Research Partnership and an Issues Framework: a review of the methodology of an overarching project on competence funded by the Further Education Unit and the Training Agency

Abstract

This article reports on the structure and the methodology of a national overarching project funded by the Training Agency and the Further Education Unit. The project sought to investigate the impact and implications of competence-led curricula in the further education sector in England and Wales. The article outlines how the project evolved through a two-phase process, the research methodology adopted and the management approach applied. Finally, the paper outlines the alternative dissemination strategies that have been utilised in phase two of the project in an attempt to satisfy the needs of a range of audiences. In conclusion, the paper identifies that the ‘teacher-as-researcher’ approach, which has been advanced so successfully in schools, needs now to be applied more explicitly within the context of further education.