This study aims to define and explain the establishment, functioning and problems of school development management teams (SDMTs), similar to quality circles used in total quality management practices, for the purposes of continuous development and improvement of schools on the basis of the planned school development model. This is a qualitative…

The annual meeting of the ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) IQA (internal quality assurance) Group gathered some 60 participants in the premises of the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) in The Hague in June 2009. This seminar was a successful follow-up to the first ENQA IQA…

UK universities are widely regarded as being among the best in the world. Maintaining the highest academic quality and standards is crucial to that reputation. This leaflet explains how universities ensure that students can have confidence that the time and money they invest in their education are well spent. This leaflet summarises the detailed…

External quality audits are now being used in universities across the world to improve quality assurance, accountability for quality education and transparency of public funding of higher education. Some countries such as Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark have had external quality audits for more than a decade but there…

Concept papers and quality circles help future dissertation advisors improve doctoral student success in the completion of the Ph.D. and increase retention. Through these tools, students navigate the conceptual development of a topic and evaluate final drafts of chapters. Implementation of these innovations indicates positive trends in the…

It might not have been quite what he had in mind when he said it, but Aristotle was right: good quality assurance must be a habit embedded at every level within higher education, not an isolated occurrence. But even good habits can become mere routine, in danger of being emptied of their original purpose and meaning. Periodically, review and…

Examines the traditional Japanese model of university teaching and compares it with the traditional model found in American universities. After a comparative analysis of both approaches, he discusses and raises questions about the feasibility of developing a truly universal methodology, given deep cultural differences and expectations. Describes…

Starting from the CVTS-2 survey in which responses by Austrian and French employers revealed their very limited use of "non-school" types of training (on-the-job training, self-learning, job rotation, apprenticeship and quality circles, etc.), the author searches for the reasons for these two European exceptions. Although certain national…

The national reform agenda of the Council of Australian Governments challenges community education agencies to contribute to its goals and raises questions about their capacity to do so. It is crucial to define the conditions that are necessary to develop the capability of adult and community education (ACE) organisations to play a broader social…

This paper first clarifies the role of "jugyou kenkyuu" for creating an effective environment in schools for teachers to learn from each other and for developing more learning-centered education that focuses on the real needs of students. Secondly, it examines various practical strategies used by both professors and teachers through active…

The influence of the information and communication technologies (ICTs) in open and distance learning (ODL) in a developing country, the Philippines, is critically evaluated in this paper. Specifically, this paper examines how ICTs have influenced or shaped the development of ODL in this country. Also examined are the different stages or…

Academic freedom and the protection of human research subjects are central tenets of American universities. Academic freedom protects the rights of tenured professors to conduct autonomous research; human subject protection ensures that research causes as minimal a risk as possible to study participants. Although the two principles are mutually…

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study the influence of five critical factors on service quality in the insurance sector. Having studied the influence of these critical factors, an attempt has been made to obtain a generic solution to enhance the quality of service by proposing a holistic framework of learning organization. As…

The most debatable question in higher education today is: Why first "open access" to promote massafication and now "capping" to restrict learner intake? (cf. SA Media Information 2004). Concerning the managing of this difficult and extremely sensitive issue, the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) has come a long way. Its position…

In today's climate of grading schools and blaming teachers, educators more than ever need to understand exactly what they do well. It is hard for educators to resist being overcome by all the negativity, and even harder to maintain their motivation each day. In this article, the author discusses how National School Reform Faculty (NSRF) and…