TITLE:
No One Has Bothered to Know: Understanding the Constructions of Teaching Excellence in Higher Education Institutions of Zambia: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Approach
AUTHORS:
Betty Shitima Bweupe, Jason Mwanza
KEYWORDS:
Constructions, Teaching Excellence, Hermeneutic, Higher Education Institution
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.9,
August
12,
2022
ABSTRACT: Purpose: The aim of this paper is to
understand from the teaching life world of quality assurance and education
actors in the higher education institutions, their construction of teaching
excellence. Design: Charmazian
constructivist Grounded Theory Method was
employed. Hermeneutic constructivist philosophy guided this study and 29
participants were interviewed using criterion i sampling. Findings: Eleven categories of
teaching excellence emerged from the data and the constructions of teaching
excellence were multifaceted. Based on the participants’ voices, there is no
universally accepted definition of teaching excellence. There is no consensus
of opinion on what constitutes teaching excellence in all higher education
environments. However, research suggests that Teaching Excellence practices
were beginning to be applied on an
institutional level as a management tool though not recognised by the term
teaching excellence. Nevertheless, it was not being practiced extensively, and
was implemented in pockets, with emphasis on quality teaching more than
teaching excellence, and not generally implemented in a systemic way. Practical implications: The teaching
excellence categories that we have generated in this study could be one source
of elements our policy makers could consider when developing teaching
excellence policy instruments such as Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Such
Instruments could support the enhancement
of educational provision across our higher education system. Therefore,
rather than focusing on developing metrics of teaching excellence, it is could
be more effective to focus also on how these institutions could enhance their
educational provision. Originality: The study provides empirical contextual individualised constructed
constructs of teaching excellence. Conclusion: We stated in the title “No one has bothered to know”. Now we have known that the constructions of teaching excellence
are multifaceted. The implication of the findings is that phenomenology
is a powerful research strategy that is well suited for exploring challenging
problems in quality assurance research. By building a better understanding of
the nature of phenomenology and working to ensure proper alignment between the
specific research question and the researcher’s underlying philosophy, we hope
to encourage quality assurance and teaching excellence scholars to consider the
utility of phenomenology when addressing their research questions.