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James (1972) (page numbers in brackets) Notes on the text
Chapter 1 (1-4)
Appendix 1 (80)
Index (117-128) |
The James Report (1972)
Teacher education and training Report by a Committee of Inquiry appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and Science, under the Chairmanship of Lord James of Rusholme London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1972
[page 49] 5.1 The present system of area training organisations based on some universities is derived from the conclusions of the McNair Committee, or more precisely of the half of the Committee whose recommendation on this particular question is reflected today in the pattern of all but one of the ATOs. The even division of opinion on this question within the McNair Committee indicates the difficulty of devising an acceptable national scheme for administering the education and training of teachers. The proposal in the Robbins Report for developing the links between universities and colleges of education was based upon the assumption that universities would introduce courses that were much broader and less specialised, at least in their first year. In the event, the proposal for a closer formal relationship between universities and colleges was not accepted by the government of the day and, on the whole, the universities did not develop along the suggested lines. The association between colleges and universities has continued to be one in which universities are the predominant partners in ATOs. Although it would be folly to dissociate the universities from teacher education and training, the time has now come for major modifications of the present relationship. The need for change 5.2 One strong reason for changing the system is that the colleges have outgrown the pattern designed for them. Since the Robbins Report, and even more plainly since the McNair Report, the colleges have grown in status and confidence. They are now seen to be an integral part of the higher education system and an increasing number of their students have successfully completed a sixth form education. A growing proportion of those students possess the formal qualifications for degree work, and such work has been developed in most of the colleges. Many of the colleges are large and aspire to a greater measure of control over their own destinies. Here, then, is a major reason for change: the colleges have grown up and should be encouraged to move forward to a new degree of independence. 5.3 As the colleges have grown and developed, the whole system of higher education has become very different from that in which the area training organisations were established. The development of the binary system, the designation of polytechnics and the growing interest of the polytechnics in teacher education are changes that raise new questions. What does it mean, and why is it desirable, for the teacher training department to have a relationship with a university, here represented by the ATO, which is apparently not felt necessary by other departments within the same polytechnic? Similarly, the growth of the university sector, including the foundation of the Open University, raises important questions and offers opportunities for new developments. There are now well over 30 universities in England and Wales: why is it good for some to be bases for ATOs and [page 50] not others? As many of the links between colleges and universities are now related to subjects as well as to professional training, why should not all universities be concerned? Although there is no universally ideal size for an ATO, can it be claimed that the present wide variations are desirable, or helpful in clarifying the notions of what an ATO is for and what it does? 5.4 The boundaries of ATOs often bear little relationship to those of local education authorities and this leads to difficulties, for example, in the elaboration of any policy for in-service training. The imminent reorganisation of local government must lead to the overdue revision of ATO boundaries which, in view of the growth in the number of universities and the rapid development of the polytechnics, must surely be accompanied by some redefinition and redistribution of responsibilities. The present system is irrational and wasteful and, unless action is taken, likely to become more so. 5.5 Nor are the shortcomings of the present system at regional level alone: there is no national agency, apart from the DES, to coordinate all teacher training activities and it is doubtful whether the functions of central planning and control should be exercised indefinitely, in however efficient and enlightened a manner, by the DES. There is a clear need for a national body in which central government decisions, once formulated, can be elaborated in terms of the action to be taken throughout the system. The lines of planning and control running between colleges, universities, LEAs, schools, ATOs and the DES are not as clear as they need to be, more especially as the number and complexity of decisions grow. The ATOs have no responsibility for, nor control over, the financing and provision of resources, including staff, facilities and equipment for the colleges. School and LEA representatives on the ATOs are often unsure of their role in contributing to the formation of policy. 5.6 To the pressures for change inherent in the present system must be added those which would be created by the fresh responsibilities flowing from a decision to implement the recommendations made elsewhere in this report. Several factors derived from these proposals point towards a more fundamental review of regional and national organisation than that already known to be necessary. First, the development of third cycle work changes very substantially the general pattern for the continuing education and training of the teacher. What is envisaged is not a minor adjustment to be painlessly accommodated within the present system. Although many ATOs are as active in providing and coordinating in-service training as the limitation of their resources allows, the comprehensive and very much expanded scheme of opportunities in the third cycle which is now proposed could not be planned and managed within their present pattern. Nor, given the scope and variety of the work known to be involved, is it self-evident that universities would themselves welcome such a role or wish to accord to it a high priority in the allocation of their own resources. 5.7 Secondly, one of the implications of that expansion, as of the proposals for the second year of the second cycle, is the establishment and growth of a network of professional centres which will include not only all the [page 51] professional institutions but also centres set up in schools, FE colleges. teachers' centres and elsewhere. The work of the professional centres must cohere in an effective regional and national pattern and the establishment of that pattern will be a major responsibility of the new agencies proposed in this report. 5.8 Thirdly, an implication of equal importance is the creation of an effective partnership in teacher training to include the active participation of teachers working in the schools and FE colleges. The agencies must include those teachers in the process of policy-making as well as in its detailed application. 5.9 Fourthly, if the proposals of this report are adopted, a completely new approach to qualifications for students and for teachers will be introduced, and new patterns of study established in colleges. There must be reciprocity between regional agencies in the acceptance of the DipHE and the BA(Ed) as qualifications for entry to second and third cycle courses in their constituent professional institutions, and the establishment of that reciprocity will require the creation of new and authoritative organs of consultation. With the introduction of the DipHE, the colleges will include students who are not intending teachers and, in the course of time, other institutions may incorporate the diploma in their programmes of work. 5.10 Fifthly, the new patterns of study will often depend upon a grouping of colleges and, in some cases, the transfer of students between them. Some students, for example, will wish to transfer from one college to another in order to follow the appropriate specialist course for the first year of the second cycle. The economies and higher standards flowing from specialisation presuppose rationalisation which in turn requires machinery to ensure that wise decisions are not only taken in theory but also applied in practice. The agencies must therefore have a clearly recognised responsibility for making to their constituent members recommendations on the distribution of the resources made available by central policy decisions. 5.11 No attempt is made at this stage to distinguish in principle between decisions to be taken by a national agency, for example, on overall questions arising from national policy on manpower planning, or the priorities to be observed in the provision of third cycle courses, and those best taken regionally, such as which college should concentrate on what, how many and which categories of mature students may be admitted to the special second cycle courses? It is, however, obvious that the complex reforms outlined in this report require that regional and national decisions should be seen to cohere and to follow a rational sequence. 5.12 A new system will be needed to respond not only to the pressures for change in the existing situation, but also to the heavy additional demands which these new factors would imply. Two features of the proposed system which have already been mentioned need to be expanded at this point. The first is that the universities would be intimately involved, both in the process of teacher training and in the structure of the system. They would nominate members of the new regional agencies and be represented on appropriate committees and sub-committees. Many of their staff, it is hoped, would [page 52] continue to act as external examiners for the colleges. Their education departments would provide key members of appropriate committees and many university teachers from other specialist departments would have a significant contribution to make to third cycle activities, especially in courses of subject refreshment for specialist teachers in the schools. The links of the universities with teacher training would be those of an open partnership of institutions of higher education. 5.13 The second feature of the system deserving emphasis is that the structure and operation of the system would reflect the enhanced status and independence of the colleges. It is clear that the proposals of this report would require - and enable - the colleges to take a long step forward: professionally, by enlarging their responsibilities in a much strengthened scheme for the formation of teachers; academically, by inviting them to take a lead in the development of new and broader patterns of higher education. They would be full partners in the administration of the system at regional and national levels. There are other important ways in which the status of the colleges should be recognised. Their broader role as major institutions of higher education and teacher training requires that their staffs should in all respects be treated as generously as those of other institutions of higher education. Members of their staff should have improved in-service opportunities for personal and professional education and should increasingly be encouraged to take sabbatical leave for research and to undertake periods of relevant secondment. 5.14 The scheme proposed would bring together, in a concerted working relationship in each region, all the professional institutions (colleges of education and departments of education in universities and polytechnics) together with separate representation of all universities and polytechnics in the region, all the local education authorities and the teachers in the schools and FE establishments. There would also be some additional membership as elaborated below. Although all universities would therefore be involved in the new system, it would be disingenuous to deny that what is being proposed must represent a radical change in the present relationship between some universities and the education and training of teachers or that the colleges have derived certain advantages from their present association with universities. In the course of our studies, our visits to institutions and our discussions we have given careful attention to the arguments in favour of a universal retention of the present system. 5.15 Those arguments include that of prestige by association. It is said that lecturers in the colleges feel that their position as scholars is enhanced by a formal university connection and that students applying to the colleges are attracted by the knowledge that the institution of their choice is in some way connected with a particular university. The argument from academic freedom asserts that the universities exert not a dictatorial power but a beneficent influence in protecting the colleges' academic integrity from improper interference by LEAs or by the DES. A development of this argument is that the removal of the present university dominance of the area training organisations would create a 'power vacuum': to end the dominance of one partner would invite the dominance of another. These are arguments [page 53] that are often cogently advanced by those with great experience in the field and the plea that the colleges should be allowed to continue to look to the universities is clearly - at its best - saying something important. The colleges rightly see themselves as places of learning. The universities are, or should be, the highest manifestation of the life of learning and it seems to follow, therefore, that it is right for the colleges to work under the auspices and ultimately the guidance of the universities. 5.16. Our rejection, after prolonged reflection and discussion, of some of the conclusions alleged to follow from the arguments summarised here is based upon two convictions. First, we are persuaded that the reality of the present situation is very different from the theory which those arguments propound. Secondly, we recognise that the situation has already changed, is still changing and, if our other proposals are adopted, will change so radically as to call for major reforms. The case for maintaining the present arrangements must be examined in greater detail. The argument from prestige by association, for example, raises difficulties. Whatever theoretical advantage college lecturers may derive from their link with a parent university, it is often more apparent than real, except in the extremely important matter of the opportunities given for personal and professional relationships between college and university staff. It is precisely these opportunities which the proposed system, so far from restricting, should do much to enhance and extend. Again, it is claimed that for a number of prospective students the choice of college may be influenced by the differing policies of parent universities, in such matters as the regulations relating to the BEd degree, but there is no reason to suppose that students in general are attracted to the colleges by the university link. Indeed, it is uncertain whether many applicants are initially aware that the college of their choice has a connection with a particular university and still less certain that they understand the nature of the association. 5.17 Placing undue emphasis on the present link with universities has its own attendant dangers. The most obvious of these is that some colleges have been encouraged to strive for the wrong kind of excellence. Their courses have in many cases become too academic, in the bad sense which that word should never have acquired. In an attempt to make the college courses academically 'respectable' students are sometimes fed with a diet of theoretical speculation, based on researches the validity and scholarship of which are not always beyond question. There are, of course, ATOs where far more enlightened procedures prevail but too often the desire to imitate the university of which the college is an ill-defined part has led to a distortion of syllabuses. There is another, and more insidious, danger of the university connection in its present form. What are the practical and psychological effects of recognising another body of higher status, which is yet in many ways similar, as the guardian of one's standards? Our visits to colleges have pointed to a possible answer. In a number of cases the atmosphere encountered could only be described as one of competent acquiescence, although there was ample evidence of the readiness of colleges in general to take a much stronger hand in the management of their own affairs. It seems clear that the effect of the university control can, at its worst, be one of enervation. [page 54] 5.18 The relationship enjoyed by a college through its ATO is not, in practice, with the university itself but with the Institute or School of Education which in some cases is an appendage whose function is only dimly understood by many university teachers. The creation of the BEd degree has made a greater number of those in universities aware that they have a share in the training of teachers, by bringing the regulations for that degree directly before senates and by involving, as examiners, numbers of university teachers who are not concerned with the certificate in education. But whether all, or indeed many, of the universities responsible for ATOs feel a widespread and deep involvement with the education and training of teachers, our evidence leads us to doubt. It is not a criticism of universities to say this. They are themselves faced with a series of weighty questions about such matters as size, content of courses, internal organisation and the balance between teaching and research. To expect them, as universities, to carry administrative responsibility for planning the training of all teachers even without the additional responsibilities our proposals would lay upon them is to put on them a burden that is at once inappropriate and too heavy. There are perhaps good grounds for the hope that the universities will welcome a system relieving them of this kind of responsibility for the education and training of teachers, while encouraging them to contribute in full measure to the academic future of the colleges. The proposals of this report should stimulate such participation. 5.19 The argument from academic freedom would have had greater force a few years ago, before the changes brought about as a result of the Weaver Report. In our visits to colleges very little evidence was found that principals or members of their staffs felt their freedom to innovate or to develop within present resources threatened either by local education authorities or by the DES. There has been no indication that the colleges need the kind of bulwark against outside pressures that the present structure is said to provide. It is perhaps over-scholastic to point to an apparent contradiction in the views of those who advance the argument that a departure from the present system of administration would create a power vacuum: it is indeed difficult to concede that a power vacuum might be created by removing a power the very existence of which is strenuously denied. The major response to this argument is that a new agency, balancing all the strong interests involved but dominated by none, should become its own source of power. It would have its own Director and administrative staff, its own source of finance - as we shall be suggesting, directly from the DES - and its own premises, for which it would pay rent, perhaps in a suitably placed central college of education or in a university, if the premises now occupied by the ATO were suitable and the university were willing to lease them for this purpose. It would appoint its own committees and sub-committees and conduct its own negotiations with outside bodies. Such an agency, with its internal distribution of power, would be very well placed to resist undue pressures from any of its constituent members as well as to close ranks against any unwarrantable pressure from outside.* *NOTE OF RESERVATION: Two of us do not share the view expressed in paragraphs 5.16 - 5.19 of the influence of the universities on the colleges. Our experience of teacher education suggests that any examples of false academicism or enervation that may exist have far more complex causes than merely the nature of a college's link with a university. JFP and JRW. [page 55] 5.20 The criticisms of the existing system rehearsed here are put forward in an attempt to reflect faithfully the widespread discontent at the way things work at present, but most of the criticisms are in effect comments on the system itself rather than on the spirit in which it is operated or the skill of those who run it. The system is at fault because it has been outdated, not least by the consequences of its own successes. After the publication of this report, there will no doubt be wide discussion of what is urged in this chapter. To any consideration of the role of the universities in the education and training of teachers one distinction is fundamental. That is the distinction, implied in what has already been written in the various chapters of this report, between what may be labelled the professional/planning and the academic/awarding functions of any organisation, such as the present ATO, which exercises a regional responsibility in teacher education and training. It has been maintained that it would be unrealistic to invite the universities to undertake, in the new situation already described, the first of these sets of functions: the case for the new regional body is, in our view, established beyond all reasonable doubt. The academic/awarding functions may, however, be discharged in a number of ways. Whichever methods are adopted, the national agency working through the regional bodies must be satisfied that the nature of the qualification is such as to be an acceptable basis for professional training. In some cases the DipHE may be awarded by the national agency itself working through the regional bodies. We hope and believe that the regional bodies will be strong and independent enough to administer the award on behalf of the national body should this be necessary. In view of the CNAA's sympathetic attitude to innovation and its concern for individual colleges, most of us hope that the academic/awarding functions, which may include the award of degrees in designated colleges, will be discharged by that body, while accepting that a university able and willing to adopt such a role cannot and should not be formally inhibited from so doing. Two of us* believe that universities should be actively encouraged to assume these responsibilities. The most obvious example of a university which might be willing to accept the obligations implicit in our recommendations and be prepared to validate the DipHE in a form acceptable to the national agency is the University of Wales. Special conditions that apply to Wales are outlined in a note contributed by one of our members and placed at the end of this chapter. 5.21 The best contribution that we can make to the discussion of future patterns or organisation is a description, in a detail which is meant to be illustrative rather than definitive, of the constitution and powers of the agencies needed to put into effect the recommendations of this report. Constitution and powers of regional and national agencies 5.22 The term area training organisation would no longer be appropriate for the regional agencies proposed, as the institutions with which they would be dealing would have important functions in general education, as well as in professional training. We recommend the term Regional Council for Colleges and Departments of Education (RCCDE). 5.23 In determining the number of these bodies and the size of the areas to be covered by them, it would be important to ensure that each region was large *See 'A Note of Extension' at the end of the report. [page 56] enough to contain a sufficient number and variety of institutions, schools and LEAs to give the RCCDE adequate standing and resources, but not so large as to be unwieldy or to prevent close personal links between people with common interests. Questions of geography and means of communication would obviously be important. So, too, would be the fact that the development and coordination of facilities within the regions would be a more complicated task if RCCDE boundaries cut across those of the LEAs proposed in the forthcoming reorganisation of local government. The problems raised where the areas served by major institutions, particularly in their third cycle work, overlapped the boundaries of the proposed RCCDEs would probably be less serious. 5.24 If the recommendations in this chapter were adopted in principle, it would be useful to embody a proposed scheme in a consultative document for discussion with all the parties concerned. The important criteria would be that each RCCDE should represent and bring into partnership all the colleges, universities, polytechnics and LEAs in the region; that its Governing Council should be as small as would be consistent with adequate representation of the interests involved; and that much of its effective power should be delegated to appropriate committees. We ourselves have done some preliminary 'paper' planning, to satisfy ourselves that an improved and rationalised scheme on the lines proposed here would be feasible in principle. The results are necessarily too tentative to be included in our recommendations, but an illustrative example is given in Appendix 7. In this example it is suggested that a division of England and Wales into 15 regions would be practicable. Of these regions, Wales would be one and the lLEA area would be another. In cases where LEAs maintained colleges outside their own boundaries, the authorities in question would also be represented on the RCCDEs for the regions in which their out-county colleges were located. 5.25 In this 15-region model for the whole country, a typical RCCDE would contain two or three universities and one or two polytechnics, together with about ten colleges. The number of LEAs would vary, particularly because some regions would contain a relatively large number of small LEAs, as would be the case in the metropolitan counties. It is conceivable, however, that groups of small LEAs might choose to form joint education committees for some higher education purposes and, if so, the LEA membership of the regional bodies concerned might be appropriately adjusted. On the Governing Council of an RCCDE each professional institution (college of education, UDE or polytechnic department of education) would have one member, normally the principal, professor or head of department. In addition to this professional representation, each university or polytechnic would have one representative and it is hoped that some university vice-chancellors and some directors of polytechnics would wish to serve. Each LEA within the RCCDE would have one representative and here again we would hope for professional representation at a senior level, preferably by the CEO himself. There should be five teacher representatives from schools and FE, chosen for their professional standing, whose value would be all the greater if they did not regard themselves simply as mandated representatives of their associations. The membership should also include [page 57] one representative nominated by the CNAA and one from the Open University. In addition to two assessors appointed by the Secretary of State, there should be two full members nominated by the Secretary of State for their knowledge of higher education or to correct any imbalance in the total membership arising out of local circumstances. 5.26 Above this structure of RCCDEs it would be necessary to have a national agency, perhaps called the National Council for Teacher Education and Training (NCTET). The need for such a body arises naturally from the functions which the structure as a whole would have to discharge. It would in some sense take the place of the former National Advisory Council on the Training and Supply of Teachers. There is no need to go in detail into the reasons for the failure of the National Advisory Council. Some of the reasons seem to be that it was too big; that it found itself advising on matters which fell solely within the discretion and responsibilities of the government and was thus taking decisions that were essentially political; and that it was hampered by working too much, in practice if not in theory, on the principle of mandation. The body now proposed would be comparatively small and compact, although not as small as the national body recommended by the McNair Committee. It should consist of about 20 members, all chosen by the Secretary of State for their knowledge of the fields with which the body would be concerned and perhaps with a part-time chairman. Given the composition and functions of the RCCDEs, it would be appropriate to ask each of them to nominate several prospective members from whom the national council could be constituted by a selection designed to preserve a proper balance of the various partners in the enterprise. 5.27 The functions of an RCCDE would be discharged mainly through two strong committees, the academic committee and the professional committee, upon which a number of sub-committees would depend. The composition of these committees and sub-committees would vary widely according to the kinds of expertise required and the kinds of interests involved, and they would need to include many members who were not members of the RCCDE Governing Council. The appropriate composition of these bodies set up for particular needs and duties will be apparent from the more detailed discussion of the various responsibilities which follows. 5.28 The interlocking of the duties of the RCCDEs and the NCTET makes it convenient to consider, in turn, each group of functions for the system as a whole. In its very important professional role the system of RCCDEs and the NCTET would be directly responsible for establishing and safeguarding the standards of nationally recognised professional qualifications in the second and third cycles. The RCCDEs would establish, on the basis of guide lines provided by the NCTET, the academic awards acceptable for entry to the second cycle, including recognition for this purpose of existing awards, such as university and CNAA degrees, the Diploma in Art and Design and Higher National Diplomas, and of course the Diploma in Higher Education. They would also have to make decisions on those special cases where the normal entry requirements to the second cycle might be modified. Arrangements for the assessment of students and licensed teachers in the second cycle (described in Chapter 3) would [page 58] also fall to the professional committees. The RCCDEs would transmit to the NCTET recommendations for the award of 'licensed teacher' status to students who were to be admitted to the second year of the cycle, for the acceptance of successful licensed teachers as 'registered teachers' and for the award of the BA(Ed) at the end of the cycle. They would also make recommendations to the NCTET about the recognition for professional purposes of all specialist diplomas and other third cycle qualifications, including the BEd. Applications for such recognition of courses and qualifications, and of the institutions in which they were offered, would be channelled through the RCCDEs to the NCTET. The National Council would have the responsibility for the recognition of all these qualifications. It would award the BA(Ed) and decide, in the light of appropriate advice, whether or not to recognise initial teaching qualifications awarded by other bodies. It would make recommendations to the Secretary of State for the licensing and registration of teachers and it would award the MA(Ed). On the advice of the RCCDEs, it would approve other third cycle qualifications and would determine which courses could be counted against teachers' entitlement to release for third cycle activities. The professional committees of the RCCDEs should obviously contain a substantial proportion of teacher representatives. There would also be substantial membership drawn from professional institutions and centres, together with professional representatives of the LEAs, because of their concern for the requirements of the schools in terms of the quality and kinds, as well as the numbers, of teachers needed. Professional committees would need sub-committees, with suitable membership, for such matters as exceptional admissions to the second cycle, arrangements for the third cycle (which would include stimulating the provision of suitable courses), the second and third cycle training of teachers for FE and the organisation of school experience. The NCTET, too, would need to be advised on its range of professional responsibilities by a suitably constituted professional committee. 5.29 The planning responsibilities of the new agencies would be an important part of their professional role. Within the framework of national policy and the limits of the resources available, it would be for the NCTET to advise the RCCDEs on the provision of second and third cycle facilities in the training system as a whole and to satisfy itself that national needs were being met. It would publish indicators, derived from central government decisions, on the total number of teachers required and the distribution of that total among the different categories of teachers, as defined by skills, specialisms and the ages of the children to he taught; and on the proper balance between second and third cycle courses. The total number of first cycle places in the colleges of education would be determined by central government decisions, as part of the planning of higher education, and these decisions, too, would need to he incorporated in the strategies elaborated through the NCTET and the RCCDEs. Acting within the guidelines provided by the NCTET, the RCCDEs would be responsible for planning the total provision within their regions. They would have to ensure that the size and composition of their student population accorded with the national indicators and would have to make recommendations, in consultation with LEAs and other providing bodies, on the development of individual colleges [page 59] and on the distribution of first, second and third cycle places, together with the number and location of any places leading to the award of degrees other than the BA(Ed). As an essential part of this planning process, the RCCDEs would seek a proper degree of rationalisation in the courses offered by their institutions. Rationalisation would not necessarily stop at the boundaries of RCCDEs for the NCTET would also have a coordinating role, which might include the designation of some institutions as national, or multi-regional, centres for particular purposes. The whole planning process would require a continuing dialogue between the central body and the regions. The Director of each RCCDE would be a key figure: he would be employed by the RCCDE, above all, for his administrative skill as an educational planner, and he would need a staff which would have to be of good quality. The administrative costs of running the RCCDEs and the NCTET should be met by direct grant from the DES: this would be no more than a sensible and necessary modification of the present arrangements under which the ATOs are financed by grant through the universities and the UGC. 5.30 The academic functions of the NCTET and the RCCDEs relate to first cycle qualifications. The NCTET, although it would naturally be concerned with and, where appropriate, would give guidance on, the academic standards set by the RCCDEs would not itself be directly involved in academic matters. It must, of course, be empowered to make the award of the DipHE, although the responsibility for ensuring that the arrangements were satisfactory would be delegated to the RCCDEs. The colleges themselves, subject to approval by the RCCDEs, would conduct the examinations and appoint examiners. The main academic responsibilities would fall to the academic committee of the RCCDEs. Where it was concerned in the content and conduct of DipHE courses, the academic committee of an RCCDE would need to be supported by an appropriate range of panels, whose function would be to discuss and comment on the first cycle programmes of individual colleges. An academic committee or panel would be composed mainly of college lecturers, together with some university and polytechnic teachers, teacher representatives from the schools and FE establishments and suitable co-opted members. 5.31 The National Council would thus combine two different functions, which would be discharged through two very differently composed committees. The function of the academic committee might quite rapidly be assumed by the CNAA or, in some cases, by universities. If not, it might well he that the membership and duties of the two committees would be so different that it would become administratively sensible for them to develop as separate national bodies, especially if a wider range of institutions came to include the DipHE in their programmes of work. The same differentiation would then occur at regional level. Our concern has been to propose an administrative machinery which would be capable of initiating the necessary developments as speedily as possible. It would also, however, be a machinery that was susceptible to rapid modification in the light of experience. 5.32 Although the observations of the National Council might be sought on the total supply of teachers and on the amount of money to be committed [page 60] to their education and training, it would not be within the Council's powers to make decisions on either question. Such decisions would clearly be political and therefore the prerogative of central and local government. Nevertheless, it would be essential that, within numerical and financial guidelines determined by central government, the new agencies should be able to put forward plans based on their knowledge of the strengths and legitimate aspirations of individual institutions. The financing of the colleges of education 5.33 It is clear that colleges of education must be subject to some form of centralised allocation of resources and equally clear that the system should seek to avoid gross inequalities of financial provision between one college and another. The total level of resources involved must be a concern of central government and, for as long as many of the colleges continue to receive their money from that sector of the public purse for which local authorities are responsible, the local authorities have an effective say in how that money is disbursed. It does not follow that a proper measure of financial control by local authorities is best exercised by the unplanned intervention of individual authorities and the need for better coordinated arrangements is already recognised in the studies undertaken by the Pooling Committee. It would not be appropriate to suggest detailed amendments of the pooling arrangements. What can be done is to suggest principles which should underlie any changes in the existing procedures that are made. 5.34 One principle deserving special emphasis is that plans should be drawn up which would allow the colleges of education to move towards the maximum possible freedom in the management of their own financial affairs. In view of the proposed expansion of the colleges' activities and the increasing variety of learning resources available to them, it would be reasonable to give individual colleges greater powers of decision in financial matters. They should have the power to make alternative use of resources for teaching staff, non-teaching staff and monies for equipment and materials, within a specified margin of their total resources, subject to proper safeguards about total cost and due regard being paid to implications for future financial commitments. Equally important is the principle that logistic and educational decisions must be integrated if second and third cycle activities are to be properly planned and rationalised. The expansion of third cycle work proposed in this report would require a substantial deployment of resources. The new regional and national agencies would be unable to play the part assigned to them unless they had an effective means of influencing how those resources were distributed. The elaboration of any financial system applying to teacher education and training is beset with complex problems: it is necessary to acknowledge the collective interests of the LEAs, to allow for the complications arising from the financing of voluntary colleges and to deal with the difficulties that flow from an overlapping of the financial arrangements in the independent and public sectors. It seems to us to be essential that once decisions had been taken centrally, after consultation with the NCTET, on the total level of resources to be committed, and had been interpreted by that body, the RCCDEs should be responsible for making recommendations to all their constituent members on the allocation of resources within their regions. Their power to make these recommendations would have to be fully recognised. [page 61] 5.35 The financial arrangements applying at present to the colleges, and in particular the pooling arrangements, have come about partly because they are establishments for producing the teachers needed for the maintained schools as a whole. Students in the colleges who might not otherwise qualify for mandatory awards receive them at present by virtue of being intending teachers. One effect of adopting the proposals of this report would be that the colleges would cease to be exclusively teacher-producing and, although they would continue to contain 'intending teachers', it would not necessarily be possible to identify these students on entry. Provided all students following DipHE courses could be regarded for this purpose as the equivalent of 'advanced further education' students, however, we have been assured that it would be perfectly feasible to adapt the pooling arrangements, so that the expenditure of the colleges could continue to be pooled. We have also been given to understand that provided normal entry requirements to the DipHE were the same as those for what are called 'designated courses', i.e. two A Levels or the equivalent - with suitable provision also, we would hope, for the exceptions already referred to in Chapter 4 - then it should be possible for all students in the colleges to qualify for mandatory awards. Possible development of the system 5.36 The new system would allow great possibilities of specialisation within a framework of diversity. There would be ample scope for individual institutions to develop along their own particular lines. Nowhere would this diversity be more likely than in the development of the colleges of education. The colleges already vary a great deal in the status of their providing bodies, their size, specialisms, patterns of activity and geographical situations. (Appendix 8 gives some indication of this diversity of the present pattern). In future, virtually all colleges would carry out the functions of professional centres and would therefore be intimately involved in the third cycle and in the second year of the second cycle. Apart from that common role, their paths might diverge even more widely than at present. Colleges already specialising in the preparation of teachers of physical education or home economics might be encouraged to continue to do so. The colleges which have built a high reputation on their training for work with young children might be similarly encouraged to recruit their students from among those with a strong and early motivation to work of this kind, and to concentrate on suitable education-oriented courses. It is hoped that the two colleges in Wales that have specialised in bilingualism would wish to continue this specialism. Some large colleges would be equipped, and should be encouraged, to offer a comprehensive programme of activities covering all three cycles, including the development of degree courses for students other than intending teachers. A few large colleges might tend to concentrate on second and third cycle work of all kinds and become centres of professional excellence, while other colleges became centres for courses in the first cycle only. Still others might see their future as specialised residential centres for high quality work in the third cycle. The voluntary bodies which maintain training establishments would continue to do so and the colleges to fulfil their distinctive role. It is to be hoped that the voluntary bodies would agree to a widening of functions for their colleges so that all could share in the same advance and play their full part in the new system. Financial arrangements for these colleges would continue as at present. [page 62] 5.37 Larger questions would arise if it were decided that a few colleges should change their status and function altogether by amalgamation with universities or polytechnics. There would be problems in assimilating such developments into financial and building programmes and there might be grave difficulties over the transfer of staff. Nevertheless there may be a few cases where such mergers are geographically possible and educationally appropriate. Other varieties of mergers offer perhaps more promising opportunities. For example, groups of two or three colleges might choose to amalgamate, where their locations favoured such a merger. Different forms and styles of amalgamation should be encouraged and could lead to a rationalisation of effort, not necessarily related to the age range covered by the training. Nor should planners overlook the possibility that some colleges might close or be made over to other educational uses. 5.38 Special consideration would need to be given to the training of teachers for FE, which at present is largely conducted by the four colleges of education (technical) and by 'outposts' of those colleges in certain FE establishments. Students in these colleges and outposts are trained to work with young people of school leaving age and beyond, and their training may be either quite broad, dealing with general subjects or the more common technologies, or highly specialised to equip them to teach young men and women employed in particular industrial occupations. There will be a continuing need for the latter kind of specialised training, although the number of students will remain quite small. In some cases at present one or two of the four colleges provide for the total need and even in the system proposed in this report there will be, for some time to come, few, if any, regions able to provide all the specialist facilities required and some which cannot provide any of them. The system must therefore continue to be 'national' rather than 'regional' for these purposes and the NCTET will need a special committee to plan and coordinate the arrangements. Until such time as the measures proposed in this report led to a large expansion of second and third cycle work for FE teachers, the need would mostly be satisfied within the present pattern of four specialist colleges and associated outposts, the latter probably developing into, or being assimilated with, professional centres. As the general training load increased, it would be carried by the four colleges, by polytechnic departments of education which undertook this type of work and by a range of professional centres set up in selected FE colleges. Although the pattern over the country would thus become more comprehensive, the need for national coordination of specialised facilities would remain. 5.39 The system proposed in this report would encourage close interrelationships between institutions and the sharing of facilities and resources, wherever such sharing was practicable and beneficial. Indeed, sharing of this kind could extend to other institutions - for example, FE establishments or colleges of art and design or of music - where the circumstances were mutually favourable. For this and other reasons, it would be essential to establish effective lines of communication between the Regional Advisory Councils for FE and the new agencies proposed in this report. The proposals for rationalisation do not go as far as some witnesses to this Inquiry have urged, but they would not inhibit more radical developments [page 63] if these were decided upon. It has been argued, for example, that a Central Grants Committee should be established, to review the whole field of expenditure on higher education or that, at least, there should be a parallel agency to the UGC to consider all higher education expenditure in the public sector. There is clearly some force in the argument that decisions about the allocation of total resources for higher education could be made more effectively in some agency covering the whole field but it is also clear that in accepting invitations to explore this wider area we should be exceeding the limits of our terms of reference. Nevertheless, the proposals of this report, so far from inhibiting a partial or total merging of different sectors of higher education, would simplify any such developments as might eventually be defined as national policy. Action to be taken in the immediate future 5.40 It now remains to consider the immediate steps which might follow a decision in principle to implement this report. A consultative document on the constitution, powers and geographical boundaries of the proposed Regional Councils would presumably be issued at an early date. As LEAs would be essential members of such Councils it would seem to follow that decisions based on these consultations, and embodying the formal constitution of the RCCDEs, could not be made effective until after the reorganised local authorities had assumed office in April 1974. Moreover, if the National Council were constituted in the way suggested in this report, it would seem to be the case that it could not be set up until after the regional bodies were in being. The paramount need for making a speedy start on building the new system would, however, point to the value of interim solutions. The establishment at the earliest possible date of an interim national body for a limited term of office would be necessary. Such an interim body could be quite small, containing perhaps only 10 members, but with provision for later expansion of membership to the full size of the NCTET. Meanwhile, its composition could reflect a balance of interests similar to that within the National Council and its membership might, indeed, in practice, anticipate some of the membership of the future body. This interim body would need to take office before any of the other changes foreshadowed in this report could be set in train and its appointment should not await the 1974 reorganisation of local government. It would need to be empowered to award the DipHE and the BA(Ed) and to take decisions on behalf of its successor. 5.41 The structure of regional agencies should also be established quickly and on a similar interim basis. Once decisions had been made about the boundaries and composition of the future RCCDEs it would be possible to establish for the regions Consultative Councils which would undertake a great deal of preliminary work on behalf of, and subject to later ratification by, the RCCDEs. These consultative bodies, most of whose membership might anticipate the membership of the RCCDEs, could initiate the work of defining the standards required for the award of the DipHE and the BA(Ed), begin to offer advice on the content and organisation of first cycle courses, seek help and advice from existing degree-granting bodies and set up provisional machinery for articulating national [page 64] decisions on supply and resources and for discussing priorities and promoting rationalisation. Their decisions in these matters could not be finalised until the RCCDEs and the NCTET themselves were appointed, but much preliminary work could be completed. The study of the complex and delicate problems involved in defining the financial arrangements for the new system should begin at the earliest possible date. 5.42 Since the national body, interim or permanent, could not be equipped to award the DipHE before 1975 at the earliest, the first students for the diploma could not be enrolled before September 1973. It follows either that the Consultative Councils must be created soon enough to approve arrangements for DipHE courses starting in that year or that provision must be made for retrospective approval of courses after they had been launched. If all intending teachers are to embark on the new kind of second cycle courses in 1975, then sufficient professional centres must be in existence by 1976 to meet the needs of licensed teachers in that year. In 1977 the first awards of the degree of BA(Ed) would be made, both to teachers who had started DipHE courses in 1973 and to those whose three-year degree courses had started in 1972. Provided that suitable arrangements could be made for them, it might well be possible for at least some of the teachers who will be trained under the present system and will enter the schools in 1973, 1974 and 1975 to have the benefit of the improved style of induction proposed for the second year of the second cycle. 5.43 It is not on the organisational changes alone that an early start could be made. A decision in principle to proceed along the lines suggested here could release considerable energies and immediately initiate a great deal of essential preliminary work. If the establishment of a system of the kind described here were a publicly accepted objective there is no doubt that many of the agencies concerned would take immediate action. LEAs, for example, would begin to nominate the teachers who would be professional tutors in their schools. They would begin to plan an expansion of third cycle activity, placing particular emphasis on the need to organise courses to prepare professional tutors for their new responsibilities. They would study possible locations for professional centres and would take steps to build up some existing teachers' centres to the level of staffing and facilities they would need in order to become professional centres. They would take advantage of the continuing improvement in teacher supply to appoint sufficient teachers to ensure that the schools might start to plan the arrangements they would have to make to play the part assigned to them. These arrangements would be especially difficult in schools which suffer from a high turnover of staff. Although these schools present problems incapable of easy solution, employing authorities must be encouraged to be particularly generous in staffing and supporting them. The colleges of education and other professional institutions would begin to re-examine their courses and introduce experiments which looked ahead to the changes that were impending. The Consultative Councils, as forerunners of the RCCDEs, would draw the professional institutions into a preliminary consideration of development plans for their regions. [page 65] The situation in Wales: a note by one of our members 5.44 There are special characteristics and circumstances relating to Wales which require it to be treated separately. The McNair Committee also appreciated this fact and it therefore made separate recommendations for Wales, which were unanimous, and which were wholeheartedly adopted by the Welsh institutions which were concerned with them. It is instructive to note the way in which the integration of colleges of education with the University of Wales has been achieved as a result of the recommendations of the McNair Committee. The University of Wales is unique in Britain in that in both its origin and its development it is a national institution. It has therefore adapted itself to the cultural and geographical conditions of its environment and has evolved into a flexible federation which gives considerable autonomy in academic and other matters to its constituent institutions. No more evidence of this is required than the way in which, over the past few years, the former Welsh College of Advanced Technology and St David's College Lampeter, have become members of the Federation. This flexible attitude has also been applied to the University School of Education which acts as the Area Training Organisation for Wales. This ATO is unique in that its officers, who have their headquarters at the University of Wales Registry, have an exclusively administrative and coordinating function. Initial training is carried out by the departments of education of the University's constituent colleges at Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea and by nine colleges of education situated in different parts of Wales. In-service education is carried out by the Collegiate Faculties of Education centred on the constituent colleges of the University and including colleges of education, the local authorities and teachers in those particular areas. Although the University maintains an overall academic supervision of the colleges of education, as it does over all its constituent institutions, it has encouraged considerable experimentation by individual colleges. With the creation of Academic Boards in the colleges of education the University has abolished Boards of Study which used to consider syllabus changes, and has replaced them by colloquia which involve members of the University, the colleges of education and teachers. These colloquia ensure that there is a continuous interchange of ideas concerning syllabuses and curriculum development. The formal academic approval of any changes or experimentation is given by a newly created Faculty Board which is broadly representative and which is required, in addition, to take expert advice on specific matters from teachers in schools, colleges of education and universities. 5.45 In the light of the above situation, the possibility outlined in paragraph 5.20 of universities discharging the academic/awarding functions described in this report, should in Wales become a fact. Moreover, the University of Wales has already shown a liberal attitude in awarding its professional degrees and diplomas to students of higher and further education institutions other than the constituent colleges. The revised BEd for serving teachers is one example as are the Bachelor of Nursing and the Bachelor of Librarianship, this last being taken by students of the College of Librarianship, Wales, under a scheme of academic association between that College and the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. Similar academic associations could be developed between constituent colleges of the University and the colleges of education in their respective regions. [page 66] 5.46 The administrative pattern which has been suggested for England could be adapted to the special conditions in Wales. It is important that the education and training of teachers in Wales should be under the aegis of one national body, as is university education in that country. The appropriate method of achieving this would be the creation of a Wales College Council composed of the University, the colleges of education, the one existing polytechnic and the local authorities with the University providing the secretariat and the administration. The Council would have a membership similar to that of RCCDEs in England except that the local education authorities would be represented by members nominated by the Welsh Joint Education Committee, a statutory body composed of all the local education authorities in Wales. The functions of the Council would be generally similar to those of RCCDEs in England but there would obviously be some differences deriving from the particular circumstances of the Principality. 5.47 If the University undertakes these new and important tasks, and past experience suggests that it will, this will enable teacher training in Wales to take its proper place in that country's system of education, which from primary through secondary to university level, has been adapted over the years to the particular circumstances and requirements of the Principality. J.R.W. 
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