QUALITY SUPPORT: MEASUREMENT AND MYTH

This paper discusses the major dilemmas arising in practice from attempts to pursue the latest policies of quality assurance in teacher education. The introduction fills in the background to these latest proposals and models, from “associative quality” to “production quality”. The paper then proceeds to discuss the issues raised by the new policies under the headings of “measurement” and “myth”. Measurement problems are discussed by reference to a range of debates in classroom studies. It is argued that teacher educators can hardly be assumed to be ignorant of these debates, and, to reinforce the point, materials are selected from the menu offered to students on the well‐known Open University's MA in Education course. The role and functions of organisational myths in institutions of higher education are then out’ lined. The discussion centres on whether the new measurement regimes will demythologise these institutions, and if so, whether this will be a good thing. Finally, the paper concludes with some thoughts about the future, and ends with an argument for concrete investigations of the (micro)political and social aspects of teacher education.