Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international level

This contribution is a strong plea for approaches in quality assessment and accreditation, which honour diversity and promote innovation and creativity in higher education. For many reasons, accreditation has become an important issue for higher education, which has occurred during a period in which...

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Authors: Van Ginkel, Hans J.A., Rodrigues Dias, Marco Antonio
Format: article
Publication Date:2007
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2099/8107
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2099/8107
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Education, Higher
Ensenyament universitari
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Ensenyament i aprenentatge::Ensenyament universitari
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spelling Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international levelVan Ginkel, Hans J.A.Rodrigues Dias, Marco AntonioEducation, HigherEnsenyament universitariÀrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenibleÀrees temàtiques de la UPC::Ensenyament i aprenentatge::Ensenyament universitariThis contribution is a strong plea for approaches in quality assessment and accreditation, which honour diversity and promote innovation and creativity in higher education. For many reasons, accreditation has become an important issue for higher education, which has occurred during a period in which there has been a major shift in values. Higher education, always considered primarily a public good, is increasingly being transformed into a predominantly private good; a commodity that could be subject to trade rules. Basic questions should be answered before any action is taken in this field. Accreditation for what purpose and for which qualities? Who will be the gatekeepers of the system and what will be their criteria? The implications of the concepts of quality and of accreditation, and the methods adopted in this field, will produce consequences not only at economic and financial levels but also in terms of the cultural, social and political life of institutions and nations. In 1998, during the World Conference on Higher Education (WCHE, UNESCO, Paris), a consensus was reached and the idea of evaluation was accepted, based on the general acceptance that quality in higher education is multidimensional. The WCHE favoured a system in which quality and relevance should go hand in hand. Since then, accreditation, a method already used for a long time in some countries, in particular the United States, was added more prominently to the international agenda. The concept of quality is crucial here. Aproposal of the WCHE, requesting institutions of higher education to define or redefine their missions together with society, could serve to help create the necessary conditions for appropriate evaluations, by comparing what the institutions actually achieve with what the society as a whole expects from them. Standards could be defined through this mechanism instead of using models that do not relate to the cultural environment of institutions or the specific needs of society. These standards should guarantee appropriate quality, while at the same time enhancing diversity, innovation and creativity.Peer ReviewedPalgrave MacMillan20072007-01-0120092009-09-16journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501NAhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_be7fb7dd8ff6fe43info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2099/8107reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPCinstname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spainhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:upcommons.upc.edu:2099/81072026-05-27T15:37:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international level
title Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international level
spellingShingle Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international level
Van Ginkel, Hans J.A.
Education, Higher
Ensenyament universitari
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Ensenyament i aprenentatge::Ensenyament universitari
title_short Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international level
title_full Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international level
title_fullStr Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international level
title_full_unstemmed Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international level
title_sort Institutional and political challenges of accreditation at the international level
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Van Ginkel, Hans J.A.
Rodrigues Dias, Marco Antonio
author Van Ginkel, Hans J.A.
author_facet Van Ginkel, Hans J.A.
Rodrigues Dias, Marco Antonio
author_role author
author2 Rodrigues Dias, Marco Antonio
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Education, Higher
Ensenyament universitari
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Ensenyament i aprenentatge::Ensenyament universitari
topic Education, Higher
Ensenyament universitari
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Ensenyament i aprenentatge::Ensenyament universitari
description This contribution is a strong plea for approaches in quality assessment and accreditation, which honour diversity and promote innovation and creativity in higher education. For many reasons, accreditation has become an important issue for higher education, which has occurred during a period in which there has been a major shift in values. Higher education, always considered primarily a public good, is increasingly being transformed into a predominantly private good; a commodity that could be subject to trade rules. Basic questions should be answered before any action is taken in this field. Accreditation for what purpose and for which qualities? Who will be the gatekeepers of the system and what will be their criteria? The implications of the concepts of quality and of accreditation, and the methods adopted in this field, will produce consequences not only at economic and financial levels but also in terms of the cultural, social and political life of institutions and nations. In 1998, during the World Conference on Higher Education (WCHE, UNESCO, Paris), a consensus was reached and the idea of evaluation was accepted, based on the general acceptance that quality in higher education is multidimensional. The WCHE favoured a system in which quality and relevance should go hand in hand. Since then, accreditation, a method already used for a long time in some countries, in particular the United States, was added more prominently to the international agenda. The concept of quality is crucial here. Aproposal of the WCHE, requesting institutions of higher education to define or redefine their missions together with society, could serve to help create the necessary conditions for appropriate evaluations, by comparing what the institutions actually achieve with what the society as a whole expects from them. Standards could be defined through this mechanism instead of using models that do not relate to the cultural environment of institutions or the specific needs of society. These standards should guarantee appropriate quality, while at the same time enhancing diversity, innovation and creativity.
publishDate 2007
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2007
2007-01-01
2009
2009-09-16
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
NA
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_be7fb7dd8ff6fe43
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2099/8107
url https://hdl.handle.net/2099/8107
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Palgrave MacMillan
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Palgrave MacMillan
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
instname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
instname_str Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
reponame_str UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
collection UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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