3.1 Introduction to the concept of Quality Culture
Brief introduction to Quality Culture as a key concept in European HE.
The Leadership of higher education institutions plays an important role in the strategic direction of Quality Assurance and is instrumental in creating the conditions for a ‘Quality First’ organisation with a true Quality Culture. In order to fulfil this role, Leaders need to have a good understanding of what leadership means in a globalised world – that it includes creating an overall attitude throughout the institution of striving for continuous improvements on all levels; that ‘quality’ comes from those who create education (i.e. teaching staff) as well as all stakeholders involved in it (other staff, students, external stakeholders).
Key points are:
- Presented as an ideal internal QA system, emphasizing Quality Improvement above Quality Control
- Implementation may require changes in attitude and behaviour within both leadership and staff of HE institutions
- Mainly (initially) promoted by the European University Association (EUA)
- Clear parallel with the concept of Total Quality Management
The key facts about the concept of Quality Culture is explained in 7 minutes video below.
And your can view/download also presentation which sumarises the topic.
Reading:
Creating a quality culture in higher education: https://peregrineglobal.com/quality-culture/ (15 min reading)
Exercise:
Define what QC for you and how in your perspective it compares with (i.e. differs and relates to) the QA approach in your HEI (15 minutes of work)
Further reading: Creating a quality culture in higher education: https://peregrineglobal.com/quality-culture/ (15 minutes reading)
