Caliban's Dance
concludes the trilogy begun with
Further Education and the
Twelve Dancing Princesses
, and continued with
The Principal:
Power and Professionalism in FE
. The contributors probed the question "Where in FE is there space to dance?", then "What restricts the dance?" Now we ask: "With no restrictions, what would a future FE dance be like?"
FE is subject to reductive utilitarianism by policymakers;
counters with vivid dreams of a sector unfettered. The book's central metaphor is Caliban from Shakespeare’s
The Tempest
, a play that can be read as a manifesto for second chances, transformation, and learning. The contributors re-imagine FE as utopia: if it is to be Grimm, they demand that it be so on their own professional terms - as powerful, democratic, dancers.