Thoughts on how quality influences my practice as an Educator – positive and negative factors from reading Harvey and Green 1993

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Original Posting November 21, 2021

From my reading of Harvey and Green 1993, the notions of quality are clearly a topic of much debate. Particularly when it comes to deciding how to monitor quality. However, I have found myself wondering about who I am accountable to and how I am accountable, as a Tutor, in my Institution so it is of great interest to me to understand and reflect on quality. 

Student satisfaction surveys, are a form of quality assessment used by my Institution which ties in with the value-for-money notion of quality. They are generally a useful indicator of student satisfaction, however they can be problematic as they rely on students own perception of what quality is (which can be very diverse, based on the international student cohort) and depend upon the quality of the questions asked. 

In this sense, I can relate to the views expressed by those who criticise performance indicators as they can be more about efficiency than effectiveness which can in itself negatively effect quality. (Harvey and Green p.23)

The notion of Value for money can be seen as a negative influence as it neglects the role of the student in participation of their own learning.

On the positive side, I can see how the evaluation of quality can give me evidence about my practise which I can reflect on in order to improve.