Paper Example on Quality Education in Higher Education

Quality of education is a depiction of an enabling environment in higher learning that enables students to acquire transferable skills to suit the current employment profile as critical competencies. Besides developing skills, a higher learning institution that exemplifies quality education exposes learners to comprehensive knowledge. Lecturers' qualification is paramount in attaining quality education because they act as education facilitators. Despite competency, motivation is needed to ensure lecturer deliver their best in learning processes such as professional empowerment, improving the working conditions and continued recognition of their selfless service using rewards (Fabrice, 2010). Fair selection and recruitment exercises promote transparency in the higher education and retention of competent academic staff. Lecturer empowerment increases academic profile and flexibility towards modernization and the awakening of ICT in school (Jaafar, 2006). Effective teaching is also a common element of quality education, for instance adopting to learner-centered approach with a technological aid promotes good classroom presentation and management. Effective teaching fulfills completion of syllabus, knowledge and skill acquisition, the student has the master of their area of specialization and can showcase their skills in real life scenarios (Henard & Leprince-Ringuet, 2008). Quality assurance set in to establish accredited bodies that have an oversight role in controlling the quality of higher learning institutions. The guarantee ensures there is adherence to existing education policies and accountability. The quality assurance also proposes useful changes to the higher education curriculum to meet the global education standards. In this case, the agency vested with the role of ensuring quality is achieved evaluates the education outcomes as well as identify the gaps that exist in higher education to probe a specific course of action (O'Mahony & Garavan, 2012). For instance, Higher learning institutions are accredited and provided with the institutional charter for purposes of improving quality education. The goal of regional quality assurance in education is to reduce the economic gap, exchange academic staffs and make policies.

Indicator of Quality Education

Teaching experience is an indicator of quality education because a lecturer is exposed to various classroom setting as well gives the merit record from the previously taught institutions. A lecturer, one should be eligible to teach at the university level with a minimum of a doctorate or Ph.D. A lecturer with a prolonged record of service understands the various needs of students and can add literature to higher education curriculum (Johnstone & Soares, 2014). More so, as an experienced lecturer, one should be able to connect learning experience with the real world scenario to make the lessons insightful. The lecturer also can evaluate leaners to determine if the academic desired outcome is achieved. Professional development of lecturers is a step forward in delivering quality education (Scheerens, Luyten & van Ravens, 2011). In most cases, the minimum teaching experience period is three years along with a postgraduate academic certificate. Therefore, a professional development entails a continuous improvement in personal, educational qualification, such as finding new knowledge and putting it into practice. More so, an experienced lecturer can develop learning programs, give guidance to students, design new teaching pedagogy and embrace research in the area of specialization to be up to date with new professional practices (Hoque, Hossain & Zaman, 2017). Since the conception of technology in education, it has become inevitable for lecturers to avoid progressive professional development, the new methodologies on content delivery require ICT expertise raising the need to upgrade from traditional teaching methodologies (Lasley, Siedentop & Yinger, 2006). The lecturer's profession is a lifelong learning journey that involves improvisation of skills, knowledge through research work, adding vitality to the personal, professional profile. Professional development, therefore, promotes professional competence that mitigates higher education system failure and own incompetence. Continued lecturer improvement through creativity and innovation connects competency with excellent remuneration and self-actualization.

Institutional support for quality teaching. Well-designed institutional policies promote quality of teaching. Appropriate standards also enhance the quality culture that a higher learning institution requires. To have consistency in instruction and learning outcome, the additional procedures should be established to support quality teaching. The merit of having a shared vision as institutional members' gears towards reflection on the learning processes. The students and lecturers will continue to operate in a reflective learning environment. The significance of a shared vision is to create an understanding of quality education. More so, creating comprehensive policies brings increases the scope of quality teaching because the stakeholders can suggest the best practices to improve the overall outcome (Henard & Roseveare, 2012). A good policy illustrates what value quality teaching has on the professional development and student's competence. The review of institutional policies also helps in identifying eminent incompetence that are present in higher education. Human resource policies can help to determine lecturer qualification. Financial incentives in higher education are vital in increasing access to quality education for students from a humble background. Financial incentives also reduce the burden of high school fees (Hillman, Tandberg & Fryar, 2015). Better financial schemes increase the number of students enrolled in a higher learning institution, but a handful of the finances should be channeled in improving research to meet the dynamic needs of students. Financial resources are limited resources (Tilak, 2015). Therefore, most of the higher learning institution grapple with financial problems because the government grants cannot cater for the increasing needs of students in public schools, a case prevalent in the University of California. Many students have a missed opportunity to benefit from undergraduate programs from California universities. The policymakers and higher education administrators should find the common ground of understanding to solve financial problems more practically. Quality management support is a managerial effort towards quality educational services (Mora, Wang, Gomez, Rainsinghani & Shevchenko, 2017). Administrative support helps in making critical decisions regarding quality improvement.

Impact of education policies in quality education. Educational policy evaluation mechanism aims at improving teaching practices and maintains institutional diversification. A review of policies makes a comparison with international higher education standards to give local higher education institutions a global outlook (Kirkwood & Price, 2014). A study of the current educational policies cites loopholes in education and disconnection between national and international education standards to focus the priority on quality (Sterling, 2015). Leadership plays a significant role in transforming learning outcomes in universities. Higher learning institution administrators set education benchmark for the students and academic staff. Such criteria should be achievable and measurable to ascertain students and institutional quality performance. It is also essential to develop the cordial relationship between the top university executive and academic staff to ensure service delivery takes place. The ties also promote delegation of duties, evaluation, and discussion of education outcomes (Tang, 2015). Managing of behaviors in higher education requires Positive Behavior Support (PBS) in the learning process. PBS has proven to be successful in changing behavior on if realistic goals are set. Goals forecast the nature of the desired educational outcome (Crone, Hawken & Horner, 2015). Teaching social skills impacts positively on the quality of education since it increases the level of interaction between students and lecturers. Better instructional practices can be instilled in higher learning institution through a change of staff and student behavior in promoting rote learning rather than practical knowledge. The students should be exposed to positive reinforcement teaching experience to improve quality of educational outcome.

Leadership and quality education. Total Quality Management in higher education (TQM) acts as a revolutionary tool in improving the quality of education. TQM involves a set of principles and procedures that aim at enhancing the quality education (Hopkins, 2015). TQM is a decision aid for institutional leaders to impact on institutional culture. Higher education leaders feel like a team leader, promotes transparency and understanding among staff members. Education just like any other economic business aims at increasing productivity by promoting best educational practices (Parkay, Anctil & Hass, 2014). Every institutional leader hopes to impact on educational reforms that improve quality, students' competence and general education system performance. TQM pillars give lecturers and students the priority because they are the reasons why institutions exist. It is also the responsibility of every stakeholder in education to ensure quality education is present (Chen, Chen & Chen, 2014). Quality is not only a high calling for institutional leaders but also the personal obligation of lecturers, students, parents, community members and the state government. Since institutions is a system that constitutes subsystems, the overall system performance requires outstanding performance of individual subsystem. More so, efforts towards quality should be a continuous process because the education is evolving. The old approaches in education cannot apply to the current breed of learners. The focus on quality should look at the processes that facilitate merit other than focusing on the outcomes (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). However, leaders play a central role in establishing consistency in quality improvement in education service. The institutional administrators should assess the context in which learning is taking place, provide directives on the adjustment of test scores and assessment criteria. Leaders also evaluate the interrelationship between mission statement, institution vision, and academic staff. Resources should be channeled towards quality improvement to avoid gaps in quality provisions.

Conclusion

It is important to note that quality education requires sufficient human and financial resources. However, financial resources are limited hence causing a budget deficit and a crisis in accessing quality education. Apart from financial and human resources, professional competence and relevant motivation strategy promote the will of lecturers to support quality education. Additionally, Better policy formulation and leadership style determines the merit of long-term quality education by incorporating four pillars of total quality management. Continuous review of policies also gives the higher learning institutions an international outlook.

References

Chen, C. Y., Chen, P. C., & Chen, P. Y. (2014). Teaching quality in higher education: An introductory review on a process-oriented teaching-quality model. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 25(1-2), 36-56.

Crone, D. A., Hawken, L. S., & Horner, R. H. (2015). Building positive behavior support systems in schools: Functional behavioral assessmen...