The changing concepts of quality in the assessment of study programmes, teaching and learning

The discussion on concepts of quality of teaching and learning in higher education was given boosts, first in the 1980s by the introduction of what can broadly be called ‘new public management’, with its predilection for management models developed in the business world, then in the 1990s by the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, and most recently in the 2000s by the Bologna and Lisbon agendas in Europe. With each of these drivers went different instruments for quality assurance: starting from quality assessment for ‘value for money’, but also for quality improvement, a trend can be seen towards accreditation of study programmes and higher education institutions. While there is a relationship between the political concepts of quality and the quality assurance instruments chosen, the choice of instruments also has consequences for the concept of quality that is best served by it. In the present chapter, this mutual relationship is illustrated, and an overview of the spread of nationwide quality assurance schemes is given.