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Descriptors:
Educational Quality; Quality Control; Management Systems; College Administration; College Faculty; Teacher Attitudes; Interviews; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
This paper focuses on the way lecturers observe, feel restrained by and cope with quality management systems that have been implemented in the higher education systems of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. As two sides of the same coin, quality enhancement and quality control are of increased significance in European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), particularly through the Bologna Process. We are interested in the way that both enhancement and control blend into the current systems, and we are concerned for too much dominance of control, as has been suggested in recent managerial literature. Analysis of 40 interviews in both countries among researchers and lecturers in traditional and universities of applied sciences showed many similarities. It is not so much the general idea of quality management that is being turned down by the respondents. They see the benefits quite clearly. Still, the general belief is that quality management in its current shape and character does not fit with the work of the individual academic, neither their teaching nor their research. The respondents worry for and resent the consequences of increased emphasis on quality assurance and control. The developments concerning the quality management of their HEIs are perceived in terms of quality assurance by the UK respondents. Instead, the Dutch are more occupied with finding ways to "how to deal with" such developments. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Higher Education; Educational Quality; College Faculty; Attitudes; Comparative Analysis; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
Two specific forms of quality are identified: Type I, which has a managerial focus and stresses fitness for purpose and accountability, and Type II, which is collegial and concerned with enhancement. Through an analysis of the literature on quality in higher education and small-scale empirical research with a sample of academic staff, this article compares conceptions of quality assurance in the English and Finnish higher education systems. The authors highlight the similarities and differences in the two countries and possible reasons for them. Over time the blend of managerial and collegial approaches to quality has come to favour the former but much more so in England than in Finland, which continues to prefer a largely enhancement-led agenda. Both are signatories to the Bologna Declaration, and the implications for other European countries of convergence in quality assurance systems by 2011 through this Declaration are considered. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Grounded Theory; Teacher Effectiveness; Educational Quality; Quality Control; Teaching Methods; Foreign Countries; College Faculty; Teacher Attitudes; Interviews; Accountability; Instructional Effectiveness

Abstract:
Purpose: The paper seeks to deepen the understanding of university lecturers' perceptions of quality. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs a literature review to establish a robust analytical framework and the use of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a random sample of 20 lecturers in a range of UK universities. The interview data was categorised using the constant comparative method. Findings: The majority of the respondents perceived quality to be largely related to fitness for purpose and accountability rather than transformation. Many respondents made reference to quality assurance or terms associated with it. On the other hand, very few respondents referred to quality enhancement or associated terms. Research limitations/implications: The research would suggest that enhancement activities in universities need to be developed further and then highlighted as the respondents in this small sample perceived quality to be more about assurance than enhancement. The research would need to be extended to a far greater number of respondents, as at the moment the results are largely illuminative. Practical implications: Academic development staff should review the impact of their quality initiatives and, if necessary, consider different ways in which they can enhance the quality of the teaching in their universities. Originality/value: There has been an evaluation of the effect of particular Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund initiatives and the impact of subject reviews, but there has been relatively little consideration of lecturers' perceptions of quality. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Service Occupations; Intellectual Disciplines; Higher Education; College Faculty; Teacher Attitudes; College Students; Correlation; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
This paper examines the notion of the student as a customer in a university, focusing on the perceptions of academic staff. Changes in the higher education sector in recent years have significantly reduced the differences between universities and other types of organisations and it has been argued that students have become "consumers" of higher education services. On the other hand, some senior academics believe that higher education is not just another service industry. The views on the notion of the student as a customer were elicited by means of in-depth interviews amongst staff in three "new" (post-1992) and three older universities. Whereas the government and its agencies stress the need to consider students as customers, there is very limited support for this notion amongst academic staff. Academic discipline, rather than the type of university, appears to be influential in determining attitudes towards the notion of the student as a customer. (Contains 1 table.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Educational Development; Teaching Methods; Leadership; Universities; Organizational Change; Organizational Culture; Educational Strategies; Power Structure; Interviews; Comparative Analysis; Administrators; Administrator Attitudes

Abstract:
This article identifies the increasing demands on United Kingdom universities brought about by the expanded government agenda and the entry of higher numbers of more diverse students. It analyses the changes in organizational structures and cultures and identifies a centralizing tendency in terms of power to meet these demands. There is a focus on directors of educational development centres to explore how they have responded to the challenge of implementing their universities' teaching and learning strategies in a changing and uncertain environment. There is an examination of how they identify the locus of power, their priorities, the leadership skills they employ and the coalitions they build. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Teacher Effectiveness; Quality Control; Peer Evaluation

Abstract:
This paper examines the introduction of peer review of teaching in a pre-1992 university in England. The paper first considers the theoretical dimensions. Peer review of teaching is generally seen as a quality enhancement rather than a quality assurance instrument and a powerful means of encouraging the continuing professional development of individual lecturers. However, the paper identifies that where peer review of teaching is not seen in these terms, but rather as just one of many impositions by external agencies, universities face the major challenge of changing organisational culture and influencing the assumptions, beliefs, values and behaviours of academic staff. The second part of the paper discusses a case study of the implementation and impact of peer review of teaching in a large and very diverse university. This study highlights the theoretical concepts discussed and helps to conceptualise the problems associated with formative peer review of teaching in higher education. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Higher Education; Educational Quality; Total Quality Management; Success; Education Work Relationship; Change Agents; Transformational Leadership; Organizational Culture; Educational Improvement

Abstract:
This paper reviews recent research, literature and the views of a small sample of senior managers and academics in English higher education institutions on the challenges associated with embedding quality. When implemented by a university, quality enhancement models such as total quality management and the European Foundation for Quality Management need to be fitted in sympathetically with the organisation's culture and structures. If embedding is to occur, there needs to be a careful consideration of the opportunity costs of the various options that could bring about the necessary transformative change. The importance of transformative leadership and the creation of a conducive organisational culture are also explored, as are the major indicators of success. Senior managers and other change agents face major challenges but, by achieving the goal of embedding quality, students would receive greatly improved higher education and, as a consequence, their country's economy and society would also prosper. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Accountability; Administrator Evaluation; Educational Improvement; Foreign Countries; Management Development; Public Education; Secondary Education; Teacher Evaluation

Abstract:
Analyzes the impact of the new statutory head-teacher performance-management scheme in a sample of Kent's secondary schools. Forty-three replies were completed and returned, representing an 83 percent response rate. Most respondents regarded the scheme as a force for good. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, and 79 references.) (MLF)

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Descriptors:
Definitions; Educational Quality; Educational Trends; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Quality Control; Standards

Abstract:
Four of Harvey and Green's five definitions of quality are used as a framework to examine whether "massification" is hurting educational quality. A survey of British higher education managers revealed that fitness for purpose and transformation were the preferred definitions of quality. Quality Assurance Agency subject reviews indicate that quality measured in these terms is not at an end. (EV)

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Descriptors:
Educational Economics; Educational Philosophy; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Liberal Arts; Role of Education

Abstract:
Examines political, economic, and educational reasons for higher education's shift from collegial academy to corporate enterprise. Relates the belief in the market model of education to the decline of the liberal education tradition. (SK)

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