试析高等教育大众化的质量保障条件

纵观世界高等教育发展的总趋势,是由精英教育向大众化教育,进而向普及教育发展。目前我国已迈入高等教育大众化初级阶段。本文认为,要想真正保障扩招后的高校教育质量,必须在师资队伍,学科专业,教育手段和方法,物质基础,教育管理五个方面达到相应的条件。     

高等教育质量保障:反思、批判与变革

现代意义的高等教育质量保障既是一种具有强烈问责取向的意识形态,也是一种技术手段,同时,它在日益理性化和专业化的同时也逐渐演化为一种权力机制。对于遵从的倡导,对于技术的迷思,以及权力和责任的失衡,是当前高等教育质量保障所固有的弊端。要使提高高等教育质量成为一项可持续的事业,须从质量保障走向质量文化。一方面,需要对传统的高等教育质量保障进行反思和革新;另一方面,需要在各利益相关者之间形成一种基于相互信任的,以社会契约关系为核心的整体性质量文化。     

我国高等教育质量保障研究:现状、问题与新趋势

对当前我国高等教育质量保障研究的基本情况和主要内容进行梳理,指出研究中存在的主要问题,并结合国内外高等教育发展的新形势,分析我国高等教育质量保障研究的新趋势。     

高等教育质量保障:政府、社会和高校共同的责任

在不同的社会经济条件下,高等教育质量保障模式各异。随着我国经济体制的转轨,计划经济条件下政府包办一切的模式已被逐步打破,应建立起由政府的宏观质量调控、社会的质量调节和高校的质量管理三者有机协调、运转通畅的新模式。     

加纳私立高等教育发展的背景、特点及质量保障评析

20世纪90年代以来,加纳私立高等教育发展迅速。受本国传统文化及市场变化等因素的影响,加纳私立高等教育在课程设置和教学人员等方面形成了许多鲜明的特色。由于产生时间不长,加纳私立高等教育在引人关注的质量问题方面采取了诸多措施,但要保持持续快速发展还面临许多严峻的挑战。     

中国高等教育质量保障的新理念和新制度

中国高等教育正处于从外延扩张到内涵发展的战略转型期,有效保障和全面提高质量成为核心议题之一。经过长期探索和自我调整,中国正在形成以高校为主体、以学生为根本、以常态监测为手段的高等教育质量保障新理念,正在完善覆盖研究生教育、本科生教育和高等职业教育三个层次的,包含资格准入、自我保障和外部评价三个主要方面的,较为完整的高等教育质量保障制度体系。这一体系既保持了中国本土特色,也以更加开放的心态融入世界潮流。     

高等教育质量保障运动的发展态势:比较的视野

质量保障是高等教育改革与发展的中心议题。高等教育质量保障的走向是:高等教育质量保障模式趋向融合与稳定,在外控与自律之间寻求一种平衡状态;高等教育质量保障纳入法制轨道,组织机构健全规范,运转协调;在注重高校办学特色的基础上,更强调质量标准化;高等教育质量保障的国际合作步伐加快。     

The Australian higher education quality assurance framework

The Australian government initiated a review of higher education in 2008. One of the outcomes of the review was the formation of a national regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), with responsibilities to: register all higher education providers, accredit the courses of the non self-accrediting providers, assure quality against externally set standards and reduce risk by monitoring institutional performance on various measures. One of the key changes in Australian higher education quality assurance is the shift from a ‘fitness-for-purpose’ approach to quality assurance to a compliance-driven approach using an externally developed set of standards monitored by the national regulator, which has legislated powers to place sanctions on universities and other providers for non-compliance. This article outlines the new framework introduced by the government and analyses its limitations in assuring and improving quality in core and support areas. It cautions universities against being dominated by TEQSA's compliance agenda. Rather, it encourages the development and maintenance of shared governance principles and strong internal quality improvement processes along with the establishment of an outcomes focus, which will stand the test of external compliance auditing while allowing the institution to pursue its own educational objectives. The article is based on the authors’ experience and reflection on external, improvement-led quality audits in Australia over the past decade compared with the present compliance-oriented audits now required for institutional registration and ongoing accreditation.     

我国高等教育质量保证模式的建构策略

我国现有的以政府控制为显著特征的高等教育质量保证模式,在实际运行中产生了理论和实践上的诸多问题,改革势在必行。应逐步实行市场化策略,培育与建立评估市场。政府应变“行政管理”为“政策调控”,变“统包统揽”为“多边共识”,高校应从他律走向自律,社会则应从缺席到参与。     

Importing quality higher educational resources through Chinese-foreign cooperation in running schools

Importing quality higher education resources is the core mission of Chinese-foreign joint initiative in higher education as well as the key to improve the level of the cooperation initiatives. The paper reviews the history and current situation of the introduction of quality higher education resources through Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools. It scrutinizes the whole process of importing quality higher education resources and analyzes the main problems in the process about quality evaluation, resources import, joint management and quality assurance mechanism. On this basis, the paper attempts to analyze the development trend of the process and provides some suggestions.     

Professionalism,profession and quality assurance practitioners in external quality assurance agencies in higher education

This article seeks to spark a dialectic discussion on the establishment of a set of professional competencies for quality assurance practitioners who serve in external quality assurance agencies in higher education. Such a need is identified due to the shortage of relevant and sufficient coverage in the quality assurance literature. To substantiate the need, the concepts of professionalism and profession, and how these concepts are linked to the quality assurance in higher education sector, are carefully examined through a desk-top research study. References are drawn from the experiences in several other occupations. The result reveals that the development of the essential competencies for external quality assurance practitioners in higher education is valuable and essential and it will be useful for the practitioners to transform themselves into a profession in the long run.     

高等教育质量保证机制的国际比较

高等教育大众化在一些发达国家已成为现实，高等教育质量保证机制是确保大众化高等教育健康发展的必要途径。某些发达国家的高等教育保证机制主要有政府主导型、民间中介组织主导型和中介机构与院校的内部质量保证机制相结合型三种模式，几种模式各有利弊。我国建立高等教育质量保证机制对此应加以借鉴。     

The contribution of professional accreditation to quality assurance in higher education

This article examines the extent to which the professional accreditation of professional higher education programmes can complement other quality assurance endeavours being carried out. An analysis of a sample of professional accreditation reports for pharmacy education programmes in Ireland provides insight into the priorities of the regulatory professional body with regard to preparation for the profession. The results show that the reports address issues that are of relevance for the higher education institutions’ provision of quality programmes and for their quality assurance. The article also considers the extent to which the reports hold institutions accountable against the professional standards, while also acknowledging the professional responsibility of institution staff. Catering for both of these logics is necessary so that professional accreditation can contribute effectively as a mechanism for quality assurance, including enhancement, in the institution.     

Quality assurance for public higher education: context,strategies and challenges in Kenya

Quality assurance (QA) mechanisms used to be highly dependent on national administrative traditions but nowadays there is a convergence of mechanisms. Compared to more developed higher education (HE) systems in the world, QA systems in Africa are still at an infant stage and thus confronted by many challenges. The purpose of this article is to present some of the findings derived from a study analysing the crucial issues and unique challenges facing Kenya's public HE as it struggles to develop QA mechanisms. Using purposive sampling, the researcher chose two public universities who indicated their willingness to participate and a national QA Agency (QAA). The study was done through in-depth interviews and a review of historical materials and records. Overall, respondents strongly emphasised the need for Kenyan universities to have compulsory and effective external and internal QA mechanisms. They indicated that the trends facing HE make it necessary for HE in Kenya to review their traditional QA structures and to create new systems of external QA. The numerous comments in this research indicate deficiency not only in the QAA focus and work but also in the internal QA frameworks within public universities.     

The contradictory managerialism of university quality assurance

This paper investigates how Australian universities are being disciplined to behave as commercial enterprises by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). The manual produced by AUQA, for the purpose of conducting audits of Australian universities, is analysed. I use an analytical framework that provides a means by which a text from the ‘manual’ genre can be analysed with respect to social and political contexts, using Critical Discourse Analysis. I analyse changes in the language used in subsequent editions of the manual, drawing inferences about how the AUQA manual constructs universities to behave as particular kinds of business entities. Depictions of the globalised and virtualised university are silenced in the texts. Contrary to the rhetoric of the university being a flexible, globalised enterprise, I find that universities are constructed as localised businesses appearing to be independent of direct government control but nevertheless constrained in the scope of their operation.     

从质量争议看高等教育质量评价的现状和任务

当前关于高等教育质量问题的争议之所以难以取得共识,直接的原因是缺乏具有公信力的高等教育质量评价,深层的原因则在于我国根本就没有建立起高等教育质量评价体系。因此,构建我国高等教育目标系统,建立多主体、多层次的高等教育质量评价工作体系势在必行。