The Complex, Multi-layered Business of Developing Quality Professional Education in Universities

Abstract

This concluding chapter looks back over the illustrations of quality practice presented in this first book and argues that developing quality professional education in universities is inherently complex. Firstly, it contends that developing quality professional curricula that are fit for purpose requires both careful interpretation, and assurance of, professional standards. Secondly, the chapter claims that increasing pressure on professional degrees to deliver particular outcomes for graduates, places universities at the centre of sometimes conflicting, institutional, professional, and societal forces. It reviews the international case studies presented in this book and briefly examines each according the particular complexities that inform them, whether these are conceptual, social, political, economic or cultural. It concludes that the successes relayed in author case studies within this book are all the more impressive given the multi-layered negotiation of meaning and context required for their achievement.