Moving from Compliance to Continuous Improvement: Using Total Quality Management to Enhance Teaching and Learning
In classrooms all over the world, there is an ongoing quest to find effective ways of enhancing teaching and learning. Numerous reforms have targeted new curricula, teacher-training and testing systems. Although these initiatives matter, permanent change is not the result of a single occurrence. Yet it springs from a consistent, organized effort to make teaching better every day. Total Quality Management (TQM) provides a realistic way to address such improvement through the recognition of teamwork, leadership, effective use of information, and training.
Total Quality Management is founded on one simple principle – that improvement never ends. This is particularly true in education, where schools need to constantly search for new ways to improve what we teach and how we teach it, how we support our students, and how the school functions overall. Instead of when things are beginning to fall apart, which is the standard operating procedure in many countries, TQM promotes schools reflecting on what’s going well and not so well.
One of the central ideas in TQM is that quality is everybody’s job. In a school setting, that success isn’t only the work of the teacher. School leaders, teachers and support staff, students and even families have a role to play in driving learning. Schools are at their best when people work together and help one another; also they become more focused and coherent. DuFour and Mattos (2020) emphasize that schools become outstanding when educators share the responsibility for student learning and work collaboratively in a team.
Similarly, Hord (2015) notes that when teachers grow and work together, instruction has more impact. When teachers get together and talk about their lessons, students’ progress or ideas they’ve had, they grow as professionals. This work together enhances classroom practice and fosters a culture of ongoing learning.
Continuous improvement is also an integral part of TQM. Schools should not look the same from one year to another. Rather, they should always be searching for better ways of instructing and satisfyi g learner needs. School improvement becomes an actuality, Schmoker (2018) maintains, when we concentrate on improving classroom instruction in a deliberate and step-by-step manner. Tiny shifts in how lessons are taught, how learners are supported and teachers work together make a huge difference over the long term.
Additionally TQM promotes the use of evidence in decision-making within schools. Schools generate enormous quantities of data from tests, classwork and other forms of assessment. This is something which must not only be noted, but pondered. This is because when they analyse data about student results, teachers can see areas, where learners need support in order to be able to tune their teaching. This makes teaching less diluted and students better.
Another factor is leadership in establishing a culture of quality. The direction is set by school leaders, and they create an environment where teachers feel supported. Strong leadership supports a school culture where individuals collaborate, learn from each other and sustain a focus on improvement (Fullan 2014). By promoting collaboration among teachers, developing teachers and directing their schools’ activities, education leaders can set the stage for higher quality learning.
When the perspectives of these scholars are synthesized, we have a schematic Total Quality Management in education. DuFour and Mattos (2020) discuss the value of collective responsibility and collaboration. According to Hord (2015), teachers learn together in order to get better. Schmoker (2018) breaks down the process of enhancing classroom instruction. Reeves (2016) demonstrates how data can lead to better decisions. Leadership, as the glue that holds all these parts together is seen by Fullan (2014). Together, their ideas suggest that improving schools relies on collaboration, reflection and painstaking.
Another fundamental concept in TQM is to anticipate problems before they arise. Rather than waiting for students to fail, teachers can look for early signals of difficulty and offer help. For instance, if a child starts to struggle with reading or math, extra help at the appropriate time can head off long-term learning problems. This early step will allow students to gain confidence and consequently succeed.
Similarly, TQM requires schools to fix the systems rather than play the blame game. When students do poorly, the goal shouldn’t be so much to assign blame but to figure out where things can be better. Teachers can also think on commentaries about instructional strategies, teaching materials, and classroom support. This gives a safe space where educators can talk through their challenges and establish solutions together.
This is still a process that heavily requires teamwork. When teachers work to plan lessons collaboratively, swap ideas and support one another, they become better professionals. Eventually, this shared work goes on to improve the entire school. Teachers must earn to participate in that setting, and appreciate the fact that, learning is a collaborative act, rather than an individual task.
Total Quality Management is continuous process. It doesn’t happen overnight. Instead, it embraces incremental gains by tiny, marginal changes. One good lesson, one lost learner and one teaching method improved at a time could change the quality of education.
Finally, Total Quality Management provides a palpable and realistic method for enhancing instruction. It’s a reminder to schools that quality is about teamwork, strong leadership, keeping information safe, and putting forward a persistent effort. The combined opinion of DuFour and Mattos (2020), Hord (2015), Schmoker (2018), Reeves (2016), and Fullan (2014) demonstrates that real improvement occurs when schools prioritize working together, learning from evidence, and helping each other. When those principles are applied consistently, schools develop strong systems to support teachers and students in generating steady and long-term progress.
WRITTEN BY:
WISDOM KOUDJO KLU,
EDUCATIONIST/COLUMNIST,
GREATER ACCRA REGION.
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