Total Quality ManagementTotal Quality Management

in Educationin Education

TQMTQM

The adoption of TQM by Japanese Industry, but not by the USA, is widely credited for the former’s miraculous post-war economic reconstruction.

School as a FactorySchool as a Factory

Raw Materials

Process Customer

Workers

Quality Control

FailDiscard/Rework

Pass

Traditional Quality Control System

School as a FactorySchool as a Factory

Primary School Leavers

Teaching

FurtherEducationTraining

Workforce

Teachers

Exams

FailResit

Pass

Traditional Quality Control SystemTraditional Quality Control System

Idealization of a factory:Idealization of a factory: Raw materials enter a process operated

by workers to produce a product which then passes through a quality controlquality control before dispatch to the customer.

Items which fail the quality control are either discarded or reworked.

Traditional Quality Control SystemTraditional Quality Control System

Drawbacks:Drawbacks: Discarding defective items wastes the

time and resources already invested in them, but

Reworking them consumes yet more time and resources.

TQMTQM

It focuses on the strategies of eliminating defects in a product by PREVENTIONPREVENTION rather than by CURECURE.

TQMTQM

Crosby ModelCrosby Model Deming ModelDeming Model

TQMTQM

Crosby’s modelCrosby’s model Focus not on the quality of the product

but on the quality of the production system you use to produce it.

Consider every component of the system and find the root causes of the failures and eliminate them at source.

The system will then produce a quality product with “zero defectszero defects”.

TQMTQMDeming’s modelDeming’s model Mass inspection of every item may take

a long time and may be inherently unreliable since there is not time to inspect each item too closely.

Quality control inspectors must be employed and paid even though they do not add valueadd value to the product.

TQMTQMDeming’s modelDeming’s model The concept of “zero defectszero defects” is a

misguided one where competition in manufacturing is concerned. The standards for zero defects is not absolute.

When the competitors produce a betterbetter product, the original standards for zero defects with become obsolete.

TQMTQMDeming’s modelDeming’s model Therefore, the emphasis must be on

continually improving the process of production to achieve even higher quality standards.

TQMTQM

QualityQuality

Better product (+)Better product (+)

Absence of defect (-)Absence of defect (-)

Quality Control in EducationQuality Control in Education

Idealization of a schoolIdealization of a school Students enter a school where they pass

through a teaching process conducted by teachers.

The students then sit for examinations (quality control) before entering further education and training, or the workforce.

Student who fail the examination either enter the work force as unskilled workers, with a lack of academic credentials or they re-sit the subjects they have failed.

School as a FactorySchool as a Factory

Primary School Leavers

Teaching

FurtherEducationTraining

Workforce

Teachers

Exams

FailResit

Pass

Quality Control in EducationQuality Control in Education

Drawbacks:Drawbacks: Allowing students who fail their

examinations to enter the workforce is a waste of time and money already invested in their education, but

to compel students to re-sit their examinations take even more time and money.

TQM in educationTQM in education

TQM is attracting increasing attention among schools and government agencies in UK, Canada and USA.

Educational authorities are attempting to impose quality standards through development of

strict accountability systems (e.g. QAI), competency-based education and testing,

and mandated national curricular content and

goals.

TQM in educationTQM in education

Different interpretations of TQM in industry, however, may result in contrasting outcomes when it is applied in schools.

TQM in EducationTQM in EducationCrosby’s modelCrosby’s model Focus on the quality of the teaching

system you use to educate them. Consider every component of the system

and find the causes for examination failures and eliminate them at source.

The system will then produce students who pass their examinations automatically.

Crosby’s InterpretationCrosby’s Interpretation

Improving the quality of the production system in order to produce a quality product with “zero defects” with respect to some static quality standard.

A teaching and learning process which focuses exclusively on achieving good examination results.

Crosby’s InterpretationCrosby’s Interpretation

Once teachers and students have achieved the performance standard of ‘zero defects’, what is there left to do?what is there left to do?

ComplacencyComplacency and StagnationStagnation

TQM in EducationTQM in Education

Deming’s modelDeming’s model Examining every student on everything they

learned takes up considerable time, thus reducing the number of class periods available for teaching.

The examination process may be unreliable since there is not time to examine each student too closely.

TQM in EducationTQM in Education

Deming’s modelDeming’s model Teachers may spend considerable amounts of

time setting and marking examination scripts, even though this exercise does not contribute directly to student learning.

There is nothing absolute about educational standards.

TQM in EducationTQM in Education

Deming’s modelDeming’s model For school to compete successfully in the

education market, there must be continual improvements in the curriculum itself in order better to satisfy the educational needs of the students.

Deming’s InterpretationDeming’s Interpretation

Never-ending cycle of improvement in the system of production which results in altogether better products.

Continually improving the quality of instruction in order to encourage students to become critical and creative thinkers in a fast-changing technological world.

TQM in EducationTQM in Education

Reflection

What are the major obstacles to implementing the Deming Model in schools in Hong Kong?