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?