ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the agenda of control underpinning the 'managerialist' discourse and a more optimistic, positive alternative where risk taking is re-defined as a possible foundation for innovation and creativity. It explores the way in which government policies and their contingent external assessment bodies have distorted education to the extent that success is only that which can be measured. In the Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) sector, regulatory bodies such as the Further Education National Training Organisation (FENTO) and the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) certainly do not encourage risk taking. There are many situations other than encouraging creative teaching where risk-taking might be seen as positive, pleasurable and enjoyable from bungee jumping and parachuting to raise money for charity, to white knuckle rides at the theme park. Taking risks and challenging accepted ways of teaching can also be a pleasurable experience.
