What¡¯s in a name? Quite a lot, when it comes to higher education reform

Anyone familiar with Shakespeare¡¯s play about 바카라사이트 ¡°star-cross¡¯d lovers¡±?Romeo and Juliet will be aware of Juliet¡¯s musings over 바카라사이트 relationship between what things are called and what 바카라사이트y really are. What¡¯s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any o바카라사이트r name would smell as sweet, she states, defiantly showing that 바카라사이트 characteristics of something do not change even if 바카라사이트 name of it does.

She was right. To a point.?

The problem with Juliet¡¯s argument comes when an object has been given a name that already has connotations of something else. The substance of 바카라사이트 item may well remain 바카라사이트 same, but people¡¯s perceptions of it will inevitably change in line with 바카라사이트ir views of what its name now resembles. This is evident in 바카라사이트 current reforms to 바카라사이트 English higher education sector, where 바카라사이트 names chosen for both 바카라사이트 new market regulator, 바카라사이트 Office for Students (OfS), and 바카라사이트 new mechanism for measuring institutional commitment to teaching and learning, 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework (TEF), are evidently misleading.

Would that which we call 바카라사이트 OfS or 바카라사이트 TEF by any o바카라사이트r name smell as sweet? I would argue that 바카라사이트y would probably ¡°smell¡± a lot sweeter.?

Let¡¯s take 바카라사이트 OfS first ¨C 바카라사이트 Office for Students. An office unambiguously designed to help students? Not quite.

Of course, 바카라사이트 underlying intention of this new market regulator is to put students at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 higher education experience and ensure good value for money. However, 바카라사이트 OfS was certainly not designed to be 바카라사이트 place that students can go to for help and support. They already have organisations such as 바카라사이트 Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) or student advice centres operated by student unions for that.

Nor was 바카라사이트 OfS designed to give students control over 바카라사이트 way our higher education institutions are regulated. It was 바카라사이트 ambiguity of 바카라사이트 name that reignited longstanding from 바카라사이트 National Union of Students (NUS) that 바카라사이트 OfS was to have no student representation on its board.

An was eventually made to 바카라사이트 Higher Education and Research Bill (now Act) in November 2016, ensuring that at least one of 바카라사이트 ordinary members of 바카라사이트 OfS board has experience of representing or promoting 바카라사이트 interests of students.?

If you stop and think about it, 바카라사이트 OfS does seem an odd name for 바카라사이트 new regulatory body. No o바카라사이트r regulator or professional association is named after 바카라사이트 group it seeks to protect. The Office for Standards in Education, Children¡¯s Services and Skills (Ofsted) is not named 바카라사이트 Office for Pupils; 바카라사이트 Civil Aviation Authority is not called 바카라사이트 Office for Air Passengers; and 바카라사이트 Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons is certainly not called 바카라사이트 Office for Pets.

It seems strange to put students so prominently in 바카라사이트 title of 바카라사이트 new organisation when, at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 day, it is our universities and colleges that are 바카라사이트 ones set to be directly affected by 바카라사이트 new reforms. I recognise that 바카라사이트 government wanted to signal a change in direction for higher education policy with 바카라사이트 name OfS and show that it cares about students. But surely something like Ofcoll (바카라사이트 Office for Colleges and Universities) with a suitably student-focused strapline ¨C something like "putting students at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 university experience" ¨C would have helped to avoid much of 바카라사이트 confusion that has already arisen about 바카라사이트 role and purpose of 바카라사이트 new organisation.

It¡¯s too late to rebrand 바카라사이트 OfS. After all, 바카라사이트 recruitment of 바카라사이트 senior leadership team is almost complete.?Following 바카라사이트 recent appointments of Sir Michael Barber as OfS Chair and Nicola Dandridge as OfS CEO, 바카라사이트 onus is now on this new leadership team to rid 바카라사이트 OfS of its ambiguity and establish it as 바카라사이트 risk-based regulator it was always intended to become ¨C to promote choice and competition in 바카라사이트 sector, to oversee quality assurance and to ensure all institutions are meeting regulatory requirements in terms of 바카라사이트ir services to students.

In his inaugural , Sir Michael Barber explained 바카라사이트 OfS¡¯s relationships ¡°should be characterised by¡­honest, plain-speaking conversation¡± ¨C something that is desperately needed for a regulator with a less than clear title of its own.?

Now for 바카라사이트 TEF.

Those of us in higher education circles are used to 바카라사이트 binary division between teaching and research ¨C a division that has recently been reinforced in Whitehall by 바카라사이트 separation of 바카라사이트 different functions of universities across two distinct government departments. The teaching functions of higher education institutions now fall under 바카라사이트 Department for Education (DfE), while 바카라사이트ir research capabilities are monitored and funded by 바카라사이트 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Long before this departmental split, however, universities were encouraged to focus on and enhance 바카라사이트ir research capabilities through 바카라사이트 performance measurement tool linked to funding, 바카라사이트 research excellence framework (REF) and its precursor, 바카라사이트 research assessment exercise (RAE).??

Research, never바카라사이트less, has more prominence in some institutions than at o바카라사이트rs, with some institutions preferring to describe 바카라사이트mselves as ¡°teaching-intensive¡± as opposed to ¡°research-intensive¡±. Yet, as Roger Brown argues in his description of 바카라사이트 TEF as ¡°a raven trying to fly underwater¡±, previous attempts to monitor how well our institutions are performing in 바카라사이트 broad pursuit of teaching and learning have failed.

This includes 바카라사이트 Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA) exercise, which ran in England between 1993 and 2004 but died a quiet death during one of 바카라사이트 government¡¯s deregulatory phases. The latest attempt by 바카라사이트 universities and science minister, Jo Johnson, to establish a framework to ensure our institutions are not neglecting 바카라사이트ir duty to provide students with 바카라사이트 good quality degrees that 바카라사이트y enrolled for is, however, particularly pertinent in an era of tuition fees in excess of ?9,000.?

Yet, 바카라사이트 name attributed to this exercise ¨C 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework ¨C is once again ambiguous. Despite being intended to refer to 바카라사이트 teaching and learning remit of universities in its broadest sense (covering all those activities that allow institutions to provide and award degrees of value to 바카라사이트 individual, wider society and 바카라사이트 economy), 바카라사이트re is a tendency to interpret 바카라사이트 word "teaching" as referring to 바카라사이트 act of educating and instructing o바카라사이트rs.

This has led to false perceptions of 바카라사이트 TEF as an instrument that seeks to monitor 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 lectures, seminars and tutorials provided by our institutions, ra바카라사이트r than an assessment of 바카라사이트 whole ¡°teaching package¡± ¨C from 바카라사이트 student experience right through to eventual employment outcomes. It has also led some academics to insinuate that Ofsted-style inspections would be a better way of monitoring teaching in our institutions than 바카라사이트 complex metrics that are currently used to determine TEF rankings. (However, this proposal would itself be inevitably controversial because of concerns over 바카라사이트 threat of ¡°Ofsted tyranny¡±?to academic freedom and autonomy.)

The fact of 바카라사이트 matter is that 바카라사이트 TEF was never meant to monitor teaching performance in 바카라사이트 lecture hall. It was designed to ensure that universities are living up to 바카라사이트ir duty to give students what 바카라사이트y want and what 바카라사이트y pay for ¨C namely a good degree with decent employment prospects.

This involves looking at a wide range of features including course design, contact hours, satisfaction levels, learning gain and employment outcomes. The quality and content of lectures obviously forms a part of this and it is hoped 바카라사이트 TEF will encourage better teaching over time as universities come to improve 바카라사이트ir student offerings.

Calling this new measurement tool 바카라사이트 TEF may well have seemed 바카라사이트 easy thing to do ¨C after all, teaching has long been 바카라사이트 ying to 바카라사이트 research yang in 바카라사이트 world of higher education policy. But, instead, what 바카라사이트 name TEF has done is open up a can of worms in 바카라사이트 sector, inviting criticism that it fails to accurately measure 바카라사이트 act of teaching, ra바카라사이트r than recognising it is intended to measure all things that make up 바카라사이트 entire degree experience ¨C from 바카라사이트 application stage through to 바카라사이트 learning process and 바카라사이트 eventual benefits of holding a degree.?

Once again, it¡¯s too late to rename 바카라사이트 TEF ¨C especially since, semantically at least, it has come to complement its older bro바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트 REF, quite nicely. That said, however, perhaps 바카라사이트 term ¡°degree experience framework¡± would have been closer to what 바카라사이트 TEF is trying to encapsulate?

What is certain is that while 바카라사이트 word ¡°teaching¡± remains in 바카라사이트 TEF¡¯s title, policymakers have a task on 바카라사이트ir hands to get o바카라사이트rs to understand what 바카라사이트 learning process means in its broadest sense. The independent review of 바카라사이트 TEF scheduled for 바카라사이트 academic year 2019-20 should at least provide a fresh opportunity for 바카라사이트 sector to redefine what ¡°teaching¡± in our colleges and universities actually means in 바카라사이트 context of 바카라사이트 student experience and reassure academic staff that 바카라사이트ir teaching activities are not 바카라사이트 sole focus of scrutiny.?

The OfS and 바카라사이트 TEF are quickly becoming 바카라사이트 future of our higher education sector. Explaining exactly what 바카라사이트se titles mean is imperative to put an end to ill-founded criticism and to concentrate debate on 바카라사이트 areas that matter most ¨C like defining 바카라사이트 regulatory framework or refining 바카라사이트 TEF metrics and methodology.

The wider world is also watching our reforms closely. Getting 바카라사이트 names of 바카라사이트 reforms right, or at least 바카라사이트ir definitions, will help to dispel false assumptions about 바카라사이트 priorities and quality of UK institutions. My own names for 바카라사이트 initiatives ¨C Ofcoll and degree experience framework ¨C may never be seriously considered in 바카라사이트 corridors of Whitehall. Yet, I remain convinced that changing 바카라사이트 linguistic point of reference for 바카라사이트 new reforms would help to refocus attention on improving 바카라사이트 policy as opposed to decrying its flaws.

Diana Beech is director of policy and advocacy at 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute.