ABSTRACT
Much has been gained, in recent years, from the examination and partial adoption, of developments in quality assurance from outside the world of education. Standards, such as ISO 9000 and Investors in People, and approaches, such as TQM, have been influential contributors to the debate within education, and as such are reflected within the contents of this book. However, the underlying cultures of the organizations in which they were first developed were often very different from that which prevailed, and to some extent still exist within education. This cultural difference does not invalidate the power of these approaches, but it may have the effect of slowing down change, possibly to an unacceptable degree.
