In the past couple of months, MusiQuE has been busy promoting the “Critical Friend Approach” amongst higher education institutions and quality assurance agencies. The “Critical Friend Approach” increases the relevance of quality assurance processes and develops an ongoing quality culture in the institution by moving quality assurance from a technocratic process to a discourse about the content of education.

After the successful presentation of the “Critical Friend Approach” at the ASIIN 5th Global Conference, that took place on 10-11 December in Berlin, the Chair of the Board of MusiQuE, Martin Prchal was invited to contribute with an article in the special issue of the ASIIN-Newsletter.
Mr. Prchal’s contribution under the title “Alternative Models in International Higher Education Quality Assurance” is presenting and explaining the “Critical Friend Approach“ and its advantages both for institutions and for the academic community. The article can be found in the ASIIN-Newsletter (pages 6-7) and can be downloaded here.

Upon invitation by the University Council of Jamaica, MusiQuE participated on the symposium under the theme “Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Managing Changes and Expectations” which took place on March 12 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. MusiQuE was represented by the Peer-reviewer Susanne van Els, who delivered a presentation under the title ‘Making QA processes more meaningful for teachers. The latest development in the field of music’. The presentation addressed a challenge that is often referred to in quality assurance processes: the involvement of teaching staff in these processes. The presentation argued that this challenge can be approached effectively by creating a common language based on a concept of quality culture, which addresses both (artistic) standards and educational quality. The whole presentation can be accessed here.