ABSTRACT
Birmingham, like anywhere else, has both distinctive and characteristic features which can be used to make generalizations, particularly about education and training in industrial Britain. Hutton's History of Birmingham, notes under 'Trade' the manufacture of buttons, buckles, swords, guns, leatherware, pens, brassware, pins, nails, bellows, iron, steel and brass, printing and brewing. People came to Birmingham to earn a lot of money, largely by converting metal into manufactured goods. The nineteenth century was a time of great expansion for Birmingham. The twentieth century continued to enable the citizens of Birmingham to make a comfortable living from manufacturing, with a major significant change in emphasis. The economic recession of the 1970s and early 80s had a particularly severe impact on the industry of Birmingham. The adaptation of departmental structures to matrix style structures is one manifestation of the challenge to remove or reduce boundaries between curriculum areas, resources and people.
