Aidan Kenny

Towards a Model of Critical Ethics to Inform the Research Process in Postgraduate Research

The ethics narrative has become embedded in the contemporary research process, as evident in the emergence of Ethical Committees in faculty and both public and private organisations. Ethics have been codified, made visible and accessible as text artefacts in the forms of (both voluntary and regulatory) codes, statements, conventions, guidelines, principles, procedures, practices. In this short paper I explore this codification of ethics from the period post WWII, detailing some of the milestone text artefacts. Note the case of ethics in social science research and the professions, and then focus on ethics in educational research. Finally I deliberate on the practical application and considerations for my own Doctor in Education (D.Ed) research in Trinity College Dublin (TCD), suggesting a critical ethics model that aligns well with my current research and scholarship process. The rationale for this latter section is that it might serve as an indicator for novice researchers at postgraduate level towards developing a critical ethical Positionality to inform research methodology and methods.

The Dynamics of Human Capital and the World of Work: Towards a Common Market in Contemporary Tertiary Education

The drive for the so-called ‘knowledge society’, and the expected competitive advantage envisioned, has led to ‘power elites’ and vested interests applying pressure on nation states to develop and implement policies that push the balance of national education systems towards the economic imperative and away from the social good. This social inquiry will describe items, strategies and objectives relating to the pursuit of the current higher education change policy agendas, as expressed in key Irish policy documents. The inquiry concentrates on the new ‘world of work’ and the dynamic association with ‘human capital’ in particular the relationship between macro change policy narratives, the socio-political intent and implementation strategies. Critical considerations are given to ‘claims, issues, and concerns’ relating to components of the new order change policy as expressed in this modernisation agenda, with particular reference to awards systems. The conceptual approach is located in constructivism, the mode of inquiry utilises critical policy analysis and components of critical ethnography. The methodology is grounded in ‘non-numeric’ research discourse. The method consists of a systematic review, of documents, artefacts, and ‘critical self reflection’ as an actor in the sector. From an initial review of the evidence gathered, it can be argued that the higher education policy strategy is directed towards systems convergence and underpinned by a new common currency award framework, lubricated by a narrative of technocratic speak. In this new higher education strategy knowledge is codified, commodified, quantified, marketable and open to the emerging pressures of the free market.

The Emergence of Quality Assurance in Irish Higher Education: A Review of European and National Policy and Description of the Dublin Institute of Technology Practice

This is the second in a series of three papers which explore and describe ‘quality’ as a tool in the Irish Higher Education sector. This paper reviews macro, mesco and micro issues relating to quality assurance within the context of European Union Education Ministers’ communiqués and in Irish national policy. A micro perspective is then undertaken pertaining to the Dublin Institute of Technology describing how quality assurance systems and procedures emerged in the Institute. It also includes the Institute’s response to provisions made in the 1999 Qualifications (Education and Training) Act with reference to the necessity of carrying out quality reviews. The European University Association philosophy as the agency chosen to carry out one such review is outlined. The broad purpose of this paper, and of the previous related paper, is to provide a policy map from macro European to micro institutional level which will aid postgraduate students and those interested in quality assurance in higher education to identify important developments and pursue further research. The inquiry approach utilised is interpretive, descriptions are detailed and meaning is constructed: this is a subjective process firmly located in the broad field of qualitative research. The paper offers a general review of policy documentation together with some critical commentary and personal reflections. The commercialising and marketizing of education also reflect the cost cutting pressures of globalisation. Schools are being ‘re-engineered’ in much the same way as business corporations. (Giddens 2004: 510) In this paper, the second of two in the Summer 2006 edition of Level 3, I outline some of the major milestones in the emergence of quality assurance in the Irish Higher Education (HE) sector. Contextual information is provided by reviewing, European policy (macro), national legislation (mesco), and Institute (micro) documents. Analysis is confined to documentary evidence in terms of communiqués from the European Union, Irish Government legislation, acts, national agreements and procedures adopted by the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). Reference is also made to the European Network for Quality Assurance (ENQA), the European University Association (EUA), Professor Coolahan’s report ‘Higher Education in Ireland’ (2004), the Conference of the Heads of Irish Universities’ ‘A Framework for Quality in Irish Universities’ (2003), Skilbeck’s report, ‘The Universities Challenged’(2001) and DIT documents. I also reflect on my own experience as an academic participant within the HE sector and as an insider observer during the recent DIT institute quality review carried out by the European University Association (EUA). Quality Assurance: European context, higher education sector Level3 – August 2006 – Issue 4 2 European higher education institutions, for their part, have accepted the challenge and taken up a main role in constructing the European area of higher education, also in the wake of the fundamental principles laid down in the Bologna Magna Charta Universitatum of 1988. This is of the highest importance, given that Universities’ independence and autonomy ensure that higher education and research systems continuously adapt to changing needs, society’s demands and advances in scientific knowledge. (Bologna Declaration 1999) The Bologna Declaration of 1999 set in motion a policy agenda that has the potential to reshape the HE environment throughout the European Union. It was the successor of the so-called Sorbonne Joint Declaration, ‘On Harmonisation of the Architecture of the European Higher Education System’, by the four Ministers in charge for France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom signed in Sorbonne, Paris on 25 May 1998. The emphasis of this declaration was to establish a vision of an open HE system throughout Europe. Attention was drawn to developing a ‘continent’ focus on HE domains such as ‘intellectual, cultural, social and technical’. The main tenets of this declaration were; access to diverse programmes, enhanced language and IT proficiencies, recognition of first-cycle awards and mobility of students within the Eurozone. This vision of an open HE sector in Europe was clarified in the Bologna Declaration (1999). The European Ministers of Education set out an agreed statement of intent for a ‘Europe of Knowledge’. The main emphasis of this declaration is to establish a ‘European Higher Education Area’ which is underpinned by ‘compatibility and comparability’. The overarching vision is much broader, encompassing the consolidation of a European citizenship in both social and cultural domains and the enhancement of the intellectual and scientific knowledge-base capacity of the citizenship. In order to face the competitive challenges posed by internationalisation in the twenty-first century, the declaration sets out six clear objectives to be met within this decade: 1. easily readable and comparable degrees; 2. two cycles (undergraduate and postgraduate); 3. a system of credit transfer (ECTS); 4. mobility of students (trans-European); 5. European co-operation in Quality Assurance; 6. European dimension in HE education. The six objectives were further developed in Prague 2001, ‘Towards the European Higher Education Area’, Communiqué of the Meeting of European Ministers in Charge of Higher Education in Prague on 19 May 2001. The fifth objective, cooperation in quality assurance, which is the main contextual focus in this paper, was identified as having a ‘vital role’ in the HE sector. Ministers called upon the universities and other higher education institutions, national agencies and the European Network of Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), in cooperation with corresponding bodies from countries which are not members of ENQA, to collaborate in establishing a common framework of reference and to disseminate best practice. Level3 – August 2006 – Issue 4 3 (Prague Communiqué 2001) With this statement the Ministers are clearly giving ENQA legitimacy and a strategic position as a prominent European quality assurance agency. The implicit suggestion is that ENQA should play a central role in quality assurance cooperation, the development of a common framework and benchmarking best practice. In ‘Realising the European Higher Education Area’, Communiqué of the Conference of Ministers Responsible for Higher Education in Berlin on 19 September 2003. The ministers reinforced ENQA’s position by stating: At the European level, Ministers call upon ENQA through its members, in cooperation with the EUA, EURASHE and ESIB, to develop an agreed set of standards, procedures and guidelines on quality assurance, to explore ways of ensuring an adequate peer review system for quality assurance and/or accreditation agencies or bodies, and to report back through the Follow-up Group to Ministers in 2005. Due account will be taken of the expertise of other quality assurance associations and networks. (Berlin Communiqué 2003) The Ministers communiqué also introduced the notion of ‘accountability’ for the first time, claiming that this responsibility rested with the individual institute within the constructs of national policy. They also indicated the following targets for national quality assurance systems to reach by 2005: A definition of the responsibilities of the bodies and institutions involved. Evaluation of programmes or institutions, including internal assessment, external review, participation of students and the publication of results. A system of accreditation, certification or comparable procedures. International participation, cooperation and networking. For the purpose of this short paper the examination of the above-mentioned documents can only be considered as a review; the full rigour of documentation analysis techniques was not applied. However, I consider that there is sufficient ground to suggest that these four declarations depict an incremental movement; from a vision of an open European HE sector (1998), to a mission with objectives for a European knowledge-based citizenship (1999), to a strategy to meet the objectives for a higher education area (2001), to an operationalising phase to meet targets set (2003). Quality assurance as a tool was introduced in the Bologna Declaration, and the ENQA was gradually positioned as a central agency by both the Prague and Berlin communiqués. Subsequent to the present discourse of this paper an area lacking in research is the positioning of the ‘social model’ within these declarations. Wickham’s (2002) paper presents a macro perspective of the European social model entitled ‘The End of the European Social Model: Before it Began? Available from the Employment Research Centre (ERC) Trinity College. Irish context HE sector Duff et al. (2000) claim that since the 1960s the Republic of Ireland HE sector has gone through quantitative change as a result of internationalisation and globalisation. Indicators of change are given as: ‘massificiation’ of education and expansion in Level3 – August 2006 – Issue 4 4 participation by students – in 1965 student enrolments were 19,000 compared to the expected student enrolments for 2005 of 120,000 (2000: 4); increase in State expenditure – £5 million in 1965 compared to £430 million in 1995 (2000: 3); the establishment of Regional Technical Colleges (RTCs) now termed Institutes of Technology (IoTs) and the DIT. Drivers of this change have been: economic development and growth; membership of the EC; opening of international and now global markets; increased competition and the strategy of gaining a competitive advantage; the IT revolution; political, economic, social and cultural change. Ireland’s economic growth has been unprecedented in both the European and international contexts. Sociological theories of development could be applied (the author’s conjecture); in the 1960s Ireland was at Rostow’s (1960) Transitional Stage 2 or, as in Wallerstein’s (1959)

Work-Related Stress: Survey of Academic Staff in the Institutes of Technology Sector

This article presents findings from a survey of professional workers in the institutes of technology sector in Ireland regarding work-related stress. The research instrument was based on a work-related stress questionnaire developed by the UK Health and Safety Executive, augmented with a specific subset of questions relevant to the Irish higher education sector. The questionnaire format was modified to enable online delivery. It was distributed to a sample population in 2014 with a response rate over 30% (n=1,131). The research provides baseline data on work-related stress levels experienced by workers in this sector. The results associate increased levels of risk of work-related stress in circumstances of poor consultation, lack of engagement with staff, excessive workload, demanding task with unrealistic deadlines and lack of support provided by management. Low risk levels were associated with peer support and relationships. Good social relations between workers seem to assist in the alleviation of the risk. The results support established research into work-related stress which claims that developing supportive working environments and work cultures can greatly assist in the reduction of risk levels.

Evaluation: Emergence, Mode of Inquiry, Theory and Practice.

The aim of this article is to present the reader with an accessible and practical account of evaluation as a mode of inquiry within the broad domain of social science. The starting point is the presentation of a general outline of the main milestones relating to the emergence of evaluation as a mode of inquiry and some of the prominent advocates of contemporary evaluation. Particular attention is directed towards what is termed as ‘programme evaluation’. Then the author endeavours to explore whether evaluation as a mode of inquiry is practice or theory led. A definitive answer to this question is not presented here in this short article; instead, the author makes assumptions based on his interpretation of the reviewed discourse within the field and personal reflection from practice. The case of the European University Associations quality review of the seven Irish universities and the Dublin Institute of Technology is cited as an example of evaluation in practice in the Irish higher education sector. Issues such as the politics and power, decision making, and the use, misuse or non-use of findings of evaluations are briefly introduced.