Academic regulation in UK higher education: part II ‐ typologies and frameworks for discourse and strategic change
| Pages | 165-179 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684889710174684 |
| Date | 01 September 1997 |
| Published date | 01 September 1997 |
| Author | Norman Jackson |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Introduction
Regulation is an emotive, threatening and
potentially divisive concept when used in
academic communities which value “above all
other values” the concept of academic free-
dom and professional autonomy. Yet virtually
every aspect of academic practice is now
subject to some form of regulatory control or
external scrutiny. This paper and companion
articles (Jackson, 1997a, forthcoming) are
constructed around the premiss that the
reluctance of UK HE to engage with the
concept of regulation hinders its ability to
provide the public, politicians and policy
makers with a comprehensive and analytical
account of the extent and diversity of regula-
tory mechanisms it employs to protect the full
range of stakeholder interests. Several con-
temporary developments, notably the estab-
lishment of the Quality Assurance Agency for
Higher Education, the recommendations
contained in the final report of HEQC’s
Graduate Standards Programme (HEQC,
1996a, 1997a) and the recommendations of
the Dearing Committee of Inquiry, will have
considerable impact on the way higher educa-
tion is regulated in the future. It is therefore a
matter of some priority that HE develops an
overview of the regulatory regime within
which it operates, understands the principles
and concepts on which it is founded and
considers the opportunities and potential for
further development. This article attempts to
provide a series of simple conceptual aids to
165
Academic regulation in
UK higher education:
part II – typologies and
frameworks for
discourse and strategic
change
Norman Jackson
The author
Normal Jacksonis Assistant Director, Quality Enhancement
Group, Higher Education Quality Council, London, UK.
Abstract
The second of three linked articles which explore the
dimensions of academic regulation in UK higher educa-
tion. Provides a series of typologies and conceptual
frameworks to aid understanding and facilitate discourse
over the most appropriate strategic direction for change.
Argues that the challenge is to devise a regulatory regime
which is in balance with competing demands and interests
in contemporary HE and which will achieve the maximum
benefits, in those areas deemed to be most essential to the
maintenance and improvement of the quality and stan-
dards of learning. Considers that the accountability
function of the present regulatory regime has been largely
accomplished through compliance with externally defined
requirements and expectations. Concludes that the
greatest benefits to higher education and the society it
serves are to be derived from a regulatory regime which is
based on the principle of partnership and which has a
strong developmental focus.
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 5 · Number 3 · 1997 · pp. 165–179
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0968-4883
This paper is offered as a contribution to the
debate on the strategic direction of academic
regulation in UK HE. It has been prepared in the
context of an HEQC development project which
aims to support higher education institutions in
their endeavours to improve their own capacity to
regulate themselves. The author is very grateful to
the following colleagues who provided critical
comments and helpful suggestions for improve-
ment at various stages during the preparation of the
article: Peter Barrett, Bob Boucher, Roger Brown,
Jim Graham, Mary Henkel, Robin Jackson, David
Law, Robin Middlehurst, David Parry, Mike
Pittilo, Gavin Ross, Silvia Wicks, Gethin Williams,
Peter Wright, Ranald Macdonald and anonymous
colleagues at Sheffield Hallam University. The
article was also informed by discussions in a series
of workshops on “the future of self-regulation”
convened during the HEQC December 1996
conference. Responsibility for the views expressed
in this article is the author’s alone.
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