Guide to Quality and Education for Sustainability in Higher Education
This resource is an attempt to make connections between Education for Sustainability (EfS) and the practice of quality assurance and enhancement in the HE curriculum. It is based on a HEFCE funded project, Leading Curriculum Change for Sustainability: Strategic Approaches to Quality Enhancement, which took place between 2010 and 2012. The project was led by the University of Gloucestershire, working in collaboration with the UK Quality Assurance Agency and in partnership across a consortium with four other English HE institutions.
| Aston University | University of Brighton | Exeter University | Oxford Brookes University |
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The project was commissioned to respond to expectations and changes in Higher Education about the role and place of EfS and to meet the need for strategic guidance that makes sense ‘on the ground’ in universities, as part of the routine business of developing and delivering the curriculum.
This resource:
- is informed by the experiences of five English universities that consider EfS to be important for the future of learning and teaching.
- is underpinned by development projects in each of these institutions, to align EfS with core educational quality concerns.
- is framed by perspectives from national agencies and expert advisors who have made links between EfS and the future of curriculum quality in Higher Education.
The resource is an interactive guide in short sections, with ‘talking heads’ video clips and downloadable materials and tools. It is designed as a travelling companion for those exploring the landscape of EfS and Quality and has four main components:
PART 1 - ORIENTATION
INTRODUCTION - orientation to this Guide and how it was developed, with an overview of the unique national project behind it, as well as the basic design and key partners for the project
LANDSCAPE - exploration of the two worlds of EfS and Quality, and how they connect, including an orientation to the strategic focus of EfS and to related quality issues in Higher Education
PART 2 - PATHFINDER
UNDERSTANDING QUALITY SYSTEMS - guide to the way that Higher Education quality systems work, as well as the agendas and methods that serve as entry points for EfS
CHANGING QUALITY SYSTEMS - insights and experiences from the project about bringing EfS into institutional quality systems and how change processes can be developed in this area
PART 3 - DESTINATIONS
Reflections on how the project findings can inform the ways that universities can respond to EfS in mainstream curriculum practice
PART 4 - KITBAG
Houses all the practical materials and tools developed through the project, as well as providing key reports, literature and links to initiatives that deal with EfS as a strategic Higher Education issue
Stephen Marston (Vice Chancellor, University of Gloucestershire) comments on the central role of EfS as a strategic education agenda for HE institutions.
Daniella Tilbury (Project Director, University of Gloucestershire) reflects on the platform of existing work in EfS in the HE sector and the need for the project in tackling strategic change.