Perception of teachers towards total quality management (TQM) in teacher education institutions

Abstract

Quality has been a central issue for researchers in the field of education for quite some years now. The shift has been observed as: from quality to quality control to quality assurance and now it is Total Quality Management (TQM). The growth of the Total Quality Management phenomenon in Teacher Education Institutions has been radical in the part of twentieth century. Still the application of Total Quality Management in Education institutions is questionable and the implementation rate is very negligible in comparison to other sectors like, industry, service sectors etc., The TQM has gained wide acceptance in the business world as an institutional transformation philosophy. The Total Quality Management is a system of management based on the principles that every member of staff must be committed to maintaining high standards of work in every aspect of a company's operations (Britannica,2001). The reforms in the teacher education are the need of the hour to achieve the national goals. This study attempts to find out the perception of teachers on selected eleven quality indicators (leadership, teacher quality, student quality, material resources -{Input indicators}, linkage and interface, teaching, co-curricular, office management, examination - {Process indicators}, relationship and job satisfaction {Product indicators}) categorized into three dimensions namely input indicators, process indicators and product indicators. The perception of teachers towards TQM was studied through data collected from teachers working in various colleges of education (government and aided) in Tamilnadu. The findings of the study revealed that, as far as input indicators of TQM are concerned, no difference of perception was identified in terms of gender, locality and experience. In case of process indicators of TQM did not vary due to their gender, locality and their teaching experience. Finally for the product indicators, the perception does not differ with the gender and their teaching experience but it differs in terms of the locality of the teachers.