Contested Values in Further Education

Abstract

The trend in recent years towards the development of a radical, market-oriented policy in education with its seemingly contradictory pressures for centralization and decentralization has been well documented. However, the implications which all this has for Further Education has received much less attention. This paper attempts to contribute to filling this gap. In doing so it suggests that contemporary policy thrusts have, inter alia, led towards the widespread introduction of performance management in Further Education. This and related developments are explored in the context of a detailed case study of one large urban college.