral to the centralproblem. Nor is any simple solution, by division ofcourses between schools and colleges, practicable."

Elliott in the address previously quoted also seems to beluke-warm about linked courses. Fie begins with a com-pliment:

"The linked course proposal is apt to be accorded lessrespect than it deserves. Those whose predilection is forthe sensational regard it as a dull, unenterprising idea."

But he soon modifies his support:"It is admittedly easy to suggest prudent, thrifty andencouraging siitties like co-operation and the give-and-take which make marriage so good for the character.The phrase 'linked course' slips glibly off the tongae and,because so often heard, is accepted uncritically. In truth,as many marriages fail short of triumphant success, sodo many linked courses."

reservations are chiefly of the realistic, institution-oriented kind once more:

"First of all, the institutions involved must be convenientlylocated and temperamentally suited. It is not just the headand the principal who are marrying, but the staffs of bothinstitutions. A good deal of organisational ability is calledfor."

Ilowever, Elliott also expresses a more fundamental doubt:

"It is easy to congratulate oneself for having achieved abridge-head at the sight of pupils wending their way tocollege; one must be sure too that when they reach therethey will get what they need."In an interesting article Bill Skinner, Principal of Melton

Mowbray College of Further Education, after an admirablestatement of objectives, tells us what those svho wend theirway to hint actually get:

"For the 14 to 16 age group in the upper schools, iswide range of courses is available, including building,general engineering, automobile/agricultural engineering,

electrical engineering, conunerce, mliee practice, typewriting, stvedwriting, home economics, needlecraft andart. Several of these are taken as C.S.E. subjects, forwhich sec have submitted our own schemes under theMode 3 approach, and in these practical subjects thereis a vital place for continuous assessment."In general, pupils following these courses spend onehalf-day a week in a 'workshop' situation where theemphasis is on practical work: and one hall-day a seekon related studies. The whole of this work is inter-related with their studies back at school."One of his partners in the scheme, Bernard Brewster,

head of King Edward VII Upper School, Melton Mowbray,augments this, with some constructive conunents onpractical problems:

"The College is one mile front the school. Half-days orwhole days therefore are, in the main, essential. There hasbeen some transference of discipline problems, partly dueto the opportunities offered by this change of environmentfor I4- to 15-year-olds. Some damage has been doneoccasionally at the College. College terms and workinghours do not coincide always with those of the school.The reporting of absentees and the numbers of thosetaking school dinner, has caused problems trivia per-haps, but such things can become major irritations ifnot organised properly."

What of time-tabling, the problem that springs at once tomind? Mr Brewster says:

"Link courses offered as part of option schemes needto be dove-tailed; and great blocks of the time-table aretied and immovable. Fortunately, the College time-tableis more flexible and its Principal most accommodating."

11e adds the familiar warning:"Indeed, satisfactory personal relations between Principaland headmaster seem to be the most essential basis forthe successful operation of link courses."There is a reminder later in Mr Brewster's article that in

our system local education authorities are responsible forthe general character of secondary and further educationin their areas:

"The Education Office is alive to the fact that art agree-ment has to be reached about the stalling of link courses--otherwise, pupils on roll will be counted by both estab-lishments. In this County, it has been laid down that forevery teacher engaged on a link course, the school willprovide 45 of such a teacher, the College .55."

Here is an authority, one feels, not content with mere ruleof thumb, fair-shares-all-sound techniques: 45 and -55, noless. Mr Brewster continues:

'Link courses are also expensive to run (e.g. the use ofelectricity circuit boards for the applied electricity course),and an agreed contribution from the school's capitationis made to this end."And in his remaining comments there emerges a mixture

of tiny financial and major educational issues, frighteninglyintermingled,

"Again, this can open up difficult questions- -how farjustified is this expense vis-a-vis the possible neglect ofother areas of school work; or, again, should engineeringbe considered as coming under the total allowance forcrafts as a whole and be subject to curbs on expenditurewhich other sections of the craft department have tosuffer ?"

Could it be that under the guise of encouraging individualinitiative, some L.E.A.s have in effect thrown their educa-tional institutions into the deep end, without preparatorytraining or water-wings?

One wonders to what extent authorities have producedschemes, in the exercise of their responsibility under theAct, and to what extent they have regarded it as a matter

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for individual initiative? Do 1..E.A.s make conscious andinfornwd policy decisions to embark on schemes anddeselop them? Presumably there is such a policy in Kent

here by 1971 forty schools and seven colleges were offeringone- and two-year linked courses. It does not seem to haveovercome what one would have thought were fairly funda-mental problems. Sybil Brown writes about the scheme asfollows:

"... if a number of schools in an area are using the samecollege on the same day for a particular subject, Where,as is usual, the school children form a large enough group,the college arranges the course as a special class; other7wise school children may join for part of the time groupsof young employees on day release. This mixture of youngpeople- -some still at school, others at workcan, likethe freedom of the college style, bring both benefits andproblems."

The spirit of happy compromise implied by the final sentenceis surely not an appropriate philosophy for such an exercise.What kind of day-release course from industry is it that canaccommodate school pupils also? Setting aside the socialproblems of such a mixture are there not serious educationalhazards for both groups?

Much of the comment made about these schemes has asuperficial air; the accident of the particular situation seemsto be assumed an essential condition, For example, SybilBrown reports that assessment of the examination schemesis thought to be a problem for college staff "who may notbe trained and experienced in C.S.E. work". This seems anodd comment since continuous assessment and moderationin one form or another have featured more in further educa-tion than in the schools. It does not appear to chime with apoint made by Mr Brewster in the article quoted earlier:

"The 0.N.D, course likewise caused some headaches- -school staff were unused to regular internal assessment ofstudents' work (although C.S.E. Mode 3 has nowfamiliarised them with this technique)."

Either way it is a matter on which local education authoritiesmight be expected to give thought and if necessary tuition,before instituting, or allowing to happen, schemes of thistype.

Half measures?

It would be possible--and some more docile contributormight well oblige at this or a future conference---to go intogreater detail about the mechanics of sharing resourcesbetween schools and colleges, by linked courses and otherexpedients. But would this not simply prolong a story whoseoutlines are already sufficiently clear? Authorities can do it,if they want, and more particularly if their heads andprincipals want, and they can overcome the problems. Butwhy should they s -ant? They can expect modest gains inincreased motivation through vocational stimulus, and atthe same time more use of physical college facilities. Butmay there not be dangers in seeking solutions to the problemsof one institution by farming out pupils to another?

If tae motive is greater faith in the ethos of the otherplace than your own, then you are in some trouble educa-tionally. If it is merely that you want to use the otherfellow's electricity circuit board, quite apart from the factthat it will make a hole in your capitation allowance, arethere not better ways of acquiring specialist facilities? Aneducational system is surely incomplete and unworthy of adeveloped nation if its secondary education has to dependon injections of resources or philosophy front outside itself.And should not every educational institution, especially inthis institutionally-dominated set-up, be able to call itseducational soul its own?

Fred Flower, writing as a college principal, warned in arecent article about the danger of the schools regardingthese links as panaceas. Ile referred particularly to some of

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the children about allot)) we ale currently, and belatedly,feeling great concern, those a hose agony is prolonged byraking the school leaving age and %chose ills will not hecured by pressing a vocational switch on and off a coupleof times a week. Their condition, innoverted, discouragedand apathetic, needs another rowdy:

"These young people are cons inced that their slay of life,their conception of themselves and their aspirations areneither comprehended nor appreciated by their teachersThey feel is strong need for some kind of individualsympathy and attention."

Hower argues cogently for an education that looks at thewhole of life for these sad little Robinsons. "Has furthereducation," he asks, "anything to oiler boys and girls likethis? To our shame, the record of the colleges is, in thisrespect, no better than that of the schools."

Flower'S regretful passing of the Robinson buck hack tothe schools where it properly belongs (the colleges haveenough Robinsons of their lassn) should remind us of ourfirst duty, to get right the philosophy and objectives of whatwe propose. At the level of resources, though, he also givesus a timely reminder, in case anyone were starry-eyed enoughto think that further education comes cheap, that savingmoney is not only inadequate philosophically as a reasonfor pursuing these links, but unlikely to be achieved.

"It is true that some education authorities demand thatthe ratio should be one teacher to between 5 and 15 pupilsto make a viable 'A' level class in any subject, but we allknow that subjects are taught in smaller groups than 5 inmany places up and down the country. It' we are preparedto stomach that we should be prepared to accept muchsmaller teaching groups in those areas of educationwhere the need is much greater."

In terms of resources this question of stab is surely thereally critical one. Buildings can be adapted relatively easy.What we have to contend with is the existence of twobasically competitive systems, each seeking, very naturallyand with proper professional pride, to provide most thingsto most boys arid girls. Linked schemes, of course, do allowsome staff sharing, but all their other shortcomings aside,they seem to make too small an impact on the reduction ofoverlapping competing courses for small groups of full-timestudents.

One scheme at least appears to have addressed itselfseriously to the problem through co-operation this side ofamalgamation. As Roland Wilcock, Principal of WestOxfordshire Technical College, wrote recently:

"Systematic joint provision for 16-19 year Oda has beengoing on in Witney for the past six or seven years. In itsearly days it took the form of formal co-operation betweenthe then Witney Grammar School and the TechnicalCollege ,"What began as a partnership between a grammar schooland a technical college had to adapt itself to the intro-duction of comprehensive education in the area. Whatnow exists is the outcome of this response. The umbrellaorganisation is the West Oxfordshire Consortium, con-sisting of the four schools and the college. They 'consort'purely for the purpose of providing full-time educationfor the 16-19 age groups; for other purposes they go theirown ways, although it is becoming apparent that providingfor the 16-19s cannot be separated from providing for14. and l5-year-olds. The West Oxfordshire Centre ofAdvanced Education is the instrument whereby theConsortium carries out its purpose."This Centre provides three services: a system of publicityand careers and educational guidance in the schools; aprogramme of courses, each of which takes place at oneof the five establishments, but planned as one programmeand publicised as such; an admission procedure whichoperates right across the programme of courses. no

matter where the applicant applies from or is applyingto go to,"It has been agreed that the schools still not competessiih the technical college over the provision of vocationalcourses, that all four schools will base their 6th formson a range of 'eV level subjects, and that the Icehnicalcollege sill continue to provide full-time 'A' level coursesAS well, These have been divided into two kinds--'common' (English, Maths, French, German, History,Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and 'special'.Each establishment may provide any or all of thecommon 'A' level subjects out the special ones will boprovided at only one of them, the technical college havingthe largest list with a couple of the schools covering suchspecialisms as Music, Ilome Economics and ReligiousKnots ledge,"

Of course I do not suggest there are not other, perhapseven better, examples of significant co-operation to be foundin these islands. There may well be some to be found inScotland, It will not have escaped notice, I imagine, that allthe examples I have taken have been front England. This isshameful though perhaps not unexpected from an English.man at a Scottish conference. One reason for the restrictionis that it seemed more courteous to the host country todirect criticisms elsewhere. Another is simple ignorance.

t did in fact discover evidence that in Scotland, as onemight expect, they did things more thoroughly than furthersouth. As long ago as 1963 a working party under theauspices of the Scottish Education Department produced adocument "From School to Further Education". It was re-printed again this year and I read it with admiration andgreat profit. llowever, it was not readily applicable to thehighly individual argument 1 wished to pursue on thisoccasion, But it is on the cards that some group of Scottishschools and colleges has made a dramatic step forward thatshould have baen recorded. I hope so,

Even more should I like to be told that there are plans inScotland or elsewhere to introduce new schemes, basedfirmly on philosophy, that do not depend heavily on theaccident of SFhethcr principals and heads are prepared towork together. What kind of a scheme is it that requiressaints, geniuses or even above-average professionals to carryit out'? Should We not ordain, like the apocryphal head-master, that a new tradition will start tomorrow morningat 9 am,?

Certainly what we euphemistically call the traditions thathave infused out education system so far have left us notonly with an unhappy mess of overlapping and under.lapping institutions but without effective means of bringingabout planned change on a national scale. Theoretically wehave such means locally but for all sorts of reasons thetheory is rarely put to the test, Goodssill, close personalrelationships, and similar accidents are too often criticalfactors in the ability of authorities to venture into desirablechanges. Continuity of service should not be relied upontoo heavily when see have done our best through BurnhamReports and so on to establish restless movement, changewithout progress, as the way of life in our service.

The Oxfordshire scheme demonstrates that significantprogress can be made even within the present framework oftraditions and assumptions. But presumably the needs thatthis scheme is intended to meet exist elsewhere, too, and arcnot being satisfied. Personally, I believe that the root of thematter is that we feel ourselves bound, because of unduereverence for the accidents of history, to preserve two setsof institutions for young people from 16 to 18. Even if thereaching-out from one set to another were better planned,properly organised and instituted everywhere this basicproblem would remain. It would still be like starting theChannel Tunnel simultaneously in England and France andtrusting to luck that the two ends met in the middle. Isthere really no chance of producing a blue-print before westart drilling?

I In this seviion I intend by this phrase normally those userphis I take to he the theoretical starting ;ige for institutionsoffering post Icscl. post C.S E . or pt),t131111i'll> leasingage COUrSeS to folltime ;Ind pattttim: students. the actualstarting, age could, and would sary, the normalleasing age ssoidd be IS or The institutions I base ealle1,ssithout much cons idiom but for \sant of something better,junior colleges. I am indebted io most of the section toDeock Ysliny.itqd who has done so ouch to propogate theidea.

REFERENCI.S

W. R. ELLIOTT, "School or College After 16?" Presi-dential Address delivered to Education Section ofBritish Association, September 1970."Advancement of Science ", December 1970.

DAVID 110PKINSON, "Trends in Education", No. 20,October 1970,

D. E. MUMFORD, "Comprehensive Re-organisation andthe Junior College". Address to the Assocn. of Collegesfor Further and I ligher Education, Summer meeting,1970.

G. FOWLER, "Further Education": chapter in "Educationin Great Britain & Ireland", R.K.P. 1973.

BILL. SKINNER, "Further Education", Autumn 1971.BERNARD BREWSTER, "Further Education", Autumn

1971.SYBIL BROM; N, "Trends in Education", No. 23, July 1971,FRED FLOWER, "Education and Training", March 1972.ROLAND WILCOCK, "Forum", Vol. 15, No. 2, 1973.SCOTTISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT; "From

School to Further Education", ILM,S.O., Edinburgh, 1973.

Response: H. Fairlie

Mr Birley has presented to us today a most interestingand powerfully argued paper on the reorganisation ofeducational facilities for the 11-18, and particularly the16 age group. Ile has quickly accepted Mumford's state-ment that it is virtually impossible to get any two educa-tional institutions to co-operate about anything and hasmoved to discuss what he feels is a very necessary re-organisation of the present resources for :,:coridary andfurther educationin England.

I do net wish to appear chauvinistic sshen I say that hisarguments are founded on English experiencehe says thishimself and declares his ignorance about the Scottish situa-tion. Much of his argument for change would appear torest on the existence of what I suspect is a competitionSouth of the Border between school and college for thecustom of that seal which apparently determines the accoladeof a school--the sixth form. And certainly, if it is true thatthe 16 f- academic can choose whether to pursue his "A"levels in school or in college, it could lead to a wastefuldeployment of teaching resources. This is especially so if theridiculous difference in staffing ratios between school andcollege for the same type of work is to be maintained.

But why should the solution be that of Mr Birley, totransfer the sixth form to the I,E. College? Why not restrict,as we do in much of Scotland, the work of the I.E. Collegesto what they were created to do, instead of feeding thesestatus hungry institutions? We try to insist that the 16+proceeding from "0" Grade work to "II" Grade andbeyond should do so at school. He is not normally admittedto the F.E. College to undertake a course of study whichthe Authority provides in school unless he is either over18 years of age or has been away for a significant periodof time.

!laving said that, I must confess a great deal of agreementwith Mr Birley's cogent arguments that there should be abreak at 16.f , and that there is today little community ofinterest between the short trousered child of 12 and the

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musutchiod youth of 18 who might well be a father withtwo legitimate children and have voted in :t general election,But 1 submit also that there will not be much communityof interest either between that youth and the apprenticebricklayer of 16 coming to college on I day1week.

I would prefer to see the common school to 16 , fol-lowed by entry either to a sisth form college, big enough tobe comprehensive in its range of provision of courses andnot restricted to the traditionally academic classroom sub -jects of the English Grammar School (but not the ScottishSenior Secondary), or to the I.E. College. Each institutionwould have a common purpose Education--but each wouldhave different specific aims. This is possible in England, butof course, as most will know, not so in Scotland where theS.C.E, Higher is taken in the 5th year of secondary educa-lion, following the "0" Grade in the fourth. Nor is it pos-sible except in areas of significantly large population.

Turning, however, to the subject of this session, which isjoint use of resources, the questions must be asked as towhy this is presumed to be desirable, what resources, howit is to be done and who are to be the sharers. From themanagement point of view, in terms of maximum use ofinvestment, clearly there is a case for (say) an expensivepiece of science equipment, rarely used, being made avail-able to several schools rather than each having its own,But if sve assume that management has been good and thatthe colleges and schools are kitted up for what they haveto do, and that these resources are fully utilised in theseinstitutions, where is the argument ? It is just not possibleto share resources of teaching staffs the form of trainingfor day school work and college work is quite different andthe qualifications of many Further Education teacherswould be quite unacceptable in schools, I think that MrMichael may wish to develop this further.

I am convinced that there are at different times "in-things"and "in topics" just as there are "in people", and one ofthese, current meantime, is this shared use of resourcesbetween school and college. In general terms I can see noneed for it, no useful purpose to be served if an Authorityhas clearly defined the objectives of each and within eachhas secured enough customers to justify the provision madeboth in terms of equipment and of staff, I think Mr Birleywas so right to toss the issue aside, almost contemptuously,in his first two pages and enter upon his discussion on re-organisation of educational provision for the 11-18 year olds.That is fundamental, and important, the other is fringe stuffand certainly in Scotland, neither an important problemnor an issue.

This is not to say that there should not be close linksbetween school and college and there is no need for me toargue why. Brunton did this so well in his 1963 Report.And as both Brunton and Mr Birley point out, this liaisonis particularly important for a specific group of pupilsthose who have vocational needs and aspirations, those whowill be leaving for the world of work at 16, those for whom,quite frankly, the type of diet provided in schools for thevocational aims of the academic has no meaning or purpose,and who would regard you as a museum piece if youattempted to persuade them of the benefits of a generaleducation untainted by any consideration of their careerand occupational needs.

Mr Birley looks fleetingly at the problem of young peoplefor whom the raising of the leaving age means a year trapped;n an uninteresting institution, the aims and objectives ofwhich have little meaning for them. He calls them "littleRobinsons", and it is for them that I think we should tryto make enough resources available in college to supplementthose of the school. It is with this group that the resourcesof two staffs who spring from different roots usually, andfront different backgrounds, who have different attitudesand different mores, different understanding, can be shared.

We tried this some years ago in my County, Atli con-spicuous lack of success. The scheme for half-day releasefrom school to college failed for many of the organisational

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reasons acivanced by Mr Bir ley. The colleges did not seemable to advise the schools in advance of what facilities mightbe available from year to year. (I may say that they werethen in a situation of growth.) Too often courses wereplanned and had to be abandoned because of unexpecteddemand by F.N. Courses for accommodation. These are nolonger problems- indeed the reverse is the case.

The attitude of F.L. stall' was not conducive to success. Iam not convinced that their general attitudes were thosetraditionally expected from the teacher of the 15 year old,Their interest was not child centred nor were they educatedOr trained to the pastoral requirements of their commitment.For instance, when discipline was difficult, pupils weresnooty dismissed from the college and no-one advised,

Mr Birley has, of course, pointed out these organisationalproblems but 1 ant consin:d now that they are not insur-mountable and that the present time is favourable whencolleges are dependent upon such schemes to retain staffwho might otherwise become redundant. This might well bethe time to establish the highway which, when built, willcontinue to be traversed. So much so, that we are tryingagain this year with a programme of 1 day a week courses,36 in number, each extending over six weeks, to afford thesepupils the opportunity to see what particular jobs will entail,For one college alone, for this term alone, some 1,300applications have been received for these courses and thenumber of pupils concerned is 600.

In this narrow field there is obviously merit in sharingresources in the way that I have described. But to becomecarried away with the idea as a general one would, in myview, be foolish, I see little to be gained except for theorganisation man who loves to organise without considera-tion of ends. There could be much to lose. I think Mr Bir leyagrees with me. Ile has given much thought to his paper;he has provoked much thought in us far beyond the narrowconfines of his remit. I don't blame hint, for the remit itselfhardly justified, in the Scottish context at least, a paper ofany length. Indeed we thank him for the significant con-tribution he has made to the continuing debate on the futureorganisation of education for the 11-18 age group.

Response: D. P. M. Michael

I begin where Derek Birley ended with the image of aChannel Tunnel started simultaneously in England and inFrance, trusting to luck that the two ends met in the middle.A small family firm in West Wales, Jones Brothers ofLlareggub, submitted the lowest tender ever for the con-struction of the Tunnel, One brother proposed buildingfrom England and the other from France, They were askedthe obvious question, what if they didn't meet in the middle?"What are you worried about?" said the elder brother. "Ifwe miss one another, you'll get two Tunnels for the priceof one."

It would be a travesty of Derek Birley's arguments tosuggest that the Jones Brothers analogy holds good at allpoints, but 1 hope to show that there is more virtue thanhe will admit in a duplication, or even a multiplication ofroutes through the stormy 16 to 18 seas.

I am aware at the outset of two constraints upon myResponse. First, I have read with profit Derek Bir ley's book"Planning and Education" and therefore find it difficult tostage a quarrel with the author. Second, members of theRE.A.S. are likely to deplore administrative untidiness andfavour simplification and unification in the management ofresources. And yet, as Dickens reminds us in a comment ona deplorable headmaster, Wackford Squeers, "Ile had butone eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favour of two."A pair of educational systems may be as valuable as a pairof eyes, a pair of cars, or a pair of legs.

To begin at the beginning, some of us have long con-sidered the views of the Principal of the Cambridgeshire

College of Arts and Technology, Deryck Murnford, slantedand simplistic, A more credible and more acceptable casefor the importance of Further Education for many pupilsaged 16 to 19 comes from a Working Party set up by theAssociation of Technical Institutions, the Association ofPrincipals of Technical Institutions and the Association ofTeachers in Technical Institutions, Here Deryck Mumfordwas only one voice among the eleven members. The WorkingParty's deliberations culminated in the advocacy, not ofJunior Colleges or the like, but of full partnership betweenschools and colleges.

The F.E. Working Party makes its bid for a major portionof 16 to 19 pupils on a full-time basis on the alleged groundsthat:

(1) an alternative to school is desirable for manyweall grant this;

(21 the colleges have a "direct" approach to learningwhich seems to mean that F.E., students are morepurposeful and their studies More purposive;

(3) colleges provide for a vocational motivationwhichin part repeats the previous argument;

(4) the role of the colleges allows %Our scopewhichseems a partial repetition of the two previous argu-ments;

(5) colleges allow scarce and expensive resources to beused more extensivelyan argument for widersharing, not for depriving schools of resources;

(6) colleges are truly comprehensivefor some people, adouble-edged argument.

All six arguments, which appear on closer inspection toadd up to no more than four, are adduced in favour not ofdecapitation of the schools nor of curtailment of the collegesin the name of rational re-planning, but rather of fullerco-operation between schools and colleges.

Derek Birley is right to argue that there is nothing sacro-sanct about history evenif I may so say wickedly to thePrincipal of a Polytechnic--about recent history which hasgiven us the binary system of Polytechnics alongside Uni-versities. He is wrong to suggest that we can disregard thepast and the present when we consider the future. Of coursewe have to tinker with what he calls a "compromisemachine". At this date, we may modify the design; wesimply cannot afford to re-design it. And we must all worktogether on modifications, which is why the headmasters'Association have long urged the formation of LiaisonCommittees linking schools and colleges.

The West Oxfordshire Centre for Advanced Education isalways quoted as an example of collaboration between onecollege and some schools. The brochure issued by the JointDirectors makes interesting reading. First in all the pre-liminary courses, as in all schools, there is great emphasislaid upon General Education. With the exception of facilitiesfor practical work in Agriculture and presumably betteropportunities for engineering workshop practice there islittle even in West Oxfordshire that any large, purpose-builtComprehensive School could not already offer. Indeed,languages are sadly limited to two, French and German.Within the Consortium there is a restriction upon thenumber of Arts-plus-Science combinations possible. It isnot evident that the time-table could be made and remadeannually as is usual in schools to fit the individual needsof pupils.

Clearly, s where you combine forces in perfect amity,preserving the autonomy of separate institutions, you stillcannot satisfy every need. A limitation then of resources tothe schools alone or to F.E. Colleges may seem economicallyattractive and may appear to make sense administrativelybut, as you all know, the saving of cost is seldom matchedby the increase of benefit. I recall that Derek Birley hashimself elsewhere castigated an expensive accounting opera-tion, intended to save money, which in fact, cost more than

the amount of the money saved! That a school place costsless than an E.F. place is not proven, as they say in theseparts, but its easily arguable. We do not concede thelogistical argument.

The Pilkington report on class sites in colleges of F.E.revealed a serious under-use of seam: resources, but at thetime it was partly explained as inescapable in the prosyss ofexpansion. 7 have no upoodate facts and figures sinceColleges arc coy about the numbers of places filled and Un

success and failure rates: the exact nature of theirliberal studies: the extent of their pastoral provision; thehuge percentage of their teaching stalk not trained forteaching; their percentage of good }Inflows graduates,and much else.

accept that there must be wasteful overlapping in theage-range undo discussion. Where waste is identifiable,steps ought to be taken to remedy it, in future all newschool and college 16 to IS building should be planned forintegrated use. Existing facilities should be more widelyshared. Sixth forms may have to be pooled as the I.L.E.A.suggests. Sixth formers may have to be grouped into SixthForm Colleges (not Junior Colleges under F.V. control).Some F.E., courses that could more appropriately be offeredin schools shouts( be shed. Certainly schools ought not tohave to continue to labour under the disadvantage of notbeing allowed to recruit craftsmen and craftswomen legallyentitled to instruct in FT_ Colleges.

The lostitute of Careers Officers the other vs'eck produceda report -Linked Courses and School Leavers". They threwconsiderable doubt on the efficacy of link arrangementsmade (1 quote) for the administrative convenience ofcolleges and schools rather 1,an the needs of pupils .."It is simply not good enough," they continue, "to lay oncourses only where a College finds it has spore capacity."

I speak from experience of using pre-vocational linkedcourses for my own boys and girls, although we have nowdropped them since we have moved to vast new properly-equipped buildings where we can ourselves provide coursesfor boys in building, in vehicle maintenance and in electrical

-work, while for girls there are courses in commerce, includ-ing typing, and in home management. We do not yearnafter Melton Mowbray pie, nor we have the disciplinaryirritations mentioned by the lleadmaster of King Edward VIISchool, Melton Mowbray.

In the schools we can ensure that any vocational educa-tion is an extension of general education. We know thatvocational training alone, as distinct from vocational educa-tion, runs counter to the whole concept of R.O.S.L.A. Notonly this but our pupils are entering an era of greater job-mobility when they will require not merely one specialist

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trade but further training and re-training for jobs not yetdevised. Does vocational Further Education fully allow formulti-vocational Further Education? Does Further Educa-tion fully allow for Leisure from Vocation?

Derek Birley is unhappy about what he calls emotivelythe "7-year stretch" of secondary school education. It is a5-year compulsory "stretch", if that is the word, followedby two further optional years. Crowther's panegyric on theSixth Form may need up-dating but it must impress every-one that increasing numbers of pupils are coming backvoluntarily to the 6th Forms. Admittedly, the grow th its

the number of pupils seeking eventual entrance to HigherEducation has been explosive in all Western Europeancountries except Western (jemmy. Nor should we forgetthat in the schools we are catering for Higher Education,not merely for Further Education.

We claim our elongated age-range as a Virtue: we knowcontinuity to be valuable both for pupils and teachers. Wewould not dispute that for some pupils, and not always theweakest academically, a change of scene at 16 plus may bedesirable. For most pupils enforced discontinuity would bedisastrous. We have the iMmense advantage of knowing allabout the potential and aptitudes of our pupils at 16 plus,The foundation of 6th form study is laid by men and womenwho see their students through to a challenging and accep-tably high level. There is great difficulty in maintainingacademic standards where there are 11 to 16 schools. Anda cut-off at 16 plus would necessitate at the tertiary stagewasteful repetition of "0" level and C.S.E. level retrievalcourses proper to the secondary stage.

At a time when we are considering ways and means,whether by CET.. N. and F., or by some other arrange-ment, to broaden 6th Form and Further Education, it ishorrifying te ;tear suggestions that would inevitably lead toa narrowing of the educational front. Words and phraseslike relevancy, college education, adult environment andother progressive vogue-words conceal from the hearers,and sometimes front the users, retrogressive notions.

I hope that I have said enough to show that I am notpersuaded by Derek Wiley (1 use his own language) to leapinto the dark. You may recall that the phrase, it leap intothe dark, was tirst coined by Hobbes to describe death!

We in the schools prefer to continue to develop our owntried and tested Channel Tunnel. We shall improve andenlarge it, We shall cut through where possible into theadjining newer, narrower Tunnel of Further Education inorder to obviate the unneo.ssary multiplication of rails andto reduce the cost of track-maintenance.

I hope, Mr Chairman, that I may have made some smallcontribution to the Further Education of Derek Birley.

Problems in Practice: A synopsis ofthe eight discussion group reportsE, A. Ewan (Editor)

As originally planned, the two discussion group sessionswere to be concerned respectiVely with Mr McGarrity'spaper on "Staff Resources in Secondary Schools" andMr Birley's on "School and Further Education JointUse of Resources".

In the eveni, owing to over-running of both plenarysessions preceding, discussion time was severely curtailed,but members were able to give attention to certain majorissues. In their consideration of Mr McGarrity's paper andthe responses of Mr Robertson and Mr White, the groupsconcentrated on four main topics: the place of models andnorms, public administration aspects, including decision-making and accountability, the source and nature ofresources, and finally objectives and value judgements.Some similarity of emphasis was apparent in the discussionof Mr Birley's paper and those of his respondents, MrFairlie and Mr Michael. Aims, objectives and needs wereagain prominent, and in this contest some account wastaken of differences between Scotland and England affectingthe problem of school/further education duplication. Thesame general concern about questions of effectiveness,efficiency and accountability manifested itself, but there %vasmore emphasis in the second discussion session on stepstowards a solution and the practical problems involved.

Staff Resources in Secondary Schoolsalodeis and Norms

Generally, the Scottish attempt to establish a mathematicalmodel for secondary school stalling was welcomed. In anera of scarcity of resources often exacerbated by severemaklistribution, the model offered a rational, comparativelybias-free means of calculating staff needs on a much fairerbasis than existed before. Moreover, the application wouldfacilitate close scrutiny of the implications of various formsof school organisation and course options, so providing afactual base for planning. Its objectivity and apparentpracticability, in Scotland at least, were felt to be muchsuperior to the largely disappointing English system ofquotas, the latter failing short of desirable standards ofobjectivity and sensitivity.

Some members expressed suspicion as to the true aim ofthe survey underlying the model. Was it to improve educa-tion, asked one member, or simply base economic efficiency?On the other hand, to those who feel the introduction ofany framework of objective assessment of needs into thedelicate realm of educational human interaction is an erosionof the calling of the professional, the answer must be thatwhere resources are scarce and subject to intense competitionfrom a variety of interests, the attempt to establish someeffective means of collecting information about the implica-tions of different allocations of these, or even sonic of these,resources is a necessary prerequisite to intelligent discussion.In the absence of such hard information, not only efficiencyis likely to be sacrificed, but the very educational values soprized by the critics may recede beyond the horizons ofpossible achievement through withdrawal of the resourcesrequired to realise them.

In itself the model, as Mr McGarrity himself pointed out,"is merely a set of logical steps which produce a teacherrequirement according to the values assumed for the input

variables" to. 7). That is to say, it is strictly an informational,not a prescriptive, tool. His next comment, that "It is there-fore entirely neutral and does not itself ineolporate values,"raised some doubts: not all members were prepared to con-cede the neutrality of the model feeling that local educationauthorities might well be tempted to use it prescriptively.The group in which this point was raised did nut have tittleto pursue its enquiry whether any model could be value-free.

Two other criticisms of the model emerged: first that itwas too sophisticated, and second that it was not sophisti-cated enough. In one group there was a general view thatthe sophistication of the method was not appropriate orjustified at national or local government level, where itsnicety of assessment was negatived by less controllablefactors related to supply, change of educational policy and,locally, of specific environmental circumstances, There wasa preference for cruder assessments of resource allocationson a total roll basis, one for teaching staff, one for non-teaching staff and other resources, and a third allocationbased on specific need to be allocated on teaching staff,non-teaching staff, or other resources at the head's discretion.It was suggested that at national end local authority levelall that was necessary was to check on departures front abroad tendency.

It was thought that the method would be helpful to headsof schools and of departments or courses in assessing thedemand for staff and deployment of staff, but it was stressedthat over-sophistication could be counter - productive bycausing resentment if the "customers" did not understandwhat was happening. The danger mentioned by Mr McGarrity,of confusing the illustrations with recommendations, wasvery great, and the approval expressed was of the method,not the formula.

Those who felt that the model was not sophisticatedenough based their argument mainly on the point raised byMr White that it took insufficient account of the constraintsof accommodation. Mr Brodie conceded this and expressedthe hope that the model might be extended to include thisfactor, but felt that accommodation was not a major con-straint in Scotland. While those heads unfortunate enoughto have to cope with "economy"-sized classrooms unable toaccommodate more than twenty-eight to thirty pupils mightnot share Mr Brodie's optimism, no doubt their problemcould be met by a flexible application of the model.

This depends entirely on the use made of any normsderived from it. From the schools' point of view the actualnorms established arc more significant than the model bywhich they are derived, and a great deal of discussion wasgiven to norms in general and Vie suggested norms of theScottish documents in particular. Several features of normscommanded wide approval.

First of all, the fact that they were stated publicly alongwith factual data about actual staffing provision throughoutthe country offered a sound basis of comparison and anincentive to reduce the disparities among the various educa-tion authorities. Further, their publication was of interestnot only to the teacher and the administrator, but also tothe public, who could thereby gain a clearer understandingof just what they were or were not getting for thsir money.It was suggested that this might help case the problem ofmaldistribution: an authority whose schools appeared grossly

over-staffed might find its ratepayers questioning the expendi-ture, or even face reduction of rate support grantperhapsa little less immediate than the pressures for improvementlikely to arise in an area publicly shown to be seriouslyunderprivileged in staffing,.

Forward planning of stall' needs di:ix:rids art some agreedstandard of stalling provision. IrrespectiXe of how theq:norms are derived, or how appropriate they are in au:ni-si:hes, they must be assumed in estimating future demands,and only when publicly expressed can they be scrutinised byall concerned, It is hard to see how anyone in educationinterested in a professional approach to the management ofresources, and least of all those who have to accept theresources actually allocated, can be satisfied W ith an un-expressed standard known only to the central controllingbody and kept secret from the customers.

Groups considered a number of other aspects of thenormative approach in general with less approval. Someexpressed anxiety alx.ut its inevitable undervaluing ofmanagement expertise at institutional level. Not only canit blur individual experience, and reduce the institutionalmanager's freedom, but it can also cover up quite sepiasmismanagement on his part. More fandamental still is theassumption in the normative approach of explicit criteriafor efficient use of staff. A corollary of the notorious elusive-ness of precise measures of effectiveness in educationalpractice is a corresponding imprecision in measures ofefficiency in utilisation of resources.

The ever-present danger that by their very nature normsmay become restrictise, a statement of the actual ratherthan a policy for the desirable, and so restrict development,was also voiced.

Norms for maximum class site were attacked on thegrounds that these can be used to conceal real staff shortages,especially in relation to the specialist subject groups in theupper school. Perhaps here the objection is not so much tothe principle of norms for maximum class sire as to theactual figures suggested. None of the groups reported fol-lowing up the more fundamental point hinted at in MrWhite's response that concentration of thinking in terms ofmaximum class sins may blind the mind to other ways ofdeploying staff: "have we," he asked, "evidence . . . thatthe outcome of (say) 3 periods of teacher contact with agroup of 20 would be less beneficial than a larger numberof periods spent in much bigger groups?"

On the details of the norms actually suggested there wassubstantial further discussion. Some members expressedconsiderable unease that the norms were based rather onuse and wont than it radical reappraisal of needs. Many feltthat they were not flexible enough to deal with staff shortagesas between sabjects, nor could they allow for informedteacher opinion: in short, the emphasis was inevitablyquantitative in a situation which demanded provision forqualitative assessment. Mr Robertson's demonstration ofthe discrepancy between the Scottish Education Department'splanning view and the stark realities of the situation as seenand felt by the schools in areas like his own stirred muchsympathy. One group summarised the situation in terms ofa need for the consensus of professional people, not merelythe rigid application of a slide -rule.

Pubic Mbnirticerarion Aspects

Three main themes emerged in this aspect of the discus-sions, namely decision-making, accountability, and localautonomy versus central control. Concern was expressedabout the manner in which decisions were made for educa-tional development, the relationships and co-ordinationamong the various bodies involved, e.g. central government,local authorities and institutions, and finally about thequality of the decision-makers, As an example of the last,one group alleged that following on Delany's work fromfirst principles it was found that educationists were unableto draw she necessary parameters.

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One point clearly established was the thrust towardscentral control stimulated by the prerequisite for sounddecision-making of increasingly detailed and comprehensiveinformation available only through the application ofadvanced technology which only a large and welt-fundedorganisation could hope to provide. Consequently, decisionsare forced further and further assay from the point ofimplementation, with all the risks for practicality whichremoteness involves: and there is also greatly increased scaleof error should a wrong dsaision be made. Moreover itseems a basic contradiction of the ethos of a truly educa-tional service that responsibility, and therefore accountability,for decision-making should be removed from the institutionand the scene of action.

Information technology is not the only factor exertingpressure towards increasing centralisation of decision-making.RegionalisatiOn has its effect as well, probably not ai sint-plistic pull towards the centre, but a selective one. Sheersite will inevitably force the delegation of some decisions tothe divisional or institutional level, for example, the appoint-ment of staff, already largely delegated in many areas.Clearly, however, central government must concern itselfwith the training and supply of teachers: to allow stallingto run into a situation of oversupply would be intolerableboth front at cost point of view and in terms of the diversionof scarce manpower front other fieldsto say nothing of thehuman aspects for the trained but redundant unfortunates.

Over against the arguments for professional judgment andautonomy, several groups raised the question of accounta-bility. There is a general trend in current British society toexpect more accountability to the public in general as wellas to management. In a corporate management situationeducation will have to compete directly with other services,some of which may serve apparently quite similar ends,for financial support. To do this effectively means not onlybeing able to give an account of aims, objectives and theextent to which they have been achieved, but also to do soin terms the others concerned can understand, for example,treasurers, councillors, and the general public. It was sug-gested in one group that local authorities had in the pastbeen over tolerant, that they had not sufficiently questionedthe schools' use of resources. While this was admitted theproper question about criteria was raised. One member thenraised the problem of virement as a major factor in limitingthe effective management freedom of the schools. This inter-action of virement and accountability was raised again inthe second discussion group session, and accountabilityitself was considered at greater length in the plenary sessionfollowing Professor bowler's paper.

Resnirec,

Although the title of the conference was Management ofResources, most of the discussion on resources in the groupsessions tended to focus on the staff aspects. One groupoffered the explanation that the labour intensive system thateducation still was had caused people to think too limitedlyabout teaching and not about total learning situations. Evenso, it was argued, the emphasis on staff was itself deficientin that too often no clear statement was made about thekind of staff required. Consequently there was not only theproblem of the school apparently well staffed overall butwith serious shortage in some departments, but also aninadequate analysis of the need for types of staff other thanteachers. Pupil-teacher ratio was therefore felt by some to be aquite unsatisfactory measure of the stalling needs of as school,

The new structures of promoted posts emerging both northarni south of the border suggest comparison with the Salmonreorganisation of the nursing profession, but nothing likethat fundamental study of needs and roles has as yet beenattempted in education. Too many still seemed to think of asolution in terms of more teaching staff instead of considera-tioniof all available or potential resources in relation to theneeds of the children. Open plan type buildings are an

22

attempt to elICOUtLige and capitalise on a changed role forthe teacher, Some N'_hools have gone so far as to introduceparents into the class situation as helpers in a number ofspecific roles. In SOIW cases the teacher would rather hawhad additional clerical or auxiliary help, or even specialitems of equipment such as tape-recorders, television setsor C.C. but the system offered him simply anotherteacher or nothing.

On ways to combat the acknowledged evil of maldistribu-tion of what seemed satisfactory stalling at national or evenauthority level, no easy solution emerged. It was generallyagreed that an unlimited free market was incompatible withefficiency. Direction of labour, the obvious answer, wasraised only to be dismissed as politically impossible in thepresent climate, Vet limited forms of direction have beenpractised for many years. For example the young teachermight be offered a post ht a less desirable part of the authorityarea than that in which he wanted to work on the under-standing that within a certain period he would be transferredto the part of his choice. Another inducement mentionedwas help with housing, Experience with other devices suchas additional salary payments and travelling expenses forteachers in designated schools has not proved generallysuccessful.

Much disruption is caused by the inevitable time lagbetween one teacher's leaving his post and his successor'sappointment and taking up duty. One group discussed thisat some length arguing that one could scarcely talk aboutefficiency in the organisation and allocation of staff resourcesfar less achieve it, so long as the transfer of promotedteachers was permitted on a nationwide basis at any timethroughout the s'.>sion. This created tremendous problemsfor the headmaster, yet the views of the profession demandedthat plum posts in particular should be filled as soon aspossible. Moreover, it was a practical necessity that inter-views, since they were so time consuming, should be spreadfairly evenly throughout the year. One way out of the diffi-culty would be a system of supply teachers: but in thebalanced system of supply and demand which it was hopedto create, was there a place for supply teachers? Perhaps,the group concluded, the answer lay in making the "float"buoyant enough to allow for transfers. Probably the admini-strator would see a system of transfer only at the beginningof each term, particularly where a four term year is inoperation, as not unreasonable.

Rather surprisingly the reports showed no evidence thatgroups had directly concerned themselves with the actualdeployment of staff resources within the school as opposedmerely to the obtaining of them, Perhaps preoccupationwith felt shortage can explain this, but on the other hand itis when a particular resource is in short supply that howit is used becomes of greatest importance. This wholequestion is closely linked with that of types of staff andauxiliary, clerical and technical help. There is also the oldproblem that our present view of promotion and manage-ment tends to perpetuate a system in which the best teachersare removed from the teaching situation. Only rarely haveauthorities risked an alternative, but it has been done. Atleast one large state school in England is headed by amanager from the industrial field,

One group, however, did report a suggested solution tothe inefficient staffing which impinges on the individualschool. This was the idea that decisions at authority levelshould regulate the provision of courses in particular institu-tions throughout its area to avoid wasteful dissipation ofresources. In practical terms this might mean allowing onlyone of three schools to teach Russian, or, to trespass intothe territory of the second discussion group session, allocat-ing certain courses previously offered in both a school andits local technical college to one or other.

Objectives and Value JudynentsA recurrent theme was the need for objectives or at least

a proper sense of purpose as the context of resource manage-

ent. Criticism was expressed of Mr Mc Garrity's paper forits failure to present its model tad norms within the framework of an explicit philosophy of education; and seineseemed to feel that the mathematical approach to resourcemanagement embodied its own arid philosophy of pre-occupation with means and efficiency at the expense of endsand educational effectiveness, As others pointed out, this isa quite unfair criticism its the model explicitly provides forinput variables expressing a whole range of philosophies,values and priorities, its function being not to prescribe anyone set of these, but to enable the manager to learn quicklyand clearly the implications for resources of whatever valueshe wishes to feed in, Careful thinking through and continualappraisal of one's educational philosophy is a necessaryconcomitant to sound management, but it is sad when it isused as an argument to discredit the attempt to developtechniques of investigation and control of the meantnecessary to achieve it.

But not all groups were unanimous on the need or evendesirability of having one's educational philosophy spelt outin operational objectives. Opinions in one group varied from"most teachers have implicit objectives but it is very difficultto write them down. In fact to do so is a waste of time" to"if you do not have explicit objectives how can you explainto others about what you are trying to do, and how will youknow when you have achieved your implicit objectives?"Although this particular group reached no agreement onthe need for objectives, it was conceded that some planningWas better than no planning.

While the effects of rapid change on the setting of objec-tives and the paradox of planning for the unpredictablewere recognised, there was, however, fairly general acceptanceof the need to consider some kind of objectives as a basisfor rational resource planning. Sometimes failure to spellthem out clearly can result in the organisation spendingmuch time and energy in the pursuit of what are quitefundamentally conflicting objectives. A good illustration wasgiven by one group: teachers should recognise that some oftheir demands are incompatible; for example, no specialfinancial incentives for some areas, no direction of labour,full staffs in city-centre schools.

Before the model can produce any results, the inputvariables must be decided. It is here that value judgmentsare crucial. Staffing demands depend largely on the type ofcurriculum followed. One particular kind of pattern wasused to illustrate the operation of the model, but otherscould equally well be employed. The problem lies in pro-viding not so much for different specific defined values inthe sense of curricular patterns, as in ensuring that curriculumdevelopment itself is not stultified, It was suggested in onogroup that deliberate overstaffing ought to be encouraged toallow for training and curriculum development, In practicalterms, this would mean a larger allowance for the "float"element in the model. Whether or not pupils should be givena choice and the nature of the choice, if any, are other valuejudgments. It must also be recognised that where choice isavailable, pupils will not always choose on rational grounds.For example a major factor in subject choice can be whetheror not the pupil likes the particular teacher concerned, orwhat his or her friend has chosen.

Broadly then there seemed to be a substantial degree ofsupport among members for the kind of approach to staffresources exemplified in the Scottish model with the impor-tant proviso that the input variables be decided firmly ongrounds of sound educational values and practice, and notof narrow "efficiency" or administrative convenience. Whatis needed is for the educationist to learn the language of theadministrative efficiency expert while retaining his ownprofessional values.

School and Further Education Joint use of ResourcesGeneral Considerations

As the responses by Mr Fair lie and Mr Michael shorted,Mr Bir ley's paper stirred strong reactions, especially in terms

of the solution he atisaValed, I lis indictment of the cut rentsituation of wasteful competition and duplication of resourcesfound much more support. But some demurred: if one ofthe aims of educational org,tnisation is to pros ide appro-priate fare in an appropriate setting for the individual andhis needs, then it is wrong to argue that the consequentdeployment of resources is wasteful. Only ashen the aimshave been established is it meaningful to talk in terms ofefficiency or wastefulness. It was generally agreed howeverthat there was a basic conflict between choice of institutionfor the pupils and ostensible efficiency in use of resources,

Two factors were observed to have operated to bringschools and colleges increasingly into what had been tradi-tionally each other's territory, first the developing practiceof presenting students in the technical colleges for the dayschool certificates, and second the impact of the raising ofthe school leaving age on the schools, in effect transferringthe old pre-apprenticeship course students from college toschool. This blurring of formerly sharp distinctions wasfurther complicated by a coining together in ether respects.particularly culture, No longer, it was 'argued, was it true tosay that colleges had a more open climate than schools; infact some schools, especially sixth form institutions, weremore open than some colleges. Consequently there was aless sharp dichotomy between the types of young peopleattracted to the two institutions. Problems of discontinuityand loss of interest sere also discussed and it was arguedby some that we simply did not have enough evidence onthe effect of change of institution on vs hich-to form arational judgment.

Differences between Scotland and England affecting theproblem were cited. Because of historical, sociological anddemographic differences the degree of competition betweenschool and further education was less in Scotland, and con-sequently tits solutions required might also be different.North of the border most secondary schools were com-prehensive both in enrolment and in the range of coursesprovided, and it did not make sense for the colleges toduplicate these services. In England, on the other hand,because of the greater prevalence of the grammar school,the colleges might have a different function to perform anda larger proportion-of the age group to serve, Others againargued that in terms of specialisation, both of institutionand of subject matter, Scotland and England seemed to bemoving-in opposite directions. To a considerable degreetrue of the subject, this is probably much less so of theinstitution; Scotland for example has yet to develop thesixth form college.

Pre-requisites to a Solution

The sharp differences of view taken by Mr Birley and hisrespondents served to focus attention on the need for a cleardefinition of the objectives of both schools and furthereducation colleges in respect of their provision for youngpeople of the 16-19 year age group. Agreement that aimsand objectives must be defined leaves however the vitalquestion of whose responsibility this is to be. More questionsthan answers were raised on this issue: should it be theheadteacher and the principal? or what part should thelocal authority play? and, in view of the undoubted factthat what was most needed was careful overall planning toprovide both an educational pattern and management ofresources in schools and further education to ensure economyand efficiency, svas there any real alternative to corporateconsideration?

Further, before goals and objectives could meaningfullybe developed, the needs of the young people concerned hadto be taken into account as these must arbitrate the finalsolution, The urgent need here was for research to providethe information on hich rational judgments might beformed Some suggested that the tendency to put institu-tional considerations first militated against a proper analysisof the problems. and that preoccupation with organisational

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and administrative questions of the distinction betweenschool and further education had operated to the detrimentof the young people's interests,

Real progress in rationalising provision between schooland further education demisted on the elint;nation of theexisting barriers of the distinction between school and furthereducation. New attitudes were required on both sides.Schools' resentment of the colleges' encroachment on theirterritory in academic subject fields was only tired by is hatthey saw as the colleges' envious search for status, Mostpeople did not seem to be conscious of waste of resourcesand sere little interested in furthering the cause of efficiency-.For these attitudes, some members argued, there required tobe substitutes! the recognition that the different attitudes ofeach type of institution reflected genuine differences of need,and that it might not only be wasteful from an economicefficiency point of view, but also mistaken educational policyfor further education to try to offer too many academiccourses and in so doing to fail to provide adequately forthose Mhos,: needs it could best meet now. Another con-sequence of the present laissc: fitire development was theabsence of any stimulus to preparedness for the radicalconstructive change required.

Others took the view that a less drastic alteration wasdemanded. They questioned the meaning of the distinctionso frequently assumed between vocational and generaleducation and felt that even to the extent they could validlybe distinguished, they were not so incompatible as MrDir ley's respondents had implied.

Pracrieui Probienis

A number of practical problems in achieving any improve-ment on the present situation were considered. Among thesethe physical problems of separate buildings loomed large.Dispersed buildings produce great enough administrativecomplexity in a single institution as those headteachers orprincipals with one or more annexes well know: but whenthis factor is compounded by separate managements inautonomous units, the situation is even more intractable.Time-tables control the use of buildings and any co-operativeventures between school and college demand synchronisationof both staff and accommodation time-tables at least at thepoints of contact. This, many felt, wars a real obstacle.

An additional difficulty pointed out was the human factor;joint use was an additional commitment forced on bothschool and college staff, thus producing divided loyalties, afirst and a secondary responsibility. Pupils too, it was alleged,with their continued loyalty to school even while in collegeon link courses, tended to exacerbate this feeling. Withinthe college itself the low status of link courses promotedinvidious distinctions among the statT. Two way sharing andtransfer of staff between the two types of institutions wasfraught with problems arising out of differences in qualifica-tions and salary scales. Many of the further education stafflacked teacher training. Teacher politics as well as partypolitics therefore had a large part to play in either facilitatingor frustrating any changes, and consequently vested interestscreated powerful lobbies to be overcome.

Legal aspects were raised also. Ilow, for example, onegroup asked, did the notion of "in loco parcrais" apply inthe further education colleges? What was the position ofpupils not yet having reached school leaving age attendingthe college for link courses? Closely related to this aspect isthat of pastoral care. A number of groups gave considera-tion to this issue. Some urged the alleged lack of it in furthereducation as a major factor in favour of keeping academicsubjects in school so that pupils would receive full attentionto all aspects of their development. Others took the positionthat for pupils of the age group under consideration theschool system of pastoral care Was oppressive and a verysound reason for making alternative provision In collegefor thok who felt this way about school.

24

Steps rinser s. a Soiution

A eontrirehensise resiew of the existing situation to identifyareas of overlap sac suggested as the first step towards asolution. Embracing staff, aceontmodation, equipment andcourses this would provide much ni,vded es Merits: of theprecise nature and extent of the problem. Differences installing ratios, qualifications, salary s:ales and conditions ofsource had kept the two sectors apart in any reviesss ofstalling needs, A joint schools and further educationsurvey, in terms of the young people to be served, waspriority in the eyes of one group.

Mr Fairlies solution, a rejection of the s,hole idea of jointuse of resources on the ground that both types of institutioncould and should be so organised as to make efficient use oftheir own separate resources, found little support in thediscussion groups. Most considering the problem as itappeared south of the border, recognised joint use as an aimboth necessary economically and desirable educationally.Surprisingly little consideration scents to have been givento the Scottish distinction alluded to by Mr Fairlie betweenprovision of resources and provision of alternative routesfor people. None of the reports made reference to the practiceadopted in Scotland where the student is not normallyadmitted to a further education college to undertake acourse provided in day school unless he is over 18 years.This eliminates the duplication of provision for the samegroup of young peon e, and leaves only the question ofshat different contribution each institution eats make totheir education and how best equipment and other resourcescan be shared to achieve this end.

Members did, however, discuss a number of possible waysof reducing the inefficiency of the present situation. Thosewho concentrated on a subject or course based approachwanted first of all a great deal more research into time-tabling and the cost of offering specific subjects and varyingcombinations of subjects in both schools and colleges, Atthis point discussion tended to refer back to points made inthe previous session on Mr McGarrity's paper, it beingargued that centralisation or limited allocation of certainsubjects andfor combinations of subjects should be effectedamong a given group of institutions within reasonable com-muting distance, Such costs involve accommodation andequipment as well as staff, and there is also the educationalcost of inflexibility, and restriction of opportunity for theindividual in a completely autonomous institution approach.

Among those who favoured a broadly parallel provisionin school and college there was propounded the suggestionthat OsMiapping and duplication should be permitted inpopular subjects of mass appeal, but that minority subjects,particularly those demanding specialised staff, equipment

:yid accommodation should be allocated to either school orcollege in a given area. Just how this could be done raisedinteresting administrative questions as to who would decidethe allocation of courses and the associated resources andwhere appropriate advice to pupils regarding their choicecould be provided free of the pressures of the competinginstitutions. Joint academic hoards for each area collegeand its associated schools seemed to one group to offer apossible solution. Such an arrangement might facilitatedecisions between the competing claims of school and collegefor the right to run any particular course, but increasedrivalry to recruit young people to the various courses mightwell result, No suggestions were reported on how the jointacademic boards might deal with this.

Two other solutions were proposed, each taking anopposite slew of sharing resources between school andcollege. One, related to Mr rairlies argument, was that anyattempt to have school share with further education beabandoned, and attention be directed simply to improvingthe efficiency of the school system by c rasing andrationalising the sixth form among the sc.toots either bylimiting certain minority subjects to particular schools or bycreating specialist sixth form colleges to provide for all sixth.formers, (in Scotland these would have to include fifthformers as weft unless the examination system were changed.)The latter, if independent, satisfied neither schools norcolleges, being seen as a threat to both and if, as in theExeter authority, sited in the further education colleges,seemed to the schools nothing short of a total tragedy.Much more radical integration of school and college wasenvisaged by other members. Not content with ensuringsome joint use of resources, they argued for siting schooland college together on the same campus. Limitation oftime prevented the elaboration of this argument and it wasnot made clear whether there would be one school or severalassociated with each college. if the latter, something like anAmerican multi-institutional campus would be required withall its attendant problems of sin and consequent dangers ofisolation from the community.

In the nature of the conference, discussion groups couldnot be expected to arrive at considered conclusions, Posingimportant questions for further consideration, putting pointsof immediate reaction to issues raised either by the mainspeakers or fellow members of the discUssion groups, andstimulating and even provoking one another to continuedcritical appraisal were the order of the day. In concentratingon practical aspects of the central problem of the balancebetween autonomous institutional and education authorityplanning and finance on the one hand and the corporateapproach on the other, perhaps the discussions provided anappropriate exercise on the threshold of regionalisation.

Resources for Education andtheir ManagementG. T Foxier

1, If T were to attempt in this paper to consider everyproblem in resource planning and control in British educa-tion, it would requite a volume to itself. I shall thereforebeg many questions, and leave others unanswered. Many ofthem can be answered only by the exercise of--in a broadsense of the wordpolitical choice. implicit in much ofwhat follows is that endemic problem of educational admini-stration, the reconciliation of not obviously compatible aims.Efficient resource management is an aim to which manywould now assent, Yet we seek to achieve it within a systemsaid to be governed on the principle of "partnership"between central and local agencies and the organised teach-ing profession, and any action seen as disturbing the balancein that partnership occasions dissent if no more: it is notobvious that tripartite corporate partnership is the easiestway to achieve the most efficient use of resources, unless allthe partners are assumed always to agree. Other widelyaccepted concepts could he held to strike at the root oflocal and institutional autonomyfor example, equality ofeducational opportunity, defined either as equality of resourceinput to the education of all children (at least up to a speci-fied age), or as equality of output measured by the averageachievement of social and ethnic groups, with inequality ofinputthe concept of "positive discrimination". Advocacyof lk icier participation in the government of educationquo. Ily narrows the freedom accorded at least to localauthorities, as well as posing new problems in resourcemanagement. Parents should be added to the list of"partners", we arc told -- whether formally in the manage-ment of schools, or less formally through the signature ofpetitions. Alternatively, the local "community", howeverdefined, must be allowed to participate in school manage-ment. "Management" without some control of resources,or control of some resources, is vacuous. Such aims, ifrealised in policy, would thus add to the difficulty of secur-ing the most efficient use of resources. At the same time,their statement poses starkly the problem of who is tojudge what is efficient, and by what criteria.

2. At national level, there is now a well-developed systemfor planning and control of public expenditure. AnnualPublic Expenditure Surveys project for 5 years the total andthe distribution of public spending, including that by localauthorities. In theory, the system might result in an alloca-tion of resources to the education service designed to enableit to achieve nationally agreed objectives. In Practice, thereseems no doubt that the systeM remains input oriented, witha strong clement of bargaining between departments fortheir "fair" share.1 Some Secretaries of State for Educationwill still sec it as their task to "champion" the educationservice, securing for it the maximum possible resourceallocation, while others will take the view that collectiveCabinet responsibility for overall economic managementmust take primacy)

3. The P.A.R. Programme Analysis and Reviewsystemought to build into the control of public expenditure anoutput orientation, since it is concerned with reviewing pro-gramme objectives and establishing the most cost-effectivemeans of achieving them. Yet, whatever its other strengthsand weaknesses, there is no evidence` to suggest that ineducation at least it has yet resulted to a fundamentalexamination of social and political objectives, and of

25

whether they are most readily achieved within educationprogrammes or by investment in a wider, if co-ordinated,set of social programmes.: Departmental harriers remainstrong. Thus, if the objective, or one objective, of the newnursery programme is to reduce the educational effects of"disadvantage", it makes sense to ask whether that objectivemight not be better achieved aver a defined time-span (whichmay be long) by investment of th same resources in hous-ing, social welfare and health programmes. {Perhapsemployment and pay policies come into the picture too).That is, might it be that not only can the education servicenot solve social problems originating outside education_.aproposition now commonly acceptedbut problems seen aseducational can best be solved by action and expenditureoutside the education system? There is no answer to thisquestion, but there is no evidence that it has been consideredinside government, in the context of resource allocation.Nor does Scotland seem ahead of England here, despite theadvantage that the organisation of St Andrew's houseunder a single Secretary of State ought to confer, The inputbias of the Public Expenditure Survey and of the prepara-tion of data for it seems to be too powcrfel.

4, The Public Expenditure Survey can itself be interpretedits importing into the forward planning of expendituregreater precision and rationality than is the case. Examinethe table on next page, which records the rate of growthprojected for local authority expenditure on educationin two successive public expenditure White Papers4remembering that no great weight should be placed on thefigures for the last 2 years in each projection, which merelyshow the effect of continuing accepted policies.

There is a considerable variation in the rates of growthshown in the two White Papers, especially on capital expendi-ture. Two possible explanations would be that the govern-ment had decided in the course of the year to devote a higherproportion of public expenditure to education, or that itwished to devote a higher proportion of national resourcesto public expenditure as a whole, with education getting itsfair share. In fact, the principal change was that its pro-jections of national economic growth showed the economygrowing faster than had been anticipated the year before, sothat leaving the other two variables almost unchanged, itcould still plan to allocate more resources to education. Yetapart from the proposals for nursery education and for in-service education of teachers,5 neither of which could affectspending significantly in at least the first 2 years, wherethere is the greatest rise in current expenditure, no newpolicies were announced. for the later years, these changesshould in any event be offset at least in part by the effect ofthe continued decline in the birth-rate between 1971 and1972 (the birth-rate is one factor determining the need for"roofs over heads" school building), and the lower rate ofgrowth projected for higher education. In short, the varia-tion in projected resource allocation to education appearsto have little to do with education objectives or policies, oreven with policies for controlling the proportion of G.N.P.taken by public expenditure as a whole, and much more todo with the expected rise in G.N.P.--a factor dubiouslywithin the control of any government, and certainly com-pletely outside the remit of the education "sub-government".6

26

TAM 1., 1

1'4-01000d 111,311) at. 1o) heat aut11,11134 expenditure on eduiation andlibraries 1972,3 io 1976 7, ('semi). 4529(No)cml)er 1970 and

comd. 5175 tli)ecioilbci 19721 at constant prlo;

' ea;

I 1972 )

2. (973 4

3, 1974 5

4, 1975.6

5. 1976 7

6, O wall growth,y ears 1.4

7. Compound annualtale of growth,years 1 4

8, (3seraliC-4111 6,5

9, Compound annualrate of growth,years 2-5

Projected gio,tih vslth.:atwit 41411,brart espentltLirc by 4kithont:es

ta) Cu+ rail cspsitthturc tht Capilat etpent/thoc

Could 4429 Coi rid 5178 (111g1.4. (424 ( omit, 5114

3 . 4 3 2 4 4 7

) 9 .I I 6 4 A a

3 4 34 77 3 I

4 I 46 44 (1

N A 14 N:1 l 2

166 149 94 4 4

39 4 1 45 It

18 ) 7.7

N A 1 9

NOTES(i) Line i 097211: For Cmosl, 4829 the hate Nurt used for calculating growth

is the expected espenditure outturn for 1971,2, while lot (mid. 5178 it isthe a.taal outturn for that year.

Iii) tine 21.1973;41i the "moratorium" on public building announced in-Ostobcr 1973 must atTect the achievement of the capital eypendourc targetfor this year. and may affect subsequent years loo.

(iii) Line 5 (1976..7): there arc no projections in Crum). 4829 for that yeartiy) Line 6: the base figure is again that for expenditure in 1971.2.(s) Line 8: the base figure is that for expenditure in 1172J.(sit Lines tl and 9: the annual variation in rolling projections of education

espenditure for the next 4 years (rot the same 4 years) is resealed it thesepercentages, basest on Cmnd. 5178, are csimpaed with those bated onC'mnd, 4829 on lines 6 and 7.

5. This is of course a phenomenon which is familiar to allv,hen cuts are imposed on education expenditure in consequence of national economic difficulties, as in 1968-9. Toserve to remind us that the Public Expenditure Surveyfigures are a doubtful planning base came the moratoriumon new building projects imposed in October this year, inthe middle of the first financial year after the public expendi-ture and education White Papers of December 1972. Uni-versity building is normally financed from capital, but localeducation authority building is mostly financed from revenue,through loans. Bence a moratorium on new building oughtin theory to reduce current expenditure in subsequent years,at least until the building programme catches up with itself,if ever it does. The moratorium was however imposedbecause of alleged "over-heating" in the constructionindustry, not because of general economic difficulties, If thegovernment's estimate of likely economic growth, and itspolicies for the proportion of G.N.P. to be taken by publicexpenditure and the share of that expenditure allotted toeducation, were the same in this year's Public ExpenditureSurrey as in the last, the moratorium on new building oughtto result in the release of extra resources for other educa-tional purposes, in the next financial year at least. (I hastento add that this is a statement of theory, not a prediction.)Yet this change would flow not from a reconsideration ofeducation policy, but from the problems of the constructionindustry. Resource switches of this kind are doubtlessinevitable, but they make a poor planning base.

6. Resource questions can thus distort educationalpriorities. A more serious example of the same phenomenonwas the consequence of the 1968 cuts, which, apart fromthe deferment of the raising of school-leaving age, bore

most hardly on further education. This was not the resultof considered educational judgment, but of the 'war Int-possibility of securing a significant shorttemt reduction inexpenditure, or even growth of expenditure, on the com-pulsory age-groups. Dame Kathleen 011erenshaw hascalculated" that in 1963 only I er% of expenditure on theseage-groups was devoted to improvements other than reduc-tion in the teacherpupil ratio (about 4 The rest went topupils in or about to enter school, and preparation for anincreased school population and for the changing distribu-tion of population. Demographic factors-- essentially, thebirth-rate and population movement --NM: 01' course beencrucial determinants of the distribution of education expendi-ture. (The present estimate is that the peak population ofprimary and secondary schools will be reached in 1976, witha decline thereafter to the mid-1980s). The range of realisticpolitica) choice was thus sharply narrowed, Choice of courseremained, as is demonstrated by expenditure on reductionin the teacher-pupil ratio in 1969.

7, The most expensive policy commitments of recent yearssshieh lay within the effective control of politicians andadministrators have been to the constant improvement ofstalling ratios in schools, and to the satisfaction of "socialdemand" (the Robbins phrase) or "private demand" forhigher education. The former has affected expenditure onthe schools, but both have affected expenditure on higher-education. It could be argued that the commitment to adistribution of places within higher education which favouredapplicants for science and technology has also proved veryexpensive, but it is difficult to diSentangle the cost of thispolicy from the overall costs of universities and polytechnics.The following table shows the increase or decrease in theshare of total education expenditure taken by selectedsectors of education in a period spanning the lifetime ofthree Parliaments and two governments.

TABLE: 2

Proportion of total education espenditure at current pricey bypublic authorities (England and Wales) on selected items.

1939;60 and 1970,11

Category

I. Primary schools:current and capital espend

2. Secondary schools:current and capital expenditure

1459,60 1970,11 'proportion

tare , 29 255 I -3.5

33.6 28.2 ! 5.4

3. Further and adult Education:studerm' tuition fees, other current andcapital expenditure I0 12.6 I 2.6

4, Training of teachers:current and capital espenditure ontuition and residence. 2 3.5 + 1.5

5. Universities:. grants from public authorities to

students for tuition fees and touniversities for current andcapital espenditure

6. Maintenance grants to students on' courses in categories 3-5, plus ,escrow

try teachers on secondment forinsersice training

1. 3-6 together

7.3

2.7

1t -6 t 4.3

4.3 y 1'6

22 32 1-10

NO/EPercentages are calculated from figures for expenditure given in Statistics of

Education 1971, Vol. 5, Finance and Awards, 1E M.S.O , 1972, Table 2,

Even when part of the cost of teacher education is attri-buted to the school rather than to the higher educationsector, it is clear that resources were redistributed from theformer to the latter. Even after 1967, when both the largest

political parties committed themselves to a policy of "positivediscrimination" in favour of the disadvantaged, there hasbeen a shift of resources towards higher education whichof course contains a high proportion of the non-disadvato aged(a more anodyne word than "advantagcti").8 To protestagainst a slower rate of growth in higher education exesendiLure- which is not ileC0831ily the same as the rate 01' increasein numbers of students admitted- therefore comes ill frontthose who advocate discrimination in favour of the demised,unless they also argue for a substantial shift of resourcesaway from other activities, public or private, and intoeducation.

S. These are examples of national resource managementwhich either run counter to professed social and educationalp. inciples, or have not been justified in terms of them. -Mereis a recent and interesting instance; of what must either be afailure in government to decide which of two opposededucational principles is paramount, or of concealed deter-mination of an educational issue on resource grounds. TheEnglish education White Paper of last Decendxog says that"Government believe it would be right" for -moo" extranursery provision to be made in the form of classes attachedto primary schools, "biricarionidie this has the ,tdvantageof avoiding a change of school at live," The Scottish Whitel'aperw assumes a halfand half division between suchclasses and separate nursery schools in the early years ofthe programme, and argues that "it is undesirable to attachclasses to large primary schools since young children cannoteasily cope with very large numbers of fellow pupils." "Thetiosernment" there concedes th,o it will bear its share ofthe additional cost of providing places in nursery schoolsrather than in nursery classes, while in England "no allowimix;" is made for this. The economic argument is clear, andtwo valid educational principles are opposed. in choosingbetween them as a basis for resource allocation "the Govern-ment- shows clear signs of schizophrenia. Alter.ratively,SEA). has done better than D,E.S. in bargaining for extraresources within government, or finally, there are concealedarguments about the optimum educational use of existing,physical resources in Scotland and in England. On theevidence presented, it is hard to escape the conclusion thatthere is an element of the irrational in government'smanagement of the at atailaoie resources.

9. There is a further problem in both White Papers inrespect of nursery education. Despite the statement in theEnglish White Paper that "a clear perception of objectives"is necessary,' I neither provides it. Both speak of the com-pensatory function of nursery schooling, but both alsosuggest that demand can arise from other groups than thedisadvantaged. The ditileolty is that if the programme isintended to be solely or primarily compensatory, it implies"Positive discrimination" in the use of resources. whereas ifit has multiple objectives it does not. The White Papersgive no clear guidelines.12

W. My purpose in seeking to show that despite P.A.R.and the Public Expenditure Survey system resource planningfor education in central government remains imprecise andnot fully rational is to stiggest a question: what would bethe consequences if it ceased to manifest these features, orwas believed by the participants in the planning process nolonger to manifest them? One consequence might conceivablybe that the education service received not a larger but asmaller resource allocation, if it could be shown that certaineducational objectives might in the long term be betterachieved through heavier and better planned investment inother services. More certainly, ministers and for that mattersenior officials would come to feel increasingly constrainedin their chOice of oolicies: the field of rational choice Wouldappear to narrow. They would thus be less sensitive thannow to the arguments and pressures of outside bodies, includ-ing the organised teaching profession. A sense of certaintyin central government of what should be achieved and howit could be achieved (however delusory) would also lead to

27

increased direction or dictation to local authorities as to theuse they made of the financial resources provided to them.Significantly, little discretion is left to authorities or collegesin the total number of students they may accept for coursesof teacher education, or in determining the balance of train-ing -a field where central government has, whatever fore-casting errors it may have made, fell certain of its numericalrectitude. More precise and "rational" longterm resourceplanning in central government would then probably resultin a diminution of the autonomy and the influence of theother "partners" in the government of education.

11. Finance flows front central to local governmentprimarily through the Rate Support Grant. I mention it onlybecause it is negotiated for fixed 2-year periods (with someallowance for inflation in the "off" year), aiht alert: is noindication of its likely level thereafter. This cannot besquared with the 5year rolling programme of the PublicExpenditure Survey. at the least preliminary decisions aboutthe third year of R,S.G., on a tolling bask, would berequired. The school building programme. rolling forwardover 3 years, comes nearer to the P,E,S.C. model. Theannual notification from D.o.E, of the permitted level ofexpenditure on "locally determined schemes" is furthestfrom it. Recently central government has taken to advisinglocal authorities, again on an annual basis, of the limitswithin which they should seek to restrain increases inexpenditure.

12. The Education and Arts Sub-Committee of theCommons Expenditure Committee last year doubted thewisdom of using so many different financing and planningperiods in the developnieru of specilicalty higher edaeation.13iThe picture of university planning differs, but is scarcelymore compatible with the Public Expenditure Survey, sincehoe 5-year lived periods are used for recurrent and equip-ment grants, and shorter periods for the building programme.)Their argument can be generalised to cover all educationexpenditure, It is of course possible to exaggerate the degreeto which these systems are out of phase with one another;thus, it was not accidental that the 1972 education WhitePapers, which embodied the university quinquennial settle-ment, and behind which doubtless lay detailed calculationsof local authority education expenditure for a 5-year period.appeared at the same time as the annual public expenditureWhite Paper. Nevertheless, the detailed figures for localauthority expenditure were not revealed: to have declaredthem would have been to give a hostage to fortune. Thecontrol of local authority spending remains one of the moresensitive mechanisms for short-term national economicmanagement, within of course narrow parameters. Hence itis advantageous to central government if in this area financialplanning continues to manifest elements both of imprecisionand of hypocrisy, or concealment.

13, While local authorities themselves used the traditionalone-year financial planning system, these disparities perhapsmattered little. Now however there is a powerful swing notonly to corporate management, but to longer-term resourceand policy planning within the cOrporate structure, Sonic57% of local authority revenue is derived front governmentgrant. It therefore makes everdecreasing management sensethat the expenditure for which that revenue is used shouldbe planned on a 5year rolling basis in both central andlocal government, but that the link between the two levelsshould consist for revenue of biennial negotiations forafixed forward period, and for expendittire of annual notifica-tions and advice; supplemented by a 3-year rolling buildingprogramme. The annual adjustment of R.S.G. to lake accountof poeled expenditure; so that no authority knows for Certainuntil lzac in the day to what expenditure other authoritieshave committed it, is equally hard to accommodate within5 -yea' planning, Local authorities accept in any event thatthere must always be short -term adjustments to permittedexpenditure to take account of a changing rational economicsituation It might therefore seem desirable to encourage

28

their own long-term resource planning by giving themclearer indications of both forward revenue support and ofpermitted expenditure, always of course within the frame-work of policy commitments already announced or adopted.

14. The introduction of corporate management to a widerrange of authorities raises other problems of educationresource management, to which I shall do no more thanallude. Education expenditurewhether n be on buildings,teachers, equipment or anything else is, in the schoolsector at least, largely determined by demographic change.Authorities can neither individually nor collectively controlthe birth-rate. They can however exercise considerable con-trol over the movtment of population, and it is populationshift which in part determines when and where a new school,or an extension to an elisting senool, must be built, staffed,equipped and operated, At the salve time, some educationspending is on social welfare objectives; a corporate manage-ment system ought to ensure that such expenditure is co-ordinated with that borne by social service departments,and that there is neither duplication nor neglect of desirableactivities. Yet the structure of local government for Englandwhich will operate from April 1974 outside London, per-petuates the division of planning, housing, social servicesand education between two types of authority. That allauthorities are now to be deemed "equal" i.c, county arenot superior to district authoritiesmay make problems ofco-ordination yet more difficult of solution. The split is notthe same in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, noryet in Wales and post -1975 Scotland, but there is the sameneed for co-ordinated planning. Only the strongest continu-ing and formal links at both official and elected memberlevels are likely to achieve it

15. The use of corporate management and long -ter aplanning systems in local authorities could replicate theeffect of their use in central government. They diminish theperceived short-term freedom of choice of those applyingthem, discouraging the entrepreneurial councillor or for thatmatter official. In one authority, where this approach hasbeen used, an official from another department suggestedthat at least he could spot the weak points in the pi oposedbudget for education and knew where to propose reductions.A long-serving councillor in the same authority confessedthat white on the old system he knew exactly which leversto pull, and at what moment, to achieve it personal policyaim, he stilt had not discovered how to "operate" withinthe new system. When control of an authority changes hands,the newly elected majority must lied that despite theirpromises to the electorate their freedom of manoeuvrewithin a three- or four-year term is very narrow, unless thereis massive disruption of carefully co-ordinated programmes.Doubtless this was always true: what is new is the clarity,perhaps even the misleading clarity, of its perception whichcorporate forward planning brings.

16. The danger is that such perceptions will make bothofficials and elected members less sensitive to changinginstitutional, community and personal needs and demands.Better two-way communication with the public will not beeffectivo unless it is seen to affect policy. Forward planningfor the, onaimum educational use of existing and new schoolbuildings may aced to rigid zoning and pupil-allocationschemeS (no names, no packdrilli). If an education authority'sobjectives are specified in detail at an operational levet, theperceived freedom of headteachers to set their own institutional objectives may be narrowed, and subsequent discussionwith them of their own role in achieving the Corporate planmay not alter this view. Above all, became the authoritymust plan the Overall resource allocation for its Schools andcolleges, it may set staffing and equipment norms for all"similar" institutions which it maintains. Just as centralgovernment now tries to plan teacher supply on the basis oftarget overall staff: student ratios,l4 so local educationauthorities control the allocation of staff to their schoolsand may set overall norms for each sector. Indeed, since

teaching stall' still account for some two-thirds of the runningexpenses of maintained schools, and all stall for some three-quarters, the permitted teacher:pupil ratios is one of themost sensitive instruments to use for short- and mediumterm control of expenditure. Other authorities scent to usethe capitation allowance: an examination of any year'sEducation Statistics from the I.M.T.A. leaves the impressionthat reading and writing standards are not universally highpartly because sonic authorities provide few books to readand others little upon which to write. One North of Englandcounty borough spent so little under the head of "stationery"in 1971)72 that I suspect its schools must still use slates --which presumably appear as "educational equipment".

17. Eric Briault has argued cogenttyl., that a wide varietyof combinations of teaching staff, technical and ancillarystaff, and equipment is educationally permissible, that theneeds of schools differ and that the most appropriate "mix"of these elements may best be judged at school level ,Nithwhatever expert guidance may be necessary), and that it isessential that all the elements in the package be planned asa single entity in order to secure maximum educational valuefront their use. This inevitably entails the devolution of someresponsibility for resource management, within overallfinancial limits, to schools and colleges. It thus tits neatlywith rofirical demands for greater institutional autonomy,and for increased teacher, parent and community participa-tion in management. The, principal weakness in the Governors/Managers system has always been that they do not controlany key resources, and thus have no "government" or"management" function. At the same time, the demands ofsound management practice reveal the way out of thedilemma which I have suggested their satisfaction at govern-ment and local authority level creates, If the successful useof corporate resource planning techniques there has perhapsunacceptable political consequences, that is merely anindication that change in the method of planning and con-trol has side-effects which can only be obviated by changein the structures of management.

18. I would enter three coveohs. Firstly, local authoritiescould not content themselves merely with fixing overallfinancial limits for institutional expenditure. Resources ofthe same monetary cost are not necessarily interchangeable.Put simply, you cannot employ in total more teachers thanthere are available in total. Devolution of resource manage-ment to institutional level thus demands bargaining, andinvolvement of institutional representatives in corporateplanning at authority level. If the authority merely adjudi-cates between bids, the process will be neither manageriallynor "democratically" satisfactory. This might lead to thesame consequence as the system by which central govern-ment divides the school building programme betweenauthorities: some authorities still bid for a quite unrealisticallocation, effectively leaving free choice, and hence un-trammelled power, to the Territorial Principal of theDepartment (or in Scotland, to S.E.DnOs

19. The second careen is that the resources of schoolsserving the same community can with advantage be plannedand managed as an entity. There is thus a casenot thetraditional caseafor "groupine schools, primary andsecondary togetheror first, middle and upper schools, andperhaps even the F.E. college.

20. Thirdly, power implies respoosibility, and responsi-bility can be exercised effectively only with knowledge.Manzer s judgment of the Natioital Union of Teachers isapposite.17 The failure to comprehend the realities of politicsin its policy deliberatiOns is partly the result of a proceduralgap in the internal government of the Union...: There isno effective downward communication of the frameworkwithin which demands must be put and of the resourcesavailable for distribution to education.... The policydemands made by teachers, have been derived fromlong-standing ideals and goals and have refused to admit

the implications of the relative shift from educational theoryto economic considerations as it basis for national policydetermination," Whether this be the right judgment of theN.U.T. or not, the lesson for effective resource managementin schools is clear, There must he effective communication(Anil:Ivan/A from the authority of the framework withinwhich decisions must be Liken, and of the factors whichwill determine the most effective use of limited resources.

2 1 . I t is in schools and colleges that the work of the 1).1'.S.on what have become known as the -Delany norms" is mostusefully applicable. 'They have been used by the PoolingCommittee to suggest target stall': student ratios for allestablishments of further education, and its recommenda-tions have in turn been used by a few authorities to imposestalling cuts On particul;tr co,, 11eges. llere sse have the perfectexample of the effect of central resource planning techniquesupon first the local authorities, and then through them uponthe institutions, where managerial choice scents to declineto vanishing point. Yet Ddany's work is invtluable. if it is

applied within institutions exercising some freedom ofresource management inside predetermined financial limits.The more widely understood are the factors affecting stall'utilisation, the mote likely is it that professed educationalobjeclises vs ill be achieved. The most striking example ofunconscious resource management with unforeseen con-sequences is undoubtedly the use of teachers for smallgroups of sisih-formers studying, a wide and diverse rangeof disciplines. It may be argued that this is desirable oneducational grounds although it is hard to see how tojustify an overall sixth-form teacher:pupil ratio lower inmans authorities than the target ratio for universities- butat least the of of this arrangement on the achievement ofother educational )l-ljectives should be understood byteachers (and by parents) so that ahem:disc uses of resources,and the use of alternative resources may be rationallyconsidered.

22. Let me conclude on a provocative note. Wider anddeeper understanding of the factors affecting choice inresource utilisation may have repercussions throughout thegovernment of education. Firstly, it may become apparentthat constantly to urge continued improvement in teacher:pupil ratiost8 is but one choice among alternatives morethan one of which may be as effective educationally. It mayalso be understood that to seek this, plus improvement inthe real value of teaching salaries, is to limit the numberand scale of other improvements in Ihe educational systemwhich may rationally be soughtunless the aim is to re-allocate resources from other activities to education. If thatis the aim, it becomes ever more necessary, as both centraland local government adopt a corporate managementapproach and long.term resource planning, to say frontwhere, on what grounds, and how the reallocation shall bemade, and what its consequences for other services may be,

23. Secondly, it may also be better understood that theorganisation and content of education and the resources(both in volume and type) which it consumes, are inextricablyinterlinked. There is tittle point in denying to those fromwhops one dernandS new structures and increased resourcesany interest in the: use to which they are Out, That ministersand officials have no interest in the curriculum, in What istaught and leitrnt,hAti ;0..tyi been a myth. A hidden interest,perhaps eXpreSsed through resource allocation (for example,to the polytechnics tather than to the universities) seems tome more objectionable than overt, if co-operative, involve-ment.

24. Finally, the relationship between resource consumptionand institutional autonomy may become clearer, in post-secondary education there can be little juStification for thecontinued replication of the ,,ante or similar teaching materialin a large number of instiadaors, at high cost. to the schools,Some learning resources are most effectively used if shared,whether between schools or more widely within the local

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community, or throughout an authority's area. if efficientresource management demands a reconsideration of thetelationship of central government, local government andinstitutions, it also requires schools and colleges to questionthe absolute value some have accorded to institutionalautonomy and to some forms of teacher freedom, Ossifica-tion of attitudes is the enemy not only of effective resourcemanagement, but also of education.

1, See .1. Garrett, Ihe I anaccenent if (/over/anent , Penguin,1972, cap. 5.M, Kogan, Thc Politic+ or Education, Penguin, 1971, resiewedby Gordon Walker, the times 1.10.71.A possible conclusion from the American evidence: see esp.S. Houle+, Hunan, Edincrtionof Res ICIV, Winter 1968,

4. Clund. 4iI29 and 5178, 11.51.5.0. 1971 and 1972.5. Announced in tire education White Papers, ('mad. 5174 and

5175 (11.SI.S.0.), simultaneously sit:1 the December 1972public expenditure White Paper.

6. CI R. I). Coates, feacheo' mut Interest GroupCambridge University Press, 1972, cap. 7, on the reasons forthe lack of impact of the council for Veliica tional Adsaneein the 1.16.: IL/Ws. For the concept of the education "sub-gs ernme »1" sec R. A, Monier, Teachers and Politics,Manchester t!nisersity Press, 1970, cap. I.

7. "Financing Education Digest", Education 22 Jun,! 1973,Supplement p. sii.

s, For the long-term trend, see .1. Vaitey and J. Sheehan,Resources for Educat ion, tillS in University Books, 1968,cap. 8,

9, ('nand, 5174, [lams. 2 26.10. ("mad. 5175, tiaras. 39 41.11. ('mad. 5174, para. 18.12. D.ES. Circular 2 73, although primarily conceired ssith

building programmes, seems to establish the same broadcriteria of multiple deprisation as have been used in theUrban Programme which imply discrimination.

13. Report of the Expenditure Committee, Further and higherEducation, 14.0.('. 48 I, 1972 -73 Session,

14, the 1972 English Education White Paper tCnrnd. 5174) lotthe first time established target sullying, norms for the ss holeof higher education, including the universities as well as forthe schools.

15. "Resources for Learning", address to the 1973 North ofEngland Education Conference, reprinted in EducationalAilin t rat ion Millet in, Vol. 2, No. I.

16. Sec .11, (1.9r6i611,itcha.pC12.rral Deport ment and Local A nthoritics,

17. op. cit. n. 6, p. 149.IS. 'the educational elTeet of smaller classes is on the research

evidence open to some doubt in any event.

Response: D. P. J. Browning

I am sure we all regret Professor Fowler's illness becausehis Paper is very closely argued, it's not light reading, and1 think we should have been able to give it much more careand attention if we had had it more in advance, and 1 thinksee should all have welcomed the opportunity of a detaileddiscussion of this paper with him. However, the situationwhich we are confronted with today is that some of us onlyreceived the Paper this morning. Therefore, to aid yourinstant digestion of this heavy material, and 1 am going toattempt to indicate briefly the essential argument of thepaper; and then to help your critical consideration of theargument, I am going tont Ike it less comments, with MrDavies follosving, to help the discussion begin.

Now Professor Fowler, in consideling the problem of theManitgement of Resources in British education, has startedoff by pointing out the partnership which exists in runningthe system, the partnership between central government,local government and the organised teaching profession, liealso calls attention to the encouragement now being givento increased participation in running the system by parentsand local communities.

Well, with this starting point he then goes on to describethe system of central planning and control of public expendi-ture on education exercised by central government. liedescribes, first of all, the annual expenditure surveys, whichare published each year in the autumn. These surveys

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anticipate the likely expenditure on the education servicein the financial year ahead, but also this expenditure is projeeted forward for five years on the bask of the policytrends which are at this point of time visible, Ileside this,he also describes P.A.R. as it is called Programme Analysisand Rex less, This is the mans by which central governmentreviews projections and objectives, and how progress towardsthem is being mule. Well, having done all this, ProfessorFowler spends considerable time in examining the inadequacies of this system. The first point he makes is thatwhilst the public expenditure surveys are undertaken annually,the fiveyear forecasts change from year to year and he pro-duces a table showing the changes which have appeared inrecent White Papers without any explanation at all. Thepolicies indicated in the surveys - the projects which centralgovernment have in mindare carried out by local atithorities With financial assistance provided through the ratesupport grant. The rate support grant is calculated everytwo years, but is adjusted in the light of changes and aftermuch arguing and intighting every year. The importantthing to realise is that the rate support grant is in no sensean earmarked grant. It is a general grant given to localauthorities to dispose of as they think best and so in thisprocess there is no guarantee that a focal authority receivingits rate support grant will in fact carry out the policieswhich the central government has laid down.

So this is the situation: you have the annual publicexpenditure surveys with five.year projections, the ratesupport grant worked out every two years. but updatedannually, and in addition you have continuous school andcollege building programmes, which are rolling programmes,operating on a three-year basis. Then for expenditure onfurnitute and equipment and youth service projects ("locallydetermined schemes" as they are known in the business),the total sums available to local authot hies are determinedby the Department of the Environment on a yearly basis,Well, here you see the difficulty of integrating in a coherentway all these different operations. Professor Fowler makesa very telling point: to make this situation worse, you havecentral government frequently using local governmentexpenditure as an economic regulator.

Professor Fowler's conclusion is that resource planningby central government is imprecise and, this is his term.not fully rational"; and he shows how in a large organisa-

tion like local government, it is in fact very dillicuit toachieve an integrated and systematic approach to publicexpenditure. (He makes a rather amusing but significantpoint about the recent White Paper on future educationalexpansion. You know that considerable amount of spacewas devoted to nursery education. Well, Professor Fowlerhas compared the Engiish vet sion of the White Paper withthe Scottish version of the White Paper. /le finds in theEnglish version that advice is given that nursery units shouldbe attached to existing primary schools, because for thechildren there would be no change of school involved,However, in the Scottish version the advice is directlyopposite: young children are seen as not being able to copewith too many older children and so the advice is separatenursery establishments for them.)

Well, giver, the conclusion that resource planning by localgovernment is imprecise and not fully rational, ProfessorFowler asks the basic question: "Is it desirable that thissituation should be realised?" in providing art answer tothis question, he hesitates considerably and finally decidesNo, for three reasons, Ile considers that if there were greatercertainty by central government in its planning of resources,this would be likely to lead to a diminution of autonomyand influence by local government and the teaching pro-fession. He also thinks that if there were a greater certainty,there might be less sensitivity locally to changing needs anddemands; and with greater certainty, he assumes firmercontrol. This would mean a narrowing of opportunity fordecision by heads and colleagues in individual institutions.

Well, at that point I stop speaking for Professor Fowler,

:Ind myself join in, because my answer to this question: "Isit desirable that this situation should be realised'?" is corn-pletely different, In my view, the present situation is deplor-able. Just look at the expectations which the recent WhitePaper has raised about nursery education, stalling standards,in service training and the development of higher education;and there is hardly anything at all in the White Paper onhow all this is to be paid for.

Contrast this with the situation this autumn which eonfronts us who are working with local authorities, as we haveto prepare our estimates for I974-75, First of all, inflationis running at about 9%. Then next April for those authoritiesin England and Wales who are faced with reorganisation oflocal government, this is going to be a tremendous addi-tional expense in staff, in new buildings, in compensationfor loss of office, for very generous retirement arrangementsto encourage those over 50 to go. There is all this, and ithas never been costcd. In addition, certain local authoritieswill be combining and there will be all the expenditure onharmonisation of policies and practices. Reorganisation willinvolve substantial additional expenditure next year butthen, as Dr. Greer indicated this morning, discussions arenow going on about rate support grant for the next financialyear. He indicated that a plus of 7% is necessary for educa-tional needs next year; yet the present state of negotiationsindicates the Government is likely to make only a plus ofunder 5% available.

You can see front this example the major difficulties whichare likely to face thl education service from 1st April nextyear. Inevitably, there will be screams about this becausethe rates won't be able to take at one go all the implicationsof the present situation, and then the screams will go upabout the inadequacies of local authorities, But behind it isa situation which is mostly of central government's making,with local authorities having the job o; making the best ofthe difficulties. Front this one example, I say that the presentimprecision and illogicality in central government arrange-ments are no longer adequate. Furthermore, there is a strongmove now in local government, encouraged by reorganisa-tion, towards corporate management and this means a morerational and systematic approach towards the managementresources. A common objective is that each authority shouldwork out its broad strategy over a five year period, and thenhaving got it clear, to de-centralise decisions as much aspossible to the institutions involved. At the same time thereis an attempt to ensure that flexibility remains within thisframework to permit adjustments for changed circumstances,All this, in my view, is to be much encouraged within localauthorities but this trend will not be encouraged, but ratherfrustrated and not taken seriously, if there is a continuinglack of realism and coherence and consistency in centralgovernment planning, and of inadequate funds being madeavailable through the rate support grant for the policies andservices which central government propounds. f haveattempted to indicate the essence as I see it of ProfessorFowler's paper, He has asked a basic question. In answer-ing, he has come down on one side of the fence; I havecome down on the other. Mr Davies is now going to lookat it further.

Response: J. L. Davies

I find this paper a fascinating one to comment on sinceit raises so many fascinating issues. Whilst agreeing withPeter Browning that there are national circumstances whichare beyond our administrative control as institutions andlocal authorities, there may nonetheless be activities whichwe can undertake to cope with the situation in which wefind ourselves, so well portrayed by the two previous con-tributors. There seem to be three major issues arising fromProfessor Fowler's paper, which I would like to developfurther: the question of justifying expenditure for eduo-

tional purposes: the manner in which choices or prioritiesare exposed; and the question of scenting the commitmentof the participants within the system to given courses ofaction. Let us now examine these in turn.

JustificationIt is clear that the questioning of the the of resources in

education is going to be a major issue of the next decade.This is pal tit:LILO). evident in the case Of the non-educationalists who are cones,:riled vs int planning and financialallocation, especially treasurers and the newly ranipant chiefexecutive officers in local authoinies. All services are beingrigorously asked to substantiate claims for more resources.and Ishilst in the past in education sae have claimed a certaindegree of immunity on the grounds of academic freedomand the fact that the bit tho (tte is beyond our control, theadvent of corporate management, performance review sub-commtlees, etc,, would seem to indicate that things are notgoing to tx quite the same again. We are, therefore, forcedto ask the question -hosv do we know whether our institu-tions are effective, and can we infer any relationshipsbetween a given input of cPcnditure, and a given Outcomein terms of educational, cultural, social or economiciiehievement ?"

Assesong the effectiveness of the edaeational institutionis a difficult task at the best of limes, and our tcehnolog'i ofassessment is sadly imperfect. ilowevei, the following areasof investigation are worth recording,

I) Professor Low ler makes the point that corporateminagotnent ,},terns may make both of and electedmmbers less sensitive to changing institutional, communityand personal needs and demands". Thus, it m iy be inferredthat the legitimacy of the education service's demands formote resources can he Paeehed as rather limited, and vino.be based on the professional's interest rather than that ofthe client. This is unfortunately true of several corporatemanagement systems my colleagues and I have observed.Strangely enough, this may be because of a theoretical lapse

the failure to base a corporate system On an opeir systemdesign, Much forces attention on the nature of our com-munications Nt1111 clients-- the extent and objectivity of ourinformation on the community, the effectiveness of institu-tions like governing bodies, parent-teacher associations,advisory committees, etc. There is, of course, likely to be adifference betueen the overt demands of pressure groups,and the needs of silent majorities and silent minorities, notgiven to vociferous protestations. Nonetheless, the point isthat jusalication is clearly more convincing with it store ofdemonstrable evidence of need for resources.

(2) Justification May well need sonic -objective- measureof achievement, Thus far, this has been difficult to assess inthe long term. It is one thing for us to produce studentswith it given qualification: it is another thing to demonstratetheir worth to the community in educational, social oreconomic terms. One may attempt it through the economist'sapproach of rate of return studies, or manpower forecasting,which respectively suggest that a student's value to thecommunity may be measured in terms of earnings; and thatone may justify resources by identifying a projeeted reed forgiven types of manpower, Some of these studies are helpful,particularly at national level, but thus far, not much hasemerged useful in practical day-to-day justification for thelocal administrator.

(3) We may be glad to use other "objective" indicatorsthat resources are needed, indicators particularly related tothe peculiarities of the environment, or the nature of thelearning and administrative proms§ within the school. Theubiquitous star/student ratio, or staff pupil ratio has assumedprimacy in this context. We have already heard in this con-ference of Mr Mc(larrity's fascinating paper, which includes"justifications" like the number of remedial children, in-service training, extra-departmental administration, etc.,

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and of LL,F.A.'s deprivation index, discussions on whichinclude reference to pupil turnover, teacher stress, housingstress, disturbed children.

This notion of -abnormils" ;and formulae, whilst poten-tially confusing to the uninitiated, is nonetheless an impor-tant development ultich should lend weight to our arm,

Our observations thus far have been directed at a sort ofself-defensive reaction. This ought not to obscure the funda-mental point that the community has a right to expect thatsac use our existing resources effectively and with imaging-tam. Periodically, a peep at the skeletons in our cupboardis highly desirable. For instance, when polytechnics beganto look at their performance as a result of the PoolingCommittee recommendations on Staff; Student Ratios forAdvanced Level Work, several institutions found themselvesvvith, for example, 25 science or engineering teachers toomany, or, conversely, about 2t/O students too few. Thisis, of course, explicable in terms of the market downturn.What is riot explicable is the absence of remedial actionover the last the years-market development, the search fornew activities, the failure to redevelop staff, the proliferationof options, Lind persistence in tilling vacant posts with staffwhose expertise was not likely to be in demand, It is alsointeresting that the search for new modes of learning mayhave been produced as much by economic rigours as byexternal experimentation. Being forced to justify, as Dr.Johnson once said, in a slightly different context, "con-centrates the mind wonderfully".

The [MALIN of (holces and Priorities

We are often inclined, in education, to conceive of theuniverse as being hounded by the edge of the school playingfield, or it sea of Form; IT:21. We sometimes assume that ifthere is a community or client problem, an additional input()I' resources to he (.1 ployed. by the. education department orinstitution o ill surely put it right. This need not necessarilyhe so, since the root cause of the problem may not becapable of being resolved by unilateral action by educa-tionalists, though they may very well have a large part toplay. Thus, the dialogue unit other local authority otlicersin Recreation and leisure, Social Services, I lousing,Industrial Development, and maybe Consumer Protectionin terms of probinn definition, pooling information, settingcompatible and interrelated objectives, joint itelivity at fieldlevel, joint evaluation, etc., can only be to the benefit of theclient in the long term. One of the heartening things Iobserved recently was the sight of a director of educationbeing hotly defended in committee by a director of socialservices, housing manager and industrial development officer,on the grounds that his plans for pre-school provision wereso pertinent to their own objectives that any dilution ofresources would create serious authority wide repercussions.Corporate management is not just a set of techniques: itshould be a state of mind.

The current shortage of resources and the decline in thetax-base in Inner City areas, clearly mean that we have aproblem of choice in authorities and institutions: what todo, and what not to do. What worries me-a little is that ourdecision-making is being made more difficult, and ourunderstanding of consequences blurred, by potentially un-helpful aspects of the decision and budgetary process. Letme offer a few illustrations:

( I) Several authOritles have encountered difficulties inresolving problems in the 16--I9 age group becauseof the separation of Schools and F.E. Burnham.

(2) Budgetary headings may be essential for budgetarycontrol, but the separation of teaching staff salariesfrom non-teaching:stair salaries and an absence ofvirement between the headings does not assist eithereconomy or a judicious mix of resources, The legendis widely accepted that it is far easier to obtain teachersthan clerical or technician staff, because of the differ-ing sources of external control,

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(3) Capital and revenue budgets are separated lot goodreasons of financial ntan;tgement, I lowever, it is notunknown for conunittees of members and officers,dealing with each on separate occasions, to passcapital finance for a project, but refuse a revenueallocation Project budgeting may be more nwaningfulto academics within institutions, Hilo.

(4) Decisions on course development, in further educationinstitutions normally do not include data on the costimplications of such activities, and the people mainlyconcerned with course design are normally not costconscious, nor encouraged to be so. Cost conscious-ness is not necessarily incompatible with the capacityfor educational innovation. This separation of educa-tional decision-making from resource decision-m: l;ingcan also prove to be unhelpful, It is highly likely thata given range of educational objectives may be capableof being achieved through a range of alternativeinstructional models. These, in turn, are likely to havedifferent cost implications. If it is possible to achievethese educational objectives by the least costly method,is this bad, or counter to academic freedom?

The machinery for making decisions in education maythus hold scope for improvement both at LEA. andinstitutional level,

Commitment

Implicit in Professor Fowler's paper is tlw significance ofthe behavioural basis to resource t'ilocation and decision.making, and there is evidence of encouraging developmentsin this field. This is particularly evident in global budgeting,where the total permissible amount of expenditure is deter-mined at the top, and where the incidence of expenditure,or cuts in expenditure is decentralised to appropriate levelsin the organisation. This determination of the priorities atparticular levels will undoubtedly lead to more conunitmerston behalf of the participants than is likely with an imposi-tion of cuts from above; will develop participants' costconsciousness and sense of responsibility without sacrificingpublic, accountability. One of the interesting features of thenext year is going to be whether the movement toward "costcentres" can survive the economic stringencies and hardshipslikely to be contained within the Rate Support Grantnegotiations. There is precedent for assuming that tightereconomic controls often mean tighter managerial control.This need not be so. We shall see what redefinition of"public accountability" and "academic freedom" may benecessary.

This response to Professor Fowler's paper has been brief,but this is no reflection on the stimulation of the ideascontained therein.

Corporate ManagementChallengeand OpportunityA Summary of the Plenary Discussion in the Final Session of the Conference

E. A. Ewan

Discussion in the final session concentrated mainly onimplications for education of the implementation of cor-porate styles of management at regional and divisional levelin the new structure of local government, with particularemphasis on information, evaluation and accountability.

The first point made from the floor was that under asystem of corporate management education would lind itmuch more difficult to obtain resources than it had in thepast. Where it had formerly been cushioned by the statu-torily delegated potters of the Education Acts, competitionwith isrher local government services would now be directand immediate. This lends weight and urgency to the argu-ment that a really professional approach to resource manage-ment demands a critical, sound and well reasoned ease forthose resources allegedly required as well as careful assess-ment of the efficiency of their use. Hut it goes further: itrequires much fuller exposition of the arguments to theelected members ultimately controlling the allocation anddistribution of the resources, and a presentation in termscomprehensible to these members and to senior officials inother professional areas with whom the educationist will becompeting for his share of the total available resources.

Information then, it was agreed, will be not onlyinforniation passed by the educational resource seekers tothe decision-makers, but also information available in muchmore precise detail to the educationists themselves on whichto build their case. Traditionally educationists had tendedto concentrate too much on input of resources and pay toolittle attention to output. Evidence was now increasinglygoing to be required that monies already allocated had beenwell spent before serious consideration would be given topleas for more.

This raised tlie question of how such improved informationcould be collected and presented to the local authorityeducation officer and members. One suggestion was as a greatlyexpanded corps of local authority inspectors, advisers ororganisers to provide detailed and authoritative feedback,not only on what was required, but also on the utilisationof resources in the existing system. It was further arguedthat such a service could be maintained at quite reasonablecost, the figure suggested being less than 2 of the salarybill for the teaching force.

Instead of pursuing the implication; of this type ofapproach, the conference passed straight on to consider thebasic problem of evaluation and assessment. Expressingdoubts itbout the ability of even a strengthened local inspec-torate to meet the demands of the situation one memberargued that the really important matter was to find a balancebetween saying on the one hand, quite rightly, that thereare many educational objectives which not only are in-tangible and cannot be measured, but might suffer from thevery attempt to measure them, and the opposite extreme ofsaying that because this is so we will not attempt to measureanything. Educationists should devote more energy to seek-ing solutions in terms of a consensus of people involved, ofwhether in their professional judgment this way of doingsomething is better than that. Unless some such conclusioncould be reached, the speaker felt, the "money boys" wouldmove in and, in the absence of agreed assessment of the

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'dative merits of one course of action as against others,simply adopt the cheapest- and in the circumstances itwould be difficult to blame them.

Other fundamental problems in evaluation were mentioned.1-irsr it was recognised that not all measurement in educa-tion could be expressed in quantitative terms, and that con-sequently, however difficult qualitative assessment mightprove in practice, it was nonetheless a vital part of managerialresponsibility. The second problem was that the distinctionwas not merely between mm hat could be measured quantita-tively and what could not, but that the effects of differingtime, scales in producing results, as, for example, betweennursery and higher education, rendered many of the longerterm effects incapable of meaningful assessment on it purelyquantitative basis. A third concerned the value judgmentsinvolved in decisions affecting priorities of resource alloca-tion among the various social services.

Accountability was then to he distinguished front measura-bility. While it is undoubtedly easier to render account ofthings precisely measurable, the responsibility it professionallevel to accept accountability for things less amenable toobjective quantification remains unimpaired. Some debateensued as to those to whom managers and decision-makersought to be accountable. Apart from the obvious communityand its elected representatives, some argued, on the basis ofProfessor Fott ler's concluding plea for informed teacheropinion, that the profession at large had an important rolein this respect. This was viewed with some interest as en-visaging a much enhanced conception of the professionalismof the teacher, even if it seemed rather remote at present.At this point the chairman suggested that perhaps the ideaof professional consultancy applied to the educational pro-cesses might prove helpful in developing the kind of ethosimplicit in such a view of accountability. Perhaps becauseof pressure of time, the conference did not proceed to discussthe moral aspect of our ultimate accountability to the con-sumersthe young people themselves for whose educationwe assume responsibility.

Since the whole conference was conceived against thebackground of developing systems of corporate managementand the consequent competition among the various servicesrepresented in the upper management structure, it wasnatural that sonic attention should have been devoted toexploring some of the conflicts involved. White it was widelyrecognised that educationists themselves competed with oneanother from area to area for the scarce staff resourcesavailable with some detriment to the overall well-being,some members pointed out that the same sort of argumentcould be applied to conflict of interest within the corporatemanagement structure in a single authority. If the realbeneficiaries of the system were acknowledged to be thechildren and young people it professed to serve, then thereal interests of education and the other social servicesmight in many cases be much less far apart than a parochialself-interest would lead each to assume. One example citedwas the provision of nursery schools or classes and playgroups, a service offering benefits both educational andsocialinasmuch as these can be distinguished. The argu-ment was then propounded that the work of one of the

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services might well benefit from the input of resources intoanother servio.:.

At this point Mr Davies interjected to admonish the con-ference on a further over-simplification, All day the term"corporate management" had figured large in the papersand discussion, but no one had defined it, In fact, said MrDavies, there was not just one kind of corporate manage-ment, but SC Vefiti. A current research programme in hisdepartment had identified no less than eight different types,some extremely &federalised, some based on using theexpertise of people in various participating departments,and some organised on the principle of an active, perhapsover - active, chief executive exercising very tight control onall the departments. Unfortunately.: this comment camealmost at the end of the session and there was no time forits further development,

In conclusion then, the discussion revealed general agree-ment that the present system abounds in untidiness andinconsistencies, many of them eradicable, but others moredeep-rooted, stemnting from the ultimate dilemma of nationalplanned policy versus autonomous local control. What wasneeded was wider adoption of a management procedure ofhaving the different services produce sets of policy optionswhich could be costed and then evaluated in an acceptableprofessional context in order to facilitate the selection of anappropriate course of action based upon explicit criteriaand procedures for decision-making. What precisely thesecriteria should be and how they should be developed weretopics demanding a whole conference to themselves, Accord-ingly, the chairman at this point called on Mr Browning, inplace of the absent Professor Fowler, to sum up theconference.

EnvoiD, P. .1, Browning

Chairman, I think you will understand that at this pointI especially regret that Professor Fowler isn't here. This isbecause I have now the job not only of winding up the dis-cussion but also of making the last contribution for theconference today. In doing this in Edinburgh, I am veryconscious that at the moment you've got a nonScottishteam confronting you!

In listening to the discussion, I have been very muchreminded of Dr. Hriault summing up last year's conferenceon staff development. Those of you who were there willremember the importance he attached to there being amanagement thread, as he called it, running through localeducation authorities from their education committee andeducation department, through their area offices, to theirschools and other institutions, Whilst we haven't been dis-cussing staff development this year, If think it's essential inthis final session on the management of resources to stressagain the importance of a management thread, Whilst someuntidiness will be inevitable and can be improved on, Ithink it is vital that there should be an intelligible anddevised management thread for the euucation service run-ning from central government and the D.E.S., outwards tothe L.E.A,'s, and from them to their schools and colleges.If this were achieved, one might in fact get more coherenceand logicality and real sense of direction in the educationservice than I. think we've got at the moment.

Looking back on our discussions today on the manage-ment of resources, we started off on staff resources in thesecondary schools. Personally I very much welcome Scotland'sinitiative in producing staffing models. What I should beinterested to know is whether central government is makingfunds available to ensure that local authorities in Scotlandwill in fact be able to achieve the staffing models set out inthe report. We didn't hear much about this. Furthermore,Murray White complained about some of the irrationaldifferences, as he put it, between L.E.A.'s in staffing inEngland; and I can't help wondering that if something likethe Scottish example were followed, and we had similarmodels with a clear assurance that in the maze of the ratesupport grant arrangements, financial resources were thereto achieve these models, then some of the difficulties whichMurray White complained of would disappear. My guess isalso that if this approach were adopted towards, for instance,ancillary assistance and standards of supplies in books,

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stationery, equipment and materials, which the Chairmanhas briefly touched onif a similar approach were adoptedthere, with an assurance that within the rate support grantthere were the necessary funds available, then resources, andsufficient resources for the education service overall, wouldbe more likely to be forthcoming. As to the final discussion.Professor Fowler envisages that if better management is tobe achieved for the education service, changed relationshipswill be necessary between central government and localauthorities, and local authorities and the education institu-tions themselves. Ile, and other speakers, have indicatedthat it may perhaps be necessary to look at the sacred cowof school autonomy, for if we have better management andbetter communications, and a better supply of informationabout situations and overall strategy, this will enable decisionsfor institutions to be taken against a different backgroundand perhaps produce a different view and different overallpriorities, I think we come back again to this basic questionof how to produce this management thread, as Dr. Briaulttermed it last year, but I'm applying it to the whole of theoperation of the education service this year.

Several speakers have touched on the importance of thesupply or adequate informed information, and I wonderwhether at this point of time, with local government beingreorganised and stronger local authorities coming intoexistence, if consideration shouldn't be given to the estab-lishment of a Research and Intelligence Unit for the localauthority associations so that they can match the expertiseof central government in their statistics and projectionsbecause at the moment local authorities go on in a veryamateur and perhaps not always reliable way. The educa-tional statistics produced by the treasurers' association havebeen quoted and these are notoriously unreliable. But Ithink that with more reliable information, perhaps a dialoguebetween local authorities and central government could takeplace on a more equal basis which could be of benefit tothe whole education service.

And whilst we're thinking about schools and colleges inthis situation, perLaps we should remember the nationalcentre for school administration which has been establishedhere at Moray House, Is it not possible that somethingsimilar should be considered for England and Wales? Thisis a topic, however, which we must leave now to be pursuedelsewhere.