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It must be conceded that this 'project' represents work in progress as both an intellectual challenge and as an intervention in practice and provision within a higher education institution undergoing a fundamental transition. The term 'project' refers to the full range of activities and developments described and analysed in this project report. The project itself is on-going and not subject to academic /closure'. The term 'explication' when used in the report refers to the narrative and sequence of elements within the project. The explication itself attempts to reach a conclusion in phase 3 where 'outputs and products' are described. Where necessary the explication provides a self-conscious commentary on the project, especially where theoretical issues are involved. It tells a partial story only, but one which it is hoped yields valid lessons and understanding. The real life focus of the project is Westhill College of Higher Education which, in the period dealt with, was faced with major institutional challenges to its academic and financial viability due to its size and recent history. On joining the college in September 1997 both the new Principal and Deputy Principal had believed in the academic and financial viability of the institution as a continuing independent and autonomous entity. Such was the stated position, when both senior staff took up post, and in all fairness to past and present college members the college had never returned a deficit budget on the recurrent accounts. Furthermore, there were (and remain) long term resources invested by the college trustees on behalf of Westhill. However, within a period of three months of the new management team taking office it became clear that the long term prospects for a completely independent and diversified higher education college such as Westhill were pessimistic if it had to continue to rely on public funding bodies for practically all of its income whilst its student numbers were capped at less than 1000 FTEs. By late 1997 the College's funding bodies (HEFCE and TTA) were unable and unwilling to guarantee growth in student numbers for Westhill. Furthermore, it was becoming clear that the quality of student life and experience was suffering in comparison to that available to much larger neighbouring universities. Faced with such prospects the senior management, the Governors and the Trustees of Westhill sought a radical option! (see Appendix 1 - document 1). A twin track of developmental change was proposed involving the generation of new approaches to learning and provision (embodied in the creation of a Centre for Lifelong Learning) and, almost simultaneously, the creation of a strategic alliance. This alliance eventually turned out to be with the University of Birmingham, of which Westhill historically was an accredited and affiliated institution. The narrative of this project is, however, not primarily concerned with the alliance. Rather, the alliance should be viewed as a 'framing' reality and continuing context for the development of learning opportunities which are the main menu detailed here. Curriculum driven institutional change, the development of sites of learning and the evolution of a network of learning are the nodal points of Westhill's developing contribution to the alliance and are the main focus of work developed in this project. This arena of professional work, involving discourse, dialogue, negotiation, innovation and managing institutional change, involved above all what Winter and Maisch (1998) refer to as "authoritative involvement" in testing out new formulations of knowledge and new (for Westhill) methods and opportunities for learning. It is hoped that these concerns find expression in the explication that follows and for which the author carries the major institutional responsibility in the process analysed below.

The Professional Accreditation of Conservator-Restorers (PACR) is a practice-based professional qualifying framework developed by three United Kingdom associations representing practitioners in the conservation of cultural heritage. The author acted as project consultant for the development and implementation of PACR. To date, the PACR project has consisted of three cycles. The first established the basic principles of the framework through background research and consultation, and produced and trialled a provisional scheme. The second put the scheme into operation, gathered feedback, and made operational improvements. The third gathered further feedback from implementation, and included a small-scale evaluation to gauge initial impact and identify strategic issues. PACR represents a successful initiative by a small occupation to establish a robust and potentially respected credential, reinforcing its claim to be a credible profession. It has prompted a need for greater clarity about the nature and boundaries of the profession and routes into it, and is being followed up by work with the aim of creating a single conservation institute. Beyond conservation, it raises issues of access, qualification and continuing development that are relevant to other professions and professionalising occupations. As a practice-based assessment system it also offers some learning points relevant to the design and operation of UK National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications. The PACR project illustrates a form of systems architecture in which a structure is developed to set the parameters for future action. It has provided a vehicle for the author's development as a systems architect in the educational field, and contributed to his commitment to a particular style of consultancy, based on realisation systems and on development work as a source of knowledge and authority. This approach is well suited to a wide range of applications, ranging from learner support systems through to areas such as national qualification frameworks and lifelong learning policy.

This report is an outcome of a research project exploring lecturers’ understanding of widening participation (WP) and how this influences their practice in one North London University. The project was undertaken as part of my DProf studies and was developed from my role and position within the School of Health and Social Sciences in co-ordinating and communicating WP activities. This project was undertaken over five years (2004 – 2009) and was influenced by local and national political and social changes most particularly the range of Higher Education Funding Council documents impacting on WP. Main approach used: In a desire to explore WP and through multiple perspectives a mixed methods methodology was selected epistemological umbrella of transformative learning arising from an emancipatory paradigm. Meizerow’s (2003) epistemology of transformative learning provides a lens by which to explore lecturers’ perceptions of WP and practices, challenge conventional notions of WP, explore the extent to which WP is mainstreamed or embedded WP within the organisation and the relationship with pedagogical practices. This project was in three stages. Firstly, a focus group of lecturers, then separate individual lecturers were interviewed to explore perceptions of WP and pedagogical approaches (n= 12). Secondly, groups of diverse students completed a questionnaire (n=195) asking for their experiences of teaching and learning with a few (n=6) interviewed individually. Thirdly, an internal working group explored the wider university commitment to WP and how embedded this is in departments and services. Quantitative data from questionnaires and institutional data was analysed descriptively for frequency and correlations (Pearson’s correlation co-efficient via SPSS v.15). Qualitative data was analysed using textual thematic analysis, both manually and using CAQDAS (Nud*st) software. Conclusions: There were several conclusions: 1. Lecturers and teaching. a. No single understanding of WP. b. Some lecturers demonstrate sensitive and intuitive support but this is not widely disseminated. c. Identify limited insight into students’ lives and experiences. d. View WP as deficiencies, remedial and someone else’s ‘job’. 2. Students and learning. a. As a group students would not describe themselves as diverse but ‘typical’ students. b. Students value personal connections with lecturers. 3. University Role. a. Initiatives to address the student experience subsume the needs of WP and all students. b. Communication across services and departments is unclear and not cohesive. c. Varied discourses of WP at different levels and high level commitment demonstrated at senior level. Recommendations: The key recommendations focussed on promoting WP in existing good practice in teaching and learning and utilise existing process to make WP core and embedded. 1. Lecturers: Promote dialogue of WP and raise issues pertinent to teaching and learning. - Staff development in relation to practice for inclusive teaching or teaching diverse groups utilising existing procedures via preparation route (PGCHE) or established teaching observations or appraisals. - WP ‘Champions’ to advocate and promote inclusive practice. 2. Students: Build on good practice to maximise students’ sense of ‘value’ and positive student experience. 3. University: To locate a ‘home’ for WP so it can be more effectively monitored and disseminated and accounted for. - Embed WP within core working processes (e.g. validation or programme monitoring). - Promote the dialogue of WP and inclusivity consistently from higher levels to student interface levels to enhance a culture of diversity and inclusivity.

This thesis investigates the potential benefits for language development of the inclusion of focus on form tasks in a university EFL oral academic presentation course in Japan. Previous work on focus on form activities suggests that they can help learners to notice divergences between their output and the target language, and to reconsider their hypotheses about the target language, and that this process might lead to subsequent modifications, in a target-like direction, in their output. While the majority of previous research involves focus on form that is controlled by the teacher, this study examines how the students noticed and reflected on form without the teacher's direct assistance. In addition, sociocultural theory looks at ways in which cognitive development arises from social interaction. This study adopted this approach in identifying ways in which the students made language gains. The students were asked to note down any new language they had noticed, and, working from transcripts of their recorded presentations, to collaborate in groups in scrutinising their own oral output and correcting any mistakes they found in it. Recordings of their deliberation were also included in the noticing data. Meanwhile, recordings of the students' oral output, as represented by a series of class presentations, were made in order to see whether there was any development in the use of the forms that the students attended to during the noticing tasks. An analysis of the data revealed that the students noticed more language forms as they became more practised in the noticing tasks. In general, the students focused their attention on a wide variety of forms, although there was a degree of variation at the individual level, and there was evidence that group tasks resulted in more noticing than tasks completed alone. The seven-month tracking of the students' oral output revealed improvements in a number of lexical and syntactic forms the students had focused on. As regards sociocultural theory, the thesis also shows how elements of dialogic interaction, present in the students' collaboration, helped enhance their knowledge of English. These include contributions from a more capable peer (although expert roles switched even within a single discussion), collective scaffolding, and the achievement of intersubjectivity. The study suggests that students are able to notice language form and make language gains through form-focused elements in task-based instruction. In particular, group work within such a framework might benefit language learning, both in terms of the amount of noticing it promotes, and of the effects of collaboration, from which the learners can gain new insights into the second language

This thesis explores research linkages between universities and companies in the North Sea oil and gas industry. This sector contributes significantly to the funding of related academic research in universities, and in response to this many university researchers and departments have created close ties with industry. The overall aim of this work is to improve the understanding of the nature of these linkages and of how university researchers, and the work they undertake, are influenced by industrial sponsorship and linkage. An overview of the extent and nature of linkage in the sector is gained through a postal survey of university researchers. This survey also explores of the working relationship between university and industry. These themes are investigated further through face-to-face interviews with both university researchers and industrial researchers and sponsors, to obtain in-depth qualitative data on linkage activity. Findings show diversity in the range and extent of linkages, in benefits to both university and industry, and in the working relationship between academics and industrialists. The thesis further explores research linkage through a closer examination of the university researcher and their individual practices and strategies towards linkage. A range of institutional and attitudinal factors that influence and shape a university researcher’s links with firms are highlighted and utilised to explain a researcher’s propensity to create different types of university-industry research linkages. Policy implications are discussed.

This thesis is concerned with learning, teaching and assessment in the Scottish Further Education College Sector. The thesis employs a phenomenological approach to the collection, analysis and interpretation of data grounded in the experience of principal participants – senior managers, lecturers and students – in 4 further education colleges in central Scotland during academic year 2003/04. The research question was concerned with exploration and identification of teaching and learning strategies that enabled student success in assessments in FE, and the data collection was designed to elicit information about ‘what works’ from all parties involved. Three theoretical lenses are offered through which participant perspectives can be read. Firstly, the policy context is assessed in terms of its neo-liberal managerialist tendencies, and the effects of these on teaching and learning are considered, with particular attention to the possible dissonance between performativity on the one hand and authentic social relationships on the other. Furthermore, the degree to which such dissonance may characterise the system, especially in relation to assessment, is considered. Secondly, teaching is presented as a craft with its own tacit knowledge base which is to some extent shared by all participants, although there may be factures between them. Thirdly, learning is discussed from a constructivist perspective from which other theories of learning are considered and critiqued. The main conclusions reached by the study are as follows: Firstly, although there was evidence of authentic social relationships between participants, these appeared to exist in dissonance with an emphasis on performativity in passing assessments, which appeared to be driving approaches to learning and teaching. Secondly, although participants share a common craft knowledge which valued cognitive and affective dimensions of classroom interaction, there were significant differences between the perceptions of senior managers on the one hand, and students and lecturers on the other. Thirdly, learning activity appeared to be concerned mainly with gathering and reproducing information, with little evidence of knowledge transformation or social construction of meaning.

Lifelong learning raises expectations of a process that will endure over the life course. Economic and social benefits are believed to accrue for both the individual and society as a result. Older people constitute the fastest growing population in Scotland but acquiring knowledge and skills for employment may not be their priority. However, they have an investment in the social purposes of learning and education. Also, people who are aged fifty plus have learning and educational trajectories which may either encourage or dissuade them from engaging with learning opportunities in later life. Research questions providing impetus for this work revolved around the impact of lifelong learning policy and meanings of learning and education for people in later life. The aim of this study was to explore the individual and collective perceptions of a small group of older people about the nature, purpose and meaning of learning and education. A review of selected literature about the learning society, lifelong learning and associated social benefits revealed a hegemonic discourse of invisibility concerning older people. But a separate and parallel discourse of emancipation was evident within educational gerontology. Amongst the perceived benefits of learning in later life was increased participation in society and links with health. This interpretative, dialogical study used critical hermeneutics to explore and locate participants’ perceptions and meanings of learning and education against a background of historical and contextual social relations. Methods used included focus groups and in-depth topic centred narrative interviews, alongside a process of constant reflexivity. A purposeful sample of nine participants was involved for the duration of one year. Thematic analysis of findings from the focus groups produced collective themes of “exclusion”, “taking stock” and “moving on”. Similar analysis of interview transcripts plus Labovian analysis of selected narrative sequences revealed issues concerning identity with strong adherence to the values of lifelong learning. Dissonance was evident between political and personal narratives.

Copyright collecting societies, such as the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), which will be considered in the thesis, are agencies which act on behalf of copyright owners, negotiate licenses and distribute royalties to them. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) include institutions such as colleges and vocational institutions which award academic degrees including diplomas. The present thesis will focus solely on the university sector of HEIs in the UK.  HEIs are both creators and users of copyright works. Therefore a consideration of such an institution permits an analysis of both authors and users of copyright and hence, their relationship with copyright collecting societies. The thesis attempts to answer the following questions: are academic authors appropriately remunerated through the system of collecting societies; are collecting societies the correct medium to negotiate licences and distribute royalties on behalf of copyright owners; and are copyright collecting societies rapidly moving along the information age towards an imminent death? The answers stem from the notion that the ‘incentive’ for authors to write can be both economical and personal, the latter being especially true and equally important in the case of the academic author who seeks reputation, recognition and remuneration over and above financial remuneration. This thesis explores the concept of ‘remuneration’ from the point of view of the CLA and the academic author. The thesis establishes that the academic author is not fairly remunerated through the system of collective licensing and therefore considers solutions and recommendations for the future. In this context, the thesis concludes that since the present system of remuneration through the system of collective licensing does not operate as established by the case study in to the CLA, a support system based on the Higher Education Resources on Demand (HERON) model may be the way forward for the academic author.

In recent years, the concept of capacity development (CD) has gained ascendancy in development programmes. However, the understandings and practices of CD vary considerably. Moreover, the learning dimension of processes utilised to develop capacities is often under-explored. This thesis critically examines the CD discourses and practices taking place in Thua Thien Hue province i.n Vietnam. Specifically, it explores the relationships between adult Iearning and CD,· as perceived and defined by Vietnamese stakeholders. The research looks at the forms and understandings of CD taking place, the challenges they represent and the activities that are perceived to contribute to change. By doing so, it hopes to bring the perspectives of actors whose voices are seldom heard in the CD discourse to the fore, and to help narrow the perceived ,gap between understandings and practices of CD. It also aims to contribute to the growing body of t~eory around CD processes and approaches. Using an approach inspired by grounded theory, the research has identified three main learning challenges regularly faced by people involved in CD. These are: applying and transferring knowledge, skills and attitudes; engaging learners; and dealing with different mindsets and interests. These challenges, as well as other cross-cutting ones, influence each other in a systemic manner and add to the complexity of the processes aiming to develop capacities for development. In order to explore these challenges, the thesis looks at four approaches to CD: the farmer field school, the training and model approach, training of trainers and action based education. It inquires, in a particular context, into the ways these approaches deal with challenges and identifies proc~sses that appear to address them. Finally, .the thesis draws together a range of theoretical components from different fields ~ particularly that of adult learning - in an attempt to make sense of what can be done to reconcile CD practices and discourses. in the research area, while also providing evidence to advance global discussion on the relationships between CD, learning and qhange.