Dynamic and Communicative Aspects of Quality Assurance

Abstract

Quality assurance and quality enhancement are relational communication activities with problematic, often contradictory dimensions. This article examines quality processes as personal and social constructs that may be better understood from the theoretical perspective of relational dialectics. Faculty members, academic leaders, and accreditors find themselves in roles that are either logically or functionally contradictory. Conventional approaches seek to eradicate contradictions as part of the change or improvement process. The relationship between quality processes and the scope and extent of change are elucidated and illustrated. Through relational dialectics, contradictory forces and their praxis can be viewed beneficially to further quality improvement.