Reclaiming Quality

While Ahmed and Machold write here of the commercial world, there can be no question that the rhetoric of ‘quality’ and ‘total quality management’ has pervaded educational practices at both the local and wider levels. The word ‘quality’ has drummed itself into the consciousness of consumers, whether they be consumers of goods or of services such as schooling. A flurry of announcements, pronouncements, programmes, projects and publications cry out ‘quality’ regardless of how well the enterprise is being undertaken. School billboards declare that they are offering a quality education to their students; education systems assert that they are in pursuit of quality teaching and learning. But what does it all mean? We suspect that much of it is a case of smoke and mirrors, in the hands of clever spin doctors. It is for this reason that this chapter seeks to reclaim issues surrounding quality. Thus, we shall discuss some new dimensions of quality, particularly as they relate to ethical practices and virtue, and we shall investigate ways in which quality as a trivial concept can be transcended and reincorporated into a wider and richer vision of informed practice. In the latter part of the chapter, we shall also consider quality within a broader discussion of accountability and responsibility. We shall draw the argument together by citing a case of teacher inquiry in a context where there are dilemmas and contradictions in meeting accountability requirements and professional responsibility maxims that we characterise as moral responsibility.