Quality assurance in education

Citation

Spence, M. (2000), "Quality assurance in education", Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 4 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/mbe.2000.26704caa.006

Quality assurance in education

Quality assurance in education

From my first experience of quality assurance in higher education (receiving results from external examination bodies) through ten years of involvement with the Council for National Academic Awards to the situation today – where we have the Quality Assurance Agency, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, professional bodies, accrediting agencies, awarding bodies in addition to our institution's own internal procedures – I sometimes cannot help but think we have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. The number of agents seeking to assure themselves of our "quality", associated with the ever-increasing demand for data to support our claims, can seem to encroach too far into the learning, teaching and research process itself, and take up valuable time and resources that might be better used in directly meeting the needs of our customers. Nevertheless, we cannot avoid the fact that our stakeholders want to be assured that they are getting what they pay for, and the desire of UK institutions and, I suspect, of institutions worldwide, to gain external "kitemarks" such as the AMBA accreditation, suggests that on the whole we must be happy to play the game.

Quality in education tends to mean one of four things and, unfortunately, different stakeholders will identify with different definitions.

Quality as perfection is the traditional, classic notion, that of quality which equates it with excellence and the provision of a service that is flawless. In the higher education sector it is the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, as a government agency, which endeavours to identify "excellence" in business and management education.

Quality as fitness for purpose requires that the product or service fulfils the customer's needs, requirements, or desires. These requirements need to be clearly articulated by the customer. This conception of quality is clearly important to many client organisations who expect schemes to align with their organisational objectives. Here, management development requirements are reflected practically in terms of a tailoring of the curriculum and/or a more convenient pattern of delivery. This objective might be formed in response to crisis and/or a more sharply competitive environment. Quality as value for money may be a more important criterion for some client organisations who will actively seek the same outcome with a lower cost provider.

Quality as fitness for purpose may also be linked to the university as an internal stakeholder. Here the university ascribes an entrepreneurial role to individual departments to generate cash for the institution.

Quality may be conceived in broader terms by taking a transformative and qualitative view of change. A service can transform the consumer by enhancing and empowering an individual. Transformation in an educational context involves not only measurable outcomes, such as examination performance, but also cognitive transcendence with the provider "doing something to the customer rather than just doing something for the customer". This more holistic view of quality is widely endorsed by leading members of the academic community in higher education. Developing critical thinking is also regarded as vital by many educators.

Understanding these different stakeholders' interests tends to reside at the institutional level with academic managers rather than lecturers. While it may be true that lecturers in a range of traditional disciplines have been comparatively insulated from the demands of stakeholders, the complexities of stakeholder expectations are an everyday reality for many others, particularly those involved in business teaching. As with quality management in other industries, the important factors are clear vision and commitment at the top-management level, excellent communication and empowerment of those charged with delivering the service.

Mary SpenceKing's Hill Institute, Greenwich, UK