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DISCUSSIONS IN EDUCATION SERIESphilosophers Margaret Fuller published in 1988 andHannah Arendt published in 1992. However, I havemoved significantly over time to apply this disciplinarytraining and experience to HE policy and practice,including pedagogy (Watson, 2008).Although I come from a line of school teachers (mygrandfather taught science and my father languages instate secondary schools), I always knew that I couldnever match them in terms of the patience andvicarious satisfactions it takes to be a really goodteacher in schools. I did, however, have someexperience at this level: as a gap-year teacher in JuliusNyerere’s wonderful experiment in ‘education forself-reliance’ in Tanzania in the momentous year of1967-68; immediately after graduating as a supplyteacher in North London (the last year when youwere regarded as qualified with just an Honoursdegree); and as a part-time teacher of music in aQuaker school in Philadelphia while I worked on myPhD (at the University of Pennsylvania, 1971-75). Butfrom when I was an undergraduate student in historyat Cambridge (1968-71) I knew I wanted to be ateacher in HE.In that respect I have basically had five jobs over 35years in five very different English institutions.Crewe and Alsager College of HigherEducation, Senior Lecturer then PrincipalLecturer in Humanities, 1975-81. These werethe heady days of public sector ‘diversification’,following the James report and the major cuts toteacher education. My key responsibility was thedevelopment of a new suite of courses in thehumanities.Oxford Polytechnic, Dean of the ModularCourse then Assistant Director (Academic),1981-90. I went to Oxford as the fourth Dean ofthe pioneering undergraduate Modular Course. Withcolleagues I was responsible for its re-design and revalidationfor its second decade. During my Deanshipthe course at least doubled in size on everydimension (see Watson, 1989; Bines and Watson,1992). I continued to teach throughout, withresponsibility for the compulsory final year historymodule ‘Theories of social change (4910)’.Brighton Polytechnic/University of Brighton,Director and Vice-Chancellor, 1990-2005.During my fifteen years as head of the polytechnicand university, the institution developed a substantialreputation for partnership work (for example, theestablishment of the Brighton & Sussex MedicalSchool), for innovation (for example, the annualLearning and Teaching conferences), and for civicengagement. Two of my books build substantiallyupon this experience (Watson, 2000, 2007b).Working with colleagues, I also continued my interestin professional formation (Bourner, Katz and Watson,2000).22