1. Dearing: A nearly forgotten inquiry Rhiannon Birch 14 February 2014

2. Research question  Did the Dearing Inquiry represent a major exercise in codification?  Codification: the establishment of principles, protocols and frameworks  Are there differences between the terms of reference and the scope of the recommendations?  Does this imply a broader agenda is at work?

3. The Dearing Inquiry: overview  Response to:  Financial crisis  General Election, 1997  National Inquiry, not single issue report  The remit:  Recommendations on: purposes, shape, structure, size and funding of higher education  Teaching, learning, scholarship and research  20 year horizon

4. Key concepts  New Public Management  Neo-liberalism  Audit Culture  Codification  Autonomy  Power  Accountability Government University

5. Remit and Recommendations  The remit was supported by additional principles which refined and extended the overall scope.  75 recommendations can be mapped directly to the remit.  A further 18 relate to Governance (13) or Funding (5).  Dearing’s immediate press: student fees, renewed growth and widening participation  But also codification?

6. Proposed methodology  The Dearing archive:  Evidence submissions  Committee minutes (including oral submissions)  Administrative documents  Re-evaluation of the evidence  Limitations of documentary sources  Conceptual lenses  Sampling, reading protocols, interviews