Quality Assurance In Continuing Professional Education

Quality assurance in continuing professional education has been in a state of flux in the 1990s. This book provides an examination of what quality assurance means for one academic specialism, continuing professional education. It also discusses the problems associated with the adoption of customer ideology and the relationship between pedagogic aims and prevailing assumptions about quality.

Higher education in the 1990s is characterized by a preoccupation with quality assurance. This book provides an examination of what that means for one academic specialism, continuing professional education. As well as working towards a practical strategy for quality CPE, the author considers a number of issues which emerge from discussions of quality and of educating professionals - recurrent themes include the problems associated with the adoption of customer ideology and the relationship between pedagogic aims and prevailing assumptions about quality. Based on research conducted in and around UK universities, the book is divided into two parts. Part One deals with context, looking at theoretical developments and practical strategies used for quality assurance in other areas, such as the construction industry, health care and welfare provision. This section also includes a detailed review of BS 5750, and its relevance to CPE. Part Two explores the range of attitudes and existing practice in CPE. And identifying CPE as a distinct subject area, it is argued that solutions cannot simply be brought in, but must be developed in relation to setting.