jerome de lisle © 2011 school of education university of the west indies st. augustine. quality in...

JEROME DE LISLE© 2011

SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONUNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES St. Augustine.

QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS:THE WHOLE OR THE PART?

Accreditation and registration are a quest for quality

• ACTT Registration Standards• CRITERION 3.0: Quality Management System - The institution has a well-planned Quality Management System that is in keeping with its vision, mission, policies, processes, organisational structure, responsibilities and resources, in order to assure the quality of educational outcomes.• CRITERION 6.0: Review - The institution’s management reviews the Quality Management System at planned intervals to ensure that it is suitable, adequate and effective. Records of the review are kept.• CRITERION 7.0: Continuous Improvement - The institution continually reviews its Quality Management System.

Stakeholders’ and organizational member's worldviews are critical to achieving quality

Value-Assumptions and Beliefs are critical in fostering institutional change

Gladstone Mills

Edwin Jones

Metapatterns and Meta-Myths are hidden parts of that iceberg

Organizations are more than structures & processes

Quality is a multi-dimensional concept

Quality

ExcellenceRanking?

PerfectionZero-Error?

Fitness for Purpose

Standards & Goals?

Value for Money

Completion Rates & Costs

Transforming

Innovative & Creative?

Characteristics of an effective quality management system

1) clear specification of roles, responsibilities and procedures;

2) enabling of institutional aims and objectives to be achieved;

3) informing decision making;4) freedom from individual bias;5) repeatable over time;6) involves all staff;7) includes the specification of standards and

acceptable evidence;8) prompts continuous improvement

The argumentQuality

Management

System

Quality Culture

Evaluative Thinking

Systems Thinking

The value of systems thinking

•Systems thinking is the process of understanding how different parts influence one another within the whole.

The Value of Systems Thinking

•There is value in conceptualizing the whole rather than just the part

The Value of Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking helps us deal with unpredictability

Systems Thinking is needed for innovative solutions to problems

Adding evaluative thinking to our worldview

•“Evaluative thinking includes a willingness to do reality testing, to ask the question: how do we know what we think that we know. To use data to inform decisions — not to make data the only basis of decisions — but to bring data to bear on decisions”.

• Michael Quinn Patton

Organizational Learning as a critical outcome

Organizational Learning

Systems Thinking

Evaluative Thinking Continuous

Improvement

Fostering organizational learning

Organizational learning and system renewal-The path to continuous improvement

•We can learn from ‘failures’ too - That is what corrective action is about.

Leadership must model the correct thinking

The QMS is the embodiment of a quality culture

1) an open and active commitment to quality at all levels;2) a willingness to engage in self-evaluation;3) a firm regulatory framework; clarity and consistency of

procedures;4) explicit responsibilities for quality control and quality

assurance;5) an emphasis on obtaining feedback, from a range of

constituencies;6) a clear commitment to identifying and disseminating

good practice;7) prompt, appropriate, and sensitive managerial action

to redress problems, supported by adequate information

Thank You•Your comments to

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