ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an analysis of critical and contextual studies (CCS) provision through a process of comparison. It addresses some case study art and design courses individually in order to identify notions of CCS within each. The case studies look at British Extended Diploma in Art and Design (EDAD) courses and are presented as vignettes so that staff teaching in post-compulsory education can relate them to their own experiences of CCS. Each vignette details the organisation of CCS, staff and student perspectives on the course structure and reflections on emergent themes regarding integration of CCS within the course. Bernstein's collection code and integrated code provide a basis for examining the organisation of knowledge in the curriculum and the relationship between 'theory' and 'practice' in CCS and studio practice. The codes can be understood as two broad types of course design; in Bernstein's terms, these are based on educational knowledge codes that are shaped by curriculum, pedagogy and evaluation.
