The Moment of Truth

Education consultant Jenny Cronin and Dick Evans, Principal of Stockport College, attempt to explore what the ‘Moment of Truth’(MoT) is and where it occurs in the education and the business worlds. In the world of quality assurance (QA), dominated by jargon, a particular expression is being increasingly adopted, the Moment of Truth (MoT). It sits comfortably alongside other helpful and generally accepted phrases, for example, ‘right first time’. MOT is an example of a piece of jargon that does serve us well, in that it triggers fundamental and essential questions and precipitates meaningful reflections on the issues of processes operated

Strategic Plans — What Value?

Dick Evans argues for living with uncertainty as less stressful and more realistic There is a quotation that goes as follows: “You cannot predict the future, but at least you can plan for it”. However, in the current climate of the free market and increasing deregulation, even the second statement is now highly questionable in education particularly in the FE sector. Continual changes in Government policy, many of which are contradictory, make it almost impossible for colleges to plan their futures. It is practically impossible to plan other than for a very short period because of all the uncertainties associated

VIEWPOINT

“THE SANDS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ARE LITTERED WITH THE WHITE BONES OF WELL INTENTIONED ENDEAVOURS”. A Viewpoint. Paper presented at a conference. 1997. The recent announcement to scrap the White Paper on ‘Lifelong Learning’, to be replaced by a series of consultation papers shows the fragmented situation as far as the Government’s long term strategic vision for education is concerned. This White Paper was supposed to draw together and respond to a number of pre-existing initiatives and research, namely Higginson, Kennedy, Fryer and possibly Dearing. One could add to these the ideas of the Labour Party in opposition on the

The Invasion of the Management Gurus

We live in the age of management gurus and all the theories that flow from them. Many of the ideas and theories being foisted on colleges are transient and of dubious value and yet this country seems to be increasingly obsessed with them. The latest one is PFI — the Private Finance Initiative which aims to get industry to invest in college buildings and services. I get a letter a day from gurus and consultants promising to take the load off my mind. I already have a file of 40 to 45 letters from firms offering PFI services. I fear