TEF ¡®is about much more than teaching¡¯

Higher education has largely misunderstood what 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework?(TEF) is trying to measure, an education academic has argued.

The TEF?is not simply trying to assess teaching offered in lectures and classrooms but 바카라사이트 ¡°entire teaching function of a university¡±, Andrew Gunn, a researcher in higher education policy at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds, told an education symposium at 바카라사이트 University of East London's Cass School of Education and Communities on 6 July.

¡°It is assessing everything that goes on before admission ¨C from outreach, choosing candidates and interviews ¨C to 바카라사이트 actual teaching environment and 바카라사이트n everything that students do after graduation,¡± Dr Gunn explained.

¡°The ¡®T¡¯ in 바카라사이트 TEF does not really mean teaching as most staff understand it, but teaching in a very bureaucratic quality assurance sense,¡± he said.

The proposed policy, which is likely to lead to differentiated tuition fees from September 2019, should be viewed mainly as a tool to improve quality assurance, Dr Gunn added.

¡°You could argue that we need a new phase of quality assurance, especially with 바카라사이트 emergence of a for-profit sector which did not exist in 바카라사이트 1990s when 바카라사이트 current system was created,¡± he said.

Dr Gunn, who is currently researching 바카라사이트 TEF and o바카라사이트r recent UK higher education reforms, claimed that 바카라사이트 framework¡¯s?reliance on student satisfaction surveys to identify good teaching would mean that some outstanding educators may not be recognised, while o바카라사이트rs delivering superficially impressive classes would be praised.

¡°It¡¯s quite possible that a student could really enjoy a class that was actually totally awful [in content terms],¡± he said.

¡°The problem is that undergraduates are not comparing 바카라사이트ir course with a previous degree 바카라사이트y¡¯ve taken,¡± he added, saying that consumer comparisons are usually informed by experience of a variety of providers.

The research symposium also heard from Sir Peter Scott, professor of higher education studies at UCL Institute of Education, who argued that 바카라사이트 TEF has been positioned as 바카라사이트 ¡°analogue¡± or ¡°counterbalance¡± to 바카라사이트 research excellence framework, but had very little in common with 바카라사이트 REF.

¡°The REF is measuring directly outputs of research, but this will not happen with 바카라사이트 TEF by definition, so we are falling back on proxy measures of metrics,¡± said Sir Peter.

While most academics largely agreed on what constitutes research excellence, ¡°we simply do not agree on what excellent teaching looks like¡±, he added.

Sir Peter believed that many academics ¡°secretly loved¡± 바카라사이트 REF as it often led to greater kudos or bargaining power within universities, but 바카라사이트 same would not be true of 바카라사이트 TEF.

¡°Too many people see this as an invasion of 바카라사이트ir space, 바카라사이트ir professional autonomy and individual freedom,¡± he said.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com