{"id":1953,"date":"2012-06-26T09:55:27","date_gmt":"2012-06-26T08:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=1953"},"modified":"2012-06-26T09:55:27","modified_gmt":"2012-06-26T08:55:27","slug":"qaa-and-esd-a-serious-case-of-conceptual-clarity-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2012\/06\/26\/qaa-and-esd-a-serious-case-of-conceptual-clarity-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"QAA and ESD \u2013 a serious case of conceptual clarity disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"

I've been reading the QAA's<\/a> UK Quality Code for Higher Education<\/a><\/em>, and commenting through its consultation process on Chapter B3: Learning and\u00a0Teaching. \u00a0 This followed a request to SHED-SHARE members:<\/p>\n

The new UK Quality Code is a revision of the previous academic infrastructure that guides institutional teaching and learning policy as well as programme level curriculum development. \u00a0For the first time, the Code has a learning and teaching chapter which includes cross-cutting themes. \u00a0It is therefore important to take time to articulate the need and value of ESD becoming part of the sector level educational discourse and to communicate that this can make a difference to the student experience. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I noted the present instructional<\/em> tense and responded. \u00a0Here's the gist of what I wrote:<\/p>\n

I\u00a0think B3 is an admirable document \u2013 in a timeless sort of way \u2013 and I certainly\u00a0wish all this had been in place when I was an undergraduate.\u00a0\u00a0Its\u00a0timelessness\u00a0seems a\u00a0problem, however.<\/p>\n

What\u00a0is striking is the absence of any wider context.\u00a0\u00a0The notion, for example, that the world faces a range of\u00a0severe challenges (existential, many say)\u00a0which threaten the quality of lives,\u00a0the resilience of economies, the integrity of the biosphere, etc.,\u00a0and\u00a0that UK HE has both responsibilities and agency\u00a0here, is completely\u00a0missing.\u00a0\u00a0UK HE is presented as a\u00a0bubble, and teaching and learning as an enclosed space within that, responsible\u00a0unto itself \u2013 and\u00a0the QAA.<\/p>\n

Perhaps\u00a0I overstate this? \u00a0 There are, after\u00a0all, 5 \"themes which cross subject and discipline boundaries<\/em>\":<\/p>\n

graduate\u00a0attributes\u00a0\u00a0\/ education for\u00a0sustainability\u00a0\u00a0\/ \u00a0civic\u00a0responsibility \/ internationalization\u00a0\/\u00a0enterprise and entrepreneurship<\/em><\/p>\n

A few exploratory points, then:<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0This list is such a grab-bag of curiosities that it's hard to think that much effort\u00a0has gone into its compilation.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0list lacks coherence \u2013 conceptual or\u00a0otherwise.\u00a0\u00a0For example,<\/p>\n

[i] what is \"graduate attributes<\/em>\" doing\u00a0in the same list as \"civic responsibility<\/em>\"?\u00a0\u00a0Indeed, what\u00a0is\u00a0graduate\u00a0attributes doing there as a theme at all?<\/p>\n

[ii] \"civic responsibility<\/em>\" is an outcome and a value (and a\u00a0component of most lists of graduate attributes), whereas \"internationalisation<\/em>\"\u00a0is a socio-cultural phenomenon that affects (and affected by) what universities\u00a0do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I could go on, ... .<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0For me, logically,\u00a0the theme isn't\u00a0\"education for\u00a0sustainability<\/em>\"; rather it\u00a0has to be\u00a0sustainable development<\/em> as it is the need for this which provides the external\u00a0stimulus\u00a0\/ imperative for a response by HE.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Achieving the status of a cross-curricular theme is no\u00a0great triumph, no matter how much it is talked up. \u00a0The point of being\u00a0consigned to a C-CT is that it can be safely ignored \u2013 ask a generation of school\u00a0environmental educators.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0The\u00a0text that accompanies the themes also seems a problem.\u00a0\u00a0It says:<\/p>\n

Higher\u00a0education providers engage with a number of themes that cross subject and\u00a0discipline boundaries and inform the design of learning and\u00a0teaching\u00a0activities and the currency of the curriculum.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But,\u00a0\"themes that ... inform the design\u00a0of learning and teaching activities and [inform] the currency of the curriculum<\/em>\",\u00a0seems inadequate phrasing. \u00a0I think this\u00a0needs to refer to the \"focus of the\u00a0curriculum\". \u00a0As, for example:<\/p>\n

Higher\u00a0education providers engage with a number of significant world issues that cross\u00a0subject and discipline boundaries and which inform the\u00a0focus of the curriculum,\u00a0teaching design, and learning outcomes.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

...\u00a0and if the theme were\u00a0sustainable development,<\/em> then all this would make\u00a0sense \u2013 conceptually and in curriculum terms. \u00a0There is still the\u00a0small matter that it\u2019s only a theme, however.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0All\u00a0this might be summarized as follows (apologies for some duplication):<\/p>\n

There\u00a0will be those who will ...<\/p>\n

a.\u00a0see\u00a0this a welcome foot in the QAA door (a Trojan mouse)<\/p>\n

b. find\u00a0it hard to see why these themes are even there, given that the code is about\u00a0quality not curriculum<\/p>\n

c.\u00a0\u00a0think\u00a0that, if there are to be themes, then the logic is to see sustainable\u00a0development<\/em> as the theme, as it is the imperative of this that\u00a0universities are\u00a0urged to respond to. \u00a0Education for sustainability<\/em> is one of several possible\u00a0responses\u00a0to\u00a0that imperative.\u00a0\u00a0To think otherwise is seriously to\u00a0confuse means\u00a0and ends.<\/p>\n

d.\u00a0deplore the insignificance of sustainability's being a mere \"theme\",\u00a0especially as the theme list lacks coherence, and looks a bit of an add-on.<\/p>\n

e. say\u00a0that the idea of themes is a distraction, and that the important achievement\u00a0would be an acknowledgement by QAA that\u00a0the world now\u00a0faces a range of severe\u00a0challenges which threaten the quality of lives, the resilience of economies,\u00a0the integrity of the biosphere, etc.,\u00a0and\u00a0that\u00a0UK HE has both\u00a0responsibilities and agency here.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These\u00a0are not mutually exclusive. \u00a0[a] might tend to foreclose debate. \u00a0I think [c] is right, but [d] \/ [e] is\u00a0where I stand.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0It's\u00a0not clear where best to make the over-arching point [e], though Section C <\/em>of\u00a0the Code, which sets out\u00a0Indicators of\u00a0Sound Practice<\/em>, seems a likely\u00a0place.\u00a0\u00a0Here,\u00a0Indicator\u00a01 says:<\/p>\n

Higher\u00a0education providers publish information that describes their mission,\u00a0values and overall strategy<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But\u00a0Section C is not currently subject to consultation.\u00a0\u00a0A pity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I've been reading the QAA's UK Quality Code for Higher Education, and commenting through its consultation process on Chapter B3: Learning and\u00a0Teaching. \u00a0 This followed a request to SHED-SHARE members: The new UK Quality Code is a revision of the...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-new-publications","category-news-and-updates"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}