Recognition and assessment of teaching quality

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Higher Education Pedagogy
• Quality Assurance in Academia

Background:

• Colleges of nursing and midwifery are integrating into higher education institutions.
• The prevailing 'quality ethos' in universities often prioritizes research over teaching excellence.
• Existing quality assessment frameworks may not adequately recognize or reward teaching quality in nursing and midwifery education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the nature of quality in higher education, specifically within nursing and midwifery contexts.
• To define criteria for teaching quality, its achievement, recognition, and reward for nurse and midwifery educators.
• To advocate for valuing teaching excellence on par with research within academic settings.

Main Methods:

• Review and analysis of the nature of teaching, teaching quality, and competence.
• Examination of characteristics of good teaching within higher education.
• Discussion and suggestion of criteria for assessing and evaluating teaching activities.

Main Results:

• Nursing and midwifery education requires explicit definitions of teaching quality.
• Models for achieving, recognizing, and rewarding teaching excellence are proposed.
• Clear criteria can facilitate the integration of nursing and midwifery educators into the broader higher education quality framework.

Conclusions:

• Nurse and midwifery educators must proactively define and advocate for teaching quality standards.
• Establishing clear assessment criteria is crucial for valuing teaching excellence in higher education.
• Collaborating with higher education colleagues can shape an ethos that equally values teaching and research.