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Designing the ‘means’:
Key question 4: What will it take to bring about the necessary
improvement in student success and equity of outcomes?
Not possible here to list all the elements required in a comprehensive
improvement strategy, but it is worth noting these five overarching points
that are critical for success but are often bypassed:
•
Intentionality
–
the importance of the will to design the system for meeting its central
goal
•
The extent of under-performance in HE clearly indicates
systemic
obstacles within the
HE teaching-and-learning process itself
•
systemic obstacles require systemic solutions
–
will not yield to peripheral
improvement interventions
•
Importance of identifying the key areas of the teaching-and-learning process which
all
require developmental work
–
as complementary means to the end
•
The different levels and sectors of the system must take responsibility for the
developmental work that matches their role in the system
•
Critical to take full account of the obstacles, or risk pursuing naïve solutions
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