The integration of lecturer collaboration within higher education institutions’ quality culture framework

Abstract

Purpose

There is a lack of clarity about how lecturer collaboration in light of learning and (professional) development fits within the framework of a quality culture in higher education institutions (HEIs). More specifically, it is unclear how collaboration is present or stimulated in the organisational context, triggering working mechanisms leading to quality-related outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to relate HEIs' quality culture to lecturer collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory study relates institutions’ quality culture to lecturer collaboration via semi-structured interviews and document analysis at the institutional level in four Flemish HEIs.

Findings

The results demonstrate collaboration as a working mechanism driven by the institutional strategy. In this way, lecturers’ professional development (PD) is stimulated. The results also indicate that collaboration is present within lecturers’ PD: working together during or sharing experiences after PD initiatives is considered useful for quality teaching and learning.

Originality/value

Following the growing attention in research and practice to lecturer collaboration, this study incorporates lecturer collaboration in the framework of quality culture within HEIs.

Citation

Droissart, J. and Tuytens, M. (2024), "The integration of lecturer collaboration within higher education institutions’ quality culture framework", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-09-2023-0157