Tinker, tailor, policy-maker: can the UK government’s teaching excellence framework deliver its objectives?

Barkas, Linda Anne; Scott, Jonathan M.; Poppitt, Nicola; Smith, Peter

doi:10.1080/0309877x.2017.1408789

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The developed TISM model has been further assessed and accepted by industry experts. Without identifying the key skills that increase BE graduate employability, and how to empirically assess whether these skills have been developed by students, HEIs teaching excellence cannot truly be assessed [2].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Discourse on employability, employability skills in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) curricula, and the mix match between graduates' attributes and employers' expectations has received considerable attention in both developed and developing country contexts [1][2][3][4][5]. Graduate attributes are "a set of skills, knowledge and abilities, university graduates require to become agents of social good and successful in their chosen occupations in the work place" [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Total Interpretive Structural Modelling of Graduate Employability Skills for the Built Environment Sector

2020

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Contemporary practices and future projections in the Built Environment (BE) sector highlight an increasing demand on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to produce graduates possessing relevant skills aligned to meet workplace demands. This study aims to analyse the key skills influencing BE graduate employability in the United Kingdom (UK) for the benefit of HEIs. This investigation leverages on a critical review of extant literature and an elicitation of the perceptions of targeted macro, meso, and micro level key stakeholders in the BE sector to identify key employability skills. The Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) technique was used to analyse the contextual interrelationships among the identified skills to develop a hierarchical model that provides HEI with insight for BE curriculum development. Six key employability skillsets hierarchically modelled into four levels were identified as crucial for potential graduates to successfully attract and adapt to contemporary practices in the Built Environment sector. Findings reveal communication and team-working skills as critical, independent skills driving the successful development of the remaining four skillsets. This research extends the literature on employability skills by investigating the interactions of various skills that predominantly predicts graduate employability in the Built Environment sector. The resulting TISM skills model provides hierarchical and logical interdependencies beneficial to assist HEIs to strategically design BE curricular to enhance graduate employability.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Total Interpretive Structural Modelling of Graduate Employability Skills for the Built Environment Sector

2020

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“…An Office for Students was also established at the same time and is now the sole regulator of the English Higher Education system. Despite critiques of the Teaching Excellence Framework (for example, Ashwin, 2017;Barkas as et al, 2017;O'Leary et al, 2019), it is relevant to international readers because it may be adopted and implemented in other jurisdictions and hence, any lessons learned with regard employability and teaching excellence measurement schemes are of immense relevance globally. This is because the current pandemic has forced tuition online.…”

Section: The Teaching Excellence Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marketing students' meta-skills and employability: between the lines of social capital in the context of the teaching excellence framework

Barkas

Scott

Hadley

et al. 2021

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PurposeThe purpose of this article is to examine the role of social capital and higher order meta-skills in developing the employability of marketing students at a UK university.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual article, bolstered by illustrative primary data, provides a broader conceptualisation of employability. This is to address the specific research question on how social capital (contacts and connections) is deployed (via capability-based higher order meta-skills) in a UK university developing the employability of a specific group of students. The article is situated in the highly fraught context of teaching excellence measurement schemes [such as the teaching excellence framework (TEF) in the UK].FindingsThe research findings highlighted the role of social capital and higher order meta-skills in developing the employability of marketing students at a UK university.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the illustrative primary data are not generalisable, as they are limited to one group of marketing students in one UK university; the conceptual development, including a new social capital based definition of employability that incorporated the capabilities, provided by higher-order meta-skills, is widely applicable.Practical implicationsThe article has highlighted how the impact of social capital, etiquette and meta-skills, while being “between the lines” of the employability discourse and the metrics of the TEF, explains the differing perceptions of the value of employability initiatives. The article highlights the grey area of between the reasons given as to why some candidates are valued over others. Perhaps no rhyme or reason sometimes, just the “hidden” perception/interpretations of the interview panel of the “qualities” of one candidate over another.Originality/valueThe difficulty in ascertaining the influence of social capital (and how it can be deployed through higher-order meta-skills as capabilities) results in challenges for universities as they endeavour to respond to the data requirements of “learning gain” within teaching excellent measurement schemes such as the UK teaching excellence framework.

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“…Adding to recent contributions to the analysis of the TEF (Barkas et al 2017;Perkins 2018), this paper emphasises connections between the TEF and other recent changes to the HE system. Finally, we conclude with a discussion about the characteristics of intelligent accountability for improving teaching excellence, but we recognise that this is not the only, or even the main, policy driver for the TEF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The English Teaching Excellence (and Student Outcomes) Framework: Intelligent accountability in higher education?

Deem

Baird

2019

J Educ Change

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This paper explores what underlies the recent introduction of a Higher Education Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in England. Related changes to the higher education landscape are discussed: the 2017 Higher Education Act and creation of a new HE regulator, the Office for Students. How TEF works and some of the consequences of TEF are outlined. As well as discussing what constitutes teaching excellence and what TEF itself is attempting to signal (which includes graduate destinations), we also analyse the underpinning ideologies and logics of choosing metrics to assess teaching excellence, albeit accompanied by peer panel evaluation of institutional written submissions, in determining Gold, Silver and Bronze TEF outcomes. We introduce the notion of TEF as an index rather than a measure. It is suggested that what underlies the English TEF is not about improving teaching but rather an endeavour to pit universities against each other in a highly marketised competitive system with an oversupply of places, in which student debt levels are rising fast. TEF policy is considered with respect to features that would be required of an intelligent accountability system for higher education teaching quality.

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Tinker, tailor, policy-maker: can the UK government’s teaching excellence framework deliver its objectives?

Cited by 22 publications

References 47 publications

Total Interpretive Structural Modelling of Graduate Employability Skills for the Built Environment Sector

Total Interpretive Structural Modelling of Graduate Employability Skills for the Built Environment Sector

Marketing students' meta-skills and employability: between the lines of social capital in the context of the teaching excellence framework

The English Teaching Excellence (and Student Outcomes) Framework: Intelligent accountability in higher education?

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