Ingrid Mula RCE Severn Coordinator

Leading Curriculum Change: Strategic approaches to ESD and Quality

Project Lifecycle = October 2010 - October 2012

Core Team = 5 HE institutions (Aston, Brighton, Oxford Brookes, Exeter, Gloucestershire)

Funded by HEFCE LGM and supported by QAA

Ambitions: Influence and achieve changes in Quality Assurance and Quality Enhancements systems

Goals:

Initiate University and sector-level conservations - quality frameworks and ESD.

Pilot ways of embedding EfS into routine curriculum development processes;

Improve institutional approaches and academic staff development for EfS;

Develop guidance materials and CPD sessions on EfS as a quality issue;

Generate insights for leadership around institution-wide curriculum innovation.

Project Mechanisms

Each of the pilot projects works with the grain of their institution to bring change into different aspects of Quality Assurance (QA) & Quality Enhancement (QE):

QA POLICY & FRAMEWORKS:-QA Handbooks and Guidance Course Review and ValidationNew Course Proposals

QA PROCESSES & SYSTEMS:-Review and Validation PanelsCurriculum Monitoring Audits

QE INSTITUTION-WIDE:-Academic Staff CPD ProvisionInstitutional T&L StrategiesGeneric T&L Guidance MaterialsWork with Senior QA & QE Staff

QE DEPARTMENT LEVEL:-Consultations - Teaching TeamsSubject Guidance MaterialsSessions with Academic Staff

Expert Advisory Board

- steering the project to understand and influence the sector landscape, providing stakeholder perspectives from HE, civic and business leaders

CORE PROJECT TEAM:

University of GloucestershireAston UniversityUniversity of BrightonUniversity of ExeterOxford Brookes University

Sector Activities:

Planning and implementing sector level consultation and dialogue, building capacity and dissemination of findings

5 Institutional Pilots:

Carrying out development work to bring sustainability education into the QA and QE systems of each HEI

SECTOR LEVEL COMPONENTS: DIALOGUE & DEVELOPMENT WORK

INSTITUTIONAL COMPONENTS:5 HEI PILOT PROJECTS

Critical Friends Group

- sourcing advice from experts in sustainability education in HE, covering different subject areas, education development units and relevant professional bodies

Work with Sector Agencies

- consultation with sector agencies that oversee quality agendas and academic infrastructure (QAA, HEA) - developing recommendations and guidance tools, plus capacity building activities and meetings

Pilot University Approach to ESD in Quality Assurance and Enhancement

Aston University - Connecting with strategies on low carbon and green ICT- Curriculum development linked to industry/professions

University of Brighton

- Aligning ESD with strategies on community engagement- Linking existing education themes and assurance processes

University of Exeter - Building on interdisciplinary sustainability research profile- College pilot work to develop an adaptable ESD approach

University of Gloucestershire

- Positioning ESD in the corporate approach to sustainability- Strengthening QA frameworks and providing QE supports

Oxford Brookes University

- Engaging the education developers and graduate attributes- Aligning ESD with existing strategies for global citizenship

The pilot institutions represent :

diversity of profile and provision

working ‘with the grain’ of own institutional strategic priorities and QA/QE systems.

different pathways in working to bring Efs into alignment with other educational themes.

Each pilot designed specific approaches and mechanisms to influence organisational change.

Tangible Outcomes:

-New levels of executive commitment to embedding EfS across the curriculum at Aston University and the University of Gloucestershire

-New approaches and steps to implement existing commitments at Exeter University and the University of Brighton

-More effective embedding of EfS into existing quality initiatives at Oxford Brookes University.

For some institutions, it has been important to:

1. Cast an eye to the future and begin to think more deeply about the approach they take to sustainability as a corporate concern.

2. Consider their strategic positioning in relation to future institutional quality audits – prepare for workable ways to demonstrate commitment and good practice in EfS

Creative Tensions for Innovation

1. Shifting conceptual ground around definitions

2. Different disciplinary self-perceptions of links with EfS

3. Multiple delivery pathways – hidden and formal

4. Thematic overlaps between EfS and other institutional priorities

5. Structural Challenges in creating interdisciplinary learning opportunities

6. Pedagogic research and opportunities for professional development

1. Orientation – introduces the project and EfS and Quality in HE

2. Pathfinder – issues in connecting EfS with HE quality systems

3. Destinations – significance of the project and future pathways

4. Kitbag – resources, project materials, literature and tools

PROJECT TOOLKIT: http://efsandquality.glos.ac.uk

INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW

Q: The QAA reviewer:What would you expect to see at an institution that claims to be tackling sustainability coherently as a cross-curricular issue?

Q: Respondent to a QAA reviewer:How might you articulate a sound enhancement approach that tackles sustainability and is embedded in institutional processes?

THE COURSE VALIDATION PROCESS

Q: The validation panel Chair:What types of questions would you ask of a course team, to explore their level of academic engagement with sustainability?

Q: The course development team:How might you plan ways to engage the teaching team and student cohort with sustainability issues at programme level?

Prof Daniella Tilbury, University of Gloucestershire, Project Director

Dr Alex Ryan, University of Gloucestershire, Project Manager

Dr John Blewitt, Aston University

Pauline Ridley, University of Brighton

Harriet Sjerps-Jones, University of Exeter

Leading Curriculum Change for Sustainability: Strategic Approaches to Quality Enhancement