Routledge Quality in Higher Education as a Tool for Human Development: Enhancing Teaching and Learning in Zimbabwe (Routledge Studies in Development and Society)

Whilst many studies have explored how quality in higher education is conceptualised in the Global North, less attention has been paid to quality in higher education in Africa and the Global South. This book uses the human development and capabilities approach to demonstrate how quality in teaching and learning contributes to a range of benefits, such as improved wellbeing, economic outcomes, political engagement, and human capital formation amongst graduates. The book interrogates the various dimensions of quality as well as factors that impact on the realisation of quality in universities and society at large. Recognising that measures of quality are context and stakeholder specific, the book uses the Zimbabwean context as a Global South case study. It evaluates how quality is conceptualised and operationalised in Zimbabwean universities, and how that impacts on teaching and learning policy and practice. The book also demonstrates the need for economic resources for individuals and universities, and emphasises the importance of a social and educational environment conducive to critical learning, and post-university opportunities. This book will be of interest to researchers across Education, African and Development Studies, as well as to policymakers and practitioners with an interest in quality assurance and the promotion of teaching and learning in universities in the Global South. Review "This book approaches the issue of quality of higher education using a framework based on the capability approach. Both the topic and the approach are extremely innovative and relevant because the dominant conception of quality in the literature at an international and regional level is based on the human capital approach. Thus, this novel approach can bring new academic insights and policy recommendation to address the quality of universities, especially in a Global South context." ― Professor Sandra Boni, Department of Projects Engineering, The Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain "Quality in Higher Education as a Tool for Human Development makes an important and timely contribution to the field by offering a new way of understanding quality processes in higher education. This approach foregrounds the importance of human capability development and could help to change our understanding of the nature of high-quality higher education." ― Professor Paul Ashwin, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK About the Author Patience Mukwambo is a Researcher in the SARChI Chair in Higher Education and Human Development (HEHD) Research Group, University of the Free State, South Africa.