TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY…………………………………………………………………………… 1

HOW CAN LEARNING AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE BE IMPROVED BY APPLYING DEMING’S PHILOSOPHY……………………………………………………………………………2

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………………6

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

William Edwards Deming is considered to be one of the very first individuals to introduce or discuss the concept of Total Quality Management in his book Out of the Crisis albeit he has never used the term in his book. This research will discuss the application of Deming’s 14 basic principles of management in the academic environment, evaluating how these principles may be applied to enhance the learning process as well as the classroom performance of both students and lecturers in learning institutions; both secondary and tertiary.

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HOW CAN LEARNING AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE BE IMPROVED BY APPLYING DEMING’S PHILOSOPHY

Deming introduced what he dubbed the theory of profound knowledge which he advocated as a system all managers should have. This system, according to Deming, is of four parts namely the appreciation of a system, knowledge of variation, knowledge of theory and knowledge of psychology. As part of Deming’s management theories, he also advocated 14 basic principles for business effectiveness which are known today as “Deming’s 14 basic principles of management”. (W.E, Deming, 1986)

It is essential, for the purpose of this research, to establish how success or effectiveness would be defined in the above context. A favourable learning experience for a student would in summary be one which allows for a student’s participation as well as ensures their success (Leonard, G. 1986). For educators, the benchmark for positive classroom performance is first, delivering useful content; second, producing successful students and third, having a favourable teaching experience altogether.

Deming’s first of the fourteen principles was the creation of a constant drive for and towards improvement. The drive for constant improvement is essential to maintain the competitiveness of any organisation (W.E, Deming, 1986), the competitiveness of an academic institute is essentially evaluated from the outcome of its teaching i.e. student performance. Academic institutes should always strive to instil systems that assist in the boosting of student performance thereby ensuring that the institution remains highly relevant and competitive amongst other institutions as it places a great focus on its students’ success through the enhancement of the learning experience.

It is essential, in Deming’s opinion, for senior managers to also adopt Deming’s principles and not just attempt to enforce them on the lower ranks of the system (W.E, Deming, 1986). Reviewing the academic sector, there is a general push on educators to improve the academic system and to adopt the more modern means of classroom interaction however the senior management and those demand such enforcement maintain traditional and dogmatic styles of management which translates into an absence of a leading by example for the staff. When superintendents and principals get involved in the academic system and play their part in applying the new philosophy, this will essentially be the example and motivation for educators to follow in applying the philosophy.

Deming’s third principle pushed for a cease of dependence on inspection as he believed that the process of inspection does not resolve the root cause behind the lapses in quality (W.E, Deming, 1986). Deming believed that there should be a shift of focus towards eliminating sources of variation rather than removing defects. Inspection within academic institutes serves to be the main means of evaluating the quality of an educator within the classroom, i.e. evaluating the educator after electing them for the position. However, a more plausible approach would be to introduce more rigorous selection methods to ensure that there is a minimum quality benchmark that is met by educators prior to their election to position; this then eliminates the need to inspect a lecturer’s teaching.

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Variation in sources of teaching material although is lauded within the academic industry, would be considered a disadvantage and a barrier to Total Quality as per Deming’s fourth principle. The fourth principle essentially advocates the utilisation of one source to ensure a consistency in the nature or quality of the outcome (W.E, Deming, 1986). Academically, this would standardise the teaching material as well as the syllabus for all educators teaching the same subject. The standardisation of the material used will ensure that the same knowledge is delivered to all students hence eliminating sources of confusion. Although students may have different educators, they sit the same exam paper at the end of the year, standardising the syllabus and materials would ensure that no student is disadvantaged as the examination would be set based on the syllabus. In addition, it allows students independent study due to the fixed syllabus.

Deming’s fifth principle essentially reinforces his first principle of the drive towards improvement as it essentially suggests perpetual improvement within any organisation or process (W.E, Deming, 1986). In the academic context, it is essential for an academic syllabus’ success to equip students with the most up to date knowledge in the most modern manner to ensure relevance to society. Hence, applying Deming’s principle, it is essential for a positive outcome of delivering useful knowledge for educators to revise the academic syllabus constantly to ensure the relevance of its content in addition to re-considering the resources and infrastructure provided to students as tools of learning and knowledge delivery change rapidly (Lee Hansen, W. 1993). This constant revision will maintain the relevance of the knowledge as well as the school to the educational sector.

It is essential to maintain consistency in both the knowledge delivered as well as the quality in which it is delivered within the classroom to ensure a productive and quality learning experience which would essentially result in better performing students. In Deming’s opinion, training is essential in reducing the variation in product or service that essentially results in a variation in experience of the customer (W.E, Deming, 1986), in this case, the student. Therefore, as per Deming’s sixth principle, it is crucial for academic institutions to offer and conduct compulsory training programmes aimed at enhancing the quality of educators as well as instilling a uniform manner of material delivery within all educators. The purpose of training is to essentially further reinforce a standardisation in service and outcome (Ho, S.K. and Wearn, K. 1995).

The seventh principle of Deming’s is instituting leadership whereby he believes that there is a need for the management of any organisation to deviate from traditional means of supervision which is highly based on examination, target and quota setting towards a method of supervision which integrates leadership i.e. providing guidance and assistance to ensure success (W.E, Deming, 1986). In an academic environment, leadership needs to be instituted in the merit systems which essentially set targets for lecturers to meet in terms of the number of excellent students, the concern that arises in this situation is that firstly, educators may then choose to focus on students perceived to be more capable to meet their quota thereby abandoning the less capable ones; and, secondly, it could also lead to a mere production of good exam results without underlying quality education (Doherty, G.D, 1994). Hence, to enhance what the student gains from the academic system, it is crucial to supervise through

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abolishing rewards for production and providing assistance in ensuring the academic resources are pooled together to enhance the students’ experience.

In some organisations and academic institutions, academicians and staff are essentially motivated to produce or due to the fear of job loss or reprimand. The system of fear, in Deming’s opinion, creates two major problems; first, employees begin losing the sense of belonging to the organisation as it instils fear within them; second, employees lose focus of the quality and shift towards quantity to meet targets which is not in the best interest of the organisation (W.E, Deming, 1986). In an academic institution, it is crucial for educators to be acting out of compassion and passion in educating students to ensure a maximal commitment of time and resources to the job rather than acting out of fear of job loss thereby only investing the minimum required time and resources to fulfil their teaching role. The latter essentially deprives students of the holistic learning experience which ensures their functionality as they progress within the education system while the latter, which Deming encourages, grants students a more informative classroom experience.

Deming’s ninth principle of management is breaking down the barriers between departments to ensure that the internal customer is satisfied which then translates into a greater likelihood of the external customer to be satisfied (W.E, Deming, 1986). This essentially means that it is not the student only that should be viewed as a customer but also the educators involved in the process of education. When educators are granted full access to teaching resources, provided the necessary comfort facilities within the academic institution and also the access to the necessary departments relevant not just to their delivery of their work but also their wellbeing, this will translate into educators performing their jobs better due to a greater level of satisfaction which will in turn benefit the students. (Rhodes, L.A, 1992)

Slogans, as Deming’s believes, shift the focus and burden of consistency and quality from the major cause of inconsistency i.e. the process, to the non-influential element within the system i.e. the worker (W.E, Deming, 1986). In an academic environment, there is a great push on educators to adhere to slogans, rules and regulations on a consistent basis. This push essentially creates tension between the management of an academic institution and the educators hence making it more difficult for standardisation to be instilled. As most concerns of failure and improvement are faults within the processes or systems, it would only serve to alienate educators to push them only to adhere to slogans (Johnson, F.C and Golomski W.A.J. 1999)

Deming’s eleventh principle was the elimination of management by objectives which is essentially the removal of all targets set within an organisation as targets discourage better workmanship as well as greater quality (W.E, Deming, 1986). In Deming’s opinion, production targets ultimately result in lower quality for larger quantity. Juxtaposing the industrial concern of lower quality to academics, this would essentially be a greater passing rate with a lower rate of excellence, the setting of objectives and targets pushes educators to carry out bulk processes that do not focus on ensuring the education processes is completed as a whole in detail but rather is completed for the sake of being completed. This would then result in a faltering in both the quantity and quality of the knowledge delivered to students thereby lowering the quality of their learning in the classroom as the educators have no

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concern for their understanding. A model based on individual leadership would serve to better serve the model of quality education (Wikland, H. et. al. 2003).

When the process becomes purely about the quantity produced within a time limit and merits are awarded on that basis, the individuality of workmanship and the pride attached to it is lost as the value of work is reduced to a target and a reward. Deming’s twelfth principle essentially focuses on the removal of barriers to pride of workmanship (W.E, Deming, 1986). Educators should be granted the room to work within the limits of the standardised system to innovate and delivery knowledge in creative means as this allows for students to have a more enjoyable learning experience in the classroom. In addition, this also motivates educators to utilise more of their knowledge and skills during the process of teaching as their work is recognised not through reward but by the work itself producing outcome of great quality i.e. excellent students (Mullin, R. and Wilson, G. 2000)

It is crucial within any organisation that self-improvement of its individual members be ensured at all times. Deming believes that to ensure constant quality improvement, the workers themselves must believe in the principles of education and self-improvement to enable them to perform better thereby creating outcome of higher quality (W.E, Deming, 1986). Similarly, educators should be encouraged through both training on the job as well as the provision of resources, avenues and motivators to self-improvement to ensure that their credentials and abilities are maintained up to date and ahead thereby delivering relevant information to students. The only manner to ensure this occurs is providing the avenue thereby instituting the concept.

Lastly, Deming emphasises that “the transformation is everyone’s job”. In summary, he believes that it is the task of every individual within an organisation to create, motivate and maintain positive change towards improving quality standards (W.E, Deming, 1986). It is quintessential for any academic institution to instil a sense of belonging and relevance within its entire staff, educators or otherwise, to ensure maximal and productive participation in the institutions push for consistent and constant change towards improvement and better quality education.

In summary, the academic industry can benefit greatly from applying all of Deming’s principles due to the relevance on an organisation scale of the means of enhancing the quality of production, in this scenario; the quality of students produced and their learning experience. Deming’s 14 principles vastly overlap but essentially focus on one core principle of eliminating all causes of scapegoating and all barriers to the development and involvement of all the arms of an organisation in the cause of development. Similarly, an academic institution requires all of its expertise, educators or otherwise, to ensure an academic syllabus and a learning experience that are both relevant and effective.

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REFERENCES

Deming, W.E. (1986) Out of the Crisis. Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Doherty, G.D. (1994) Developing Quality Systems in Education. London: Routledge.

Ho, S. and Wearn, K. (1995) A TQM model for higher education and training. Training for Quality, 3 (2), p.25-33. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09684879510087503 [Accessed: 23 November 2012].

Johnson, F.C. and Golomski, W.A.J. (1999) Quality Concepts in Education. The TQM Magazine, 11 (6), p.467-473. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09544789910298852 [Accessed: 23 November 2012].

Lee Hansen, W. (1993) Report No. 97, Bringing Total Quality Improvement into the College Classroom. [report] Wisconsin: Centre for Quality and Productivity Improvement, University of Wisconsin.

Leonard, G. (1986) Education and ecstasy. New York: Dell Publishing Co.

Mullin, R. and Wilson, G. (2000) Quality of Undergraduate Education examining the Current Paradigm and System. Journal of Quality Management , 5 (2000), p.225-246

Rhodes, L.A. (1992) On the Road to Quality. Educational Leadership, 49 (6), p.76-80.

Wiklund, H. et al. (2003) Innovation and TQM in Swedish higher education institutions – possibilities and pitfalls. The TQM Magazine, 15 (2), p.99-107. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09544780310461116 [Accessed: 23 November 2012].

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