Understanding standards‐based quality assurance: part I ‐ rationale and conceptual basis
| Date | 01 September 1998 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684889810224911 |
| Published date | 01 September 1998 |
| Pages | 132-140 |
| Author | Norman Jackson |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Introduction
The nature of, and conceptual basis for, the
regulation of academic practice in UK higher
education (HE) has been comprehensively
explored in a series of companion articles
(Jackson, 1997a, b; 1998). Regulation is a
difficult and emotive concept for academic
communities which value, above all other
values, personal and institutional autonomy
(the right of individuals and institutions to
decide how to perform their core activities)
and academic freedom (the absence of out-
side interference, censure or obstacles to
academic practice). But these academic val-
ues must be positioned against the principle
of public accountability and the interests,
values and needs of society. Regulation, in a
publicly funded service like higher education,
is an important concept because it is the
means by which the interests and values of
society as a whole, as well as those of the
academic community, are protected.
The idea of regulation embraces a more
comprehensive, complex and substantial set
of activities and relationships than the ideas of
quality assurance and enhancement which it
subsumes. It involves the act of regulating
(controlling and requiring adjustments in
practice to be made in line with explicit rules
or expectations contained in codes of prac-
tice) and the condition of being regulated
(practising within a framework of written and
unwritten rules and accepted professional
norms and making necessary adjustments and
changes). At the level of the individual it
embraces the quality of teaching, and the
management and assessment of learning by
individual academics working within
autonomous or semi-autonomous academic
communities. At this level, self- regulation is
an integral part of everyday academic prac-
tice. At a systems level, it embraces a set of
activities which encompass the many dimen-
sions of the management of quality and
132
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 6 · Number 3 · 1998 · pp. 132–140
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0968-4883
Understanding
standards-based
quality assurance:
part I – rationale and
conceptual basis
Norman Jackson
The author
Norman Jackson is an Assistant Director in the Develop-
ment Directorate of the Quality Assurance Agency for
Higher Education and a Senior Research Fellow in the
School of Educational Studies at the University of Surrey,
Guildford, UK.
Abstract
Examines the reasons for the strategic move in UK higher
education to a new national quality assurance regime that
is primarily focused on academic standards. Considers the
conceptual basis on which the new approach is founded as
a precursor to examining the proposals made by the
National Committee of Inquiry in Higher Education and the
initial development work undertaken by the Quality
Assurance Agency to create a policy framework.
I am grateful to Robin Middlehurst, Robin Jackson
and Peter Wright for the many discussions that
have helped me develop this personal perspective
on standards-based quality assurance. The views
and interpretations given are my own. They do not
necessarily represent the views of the Quality
Assurance Agency. An edited version of the paper
was offered as background paper for the annual
Quality Assurance and Enhancement Network
conference held in Coventry in February 1998.
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