The last ten years have brought many changes into European Higher Education. One of these changes is student mobility. To facilitate mobility, we need comparable higher education systems and study programs. Many declarations from academics and governments call for 'transparency', 'accountability' and 'systems of quality assurance'. These demands have influenced transitions in Slovenia. The National Higher Education System experie.nced substantial changes after the Higher Education Act was approved in 1993. The Act enabled the establisrunent of 'private' and 'free-standing' higher education institutions. Within the described framework, this study on a self-evaluation 'model' and organisational development was undertaken. This case study of a newly established college of higher education is centred round the processes of institutional self-evaluation. The study is mainly qualitative in its nature and grounded in action research. This methodological approach bridges the gap between theory and practice, which is an issue in social sciences. Action research extended over a four-year period - four cycles, representing four academic years - from 1996/97 to 1999/2000. A variety of methods were used to gather data. Among many themes that emerged in the research process, I chose those of 'quality' and 'academic community' to focus my theoretical discussion on. These two topics were particularly important for the newly established institution that wanted to be involved in the' European flow' of higher education. This thesis is my personal journey, where researcher and manager roles are intimately interlinked, as well as a journey of organisational growth and (partially) an account of organisational development through self-evaluation. It is not a story of people, it is about social processes, the construction of meaning and practice critically reflected through the 'eyes' of the researcher. It is about flux of identities within myself and organisation's processes, and also about findings - the tensions between 'ecology of practice' and 'economy of performance'. These tensions resulted in a 'non-model' where the balance between 'trust and respect among people' and 'the measurement of results' cannot be resolved.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:251362 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Trunk Sirca, Nada |
| Publisher | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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