The Teaching Excellence Framework in the United Kingdom: An Opportunity to Include International Students as “Equals”?

Abstract

Abstract:Research on international students in British higher education points to marginalisation of their unique perspectives in university classrooms. The aim of the paper is to consider how the most recent policy changes, particularly the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) continue to do so. The article also argues that the TEF, being a major higher education reform, can lead to change in attitudes towards international students and contribute to their more equal status. The paper discusses how this could be done and proposes changes to the TEF that would distance universities from policy moves that have contributed to the 'peripheral' status of international students for many years. Despite being British-based, the analysis has international implications as it points to a series of ways in which the scope and nature of metrics used in national evaluations of teaching quality can affect the status of international students in higher education.

Parity of participation for autistic students: Mapping provision across UK higher education institutions

“…The TEF does not use provision made by institutions for disabled or autistic students as one of its metrics for measuring quality, but as student experience is central, this over-representation of Gold and Silver TEF rated institutions is perhaps unsurprising. However, the TEF is not without its critics, Hayes and Cheng (2020) argue that such performative frameworks lack attention to epistemic equality and have been characterised to preference productivity, competition, and institutional self-interests in pursuit of financial incentives (Gourlay and Stevenson, 2017;Hayes, 2017;Neary, 2016;Wood and Su, 2017). Such ranking activities are, according to Pascarella (2001) based on institutional resources and reputational dimensions which do not always correlate to students' experiences so much as institutions' capacity to play the system.…”

Integrated Reporting Implementation and Core Activities Disclosure in UK Higher Education Institutions

“…Within HEIs there are bona fide interrelated concerns regarding governmental demands for increased accountability, student fees and public debt, student satisfaction, value for money and the perceived imbalance of teaching quality and research output. These concerns gave rise to the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which was published as the most comprehensive form of assessment (Hayes 2017;Barkas et al 2019). Hayes (2017) suggests that TEF metrics show how universities work towards greater equivalence of international students, which motivates them to choose the better-rated university.…”

“…These concerns gave rise to the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which was published as the most comprehensive form of assessment (Hayes 2017;Barkas et al 2019). Hayes (2017) suggests that TEF metrics show how universities work towards greater equivalence of international students, which motivates them to choose the better-rated university. The nature of the metrics employed in national evaluations of teaching quality can affect the status of international students; however, Barkas et al (2019) argued that TEF appears to be positive though its implementation appears to be conceptually flawed, demand more layers of bureaucracy in higher education and requires more empirical study related to the student experience.…”

How should we conduct ourselves? Critical realism and Aristotelian teleology: a framework for the development of virtues in pedagogy and curriculum

“…As Sayer (2011) claims, an integral aspect of human agency is reflected in how we choose to conduct ourselves. In this paper I argue that neither passively following the dictat of governmental and institutional agencies around pedagogy (Ramsden 1991), nor simply arguing for better metrics (Hayes 2017) to measure 'good teaching' via empiricist methods, can lead to 'excellence' in teaching.…”

“…Shelley (2005) has noted that marketisation in the UK higher education sector has led faculty to accept a culture of competition in academe. Lecturers find themselves drawn into regimes of self-monitoring and competition with peers and other faculties, driven to manage their own performance against metrics and market demands as perceived by managers in their institutions (Hayes 2017). Student feedback questionnaires asking students to rate their lecturers in various superficial ways have become mandatory.…”