The paper proposed will present our analysis of the different pros and cons, following a series of reflections, experimentations and publications on pedagogy over several years, of a possible European level teaching quality assessment. While I remain ambiguous about the desirability of a European-wide teaching quality assessment (TQA) system and even more so, about its feasibility, at the same time, this can potentially have real positive effects on the quality of teaching in the classroom, if for no other reason that at the very least, this will contribute to discussions regarding pedagogy at the university level, as I see TQA inextricably linked to pedagogy.
Our analysis of the possible criteria for TQA has led to a fourfold categorisation, with a series of criteria listed according to the degree of difficulty at implementing and/or at evaluating them, not in terms of their intrinsic pedagogical value. The four sets are:
Table I) External TQA criteria?;
Table II) In-class criteria for TQA?;
Table III) Students’ centred TQA criteria? and;
Table IV) Programme and departmental level TQA criteria?
The question mark beside each element is not a mistake: it raises the question as to whether each can be an element for TQA. I do not, in the text itself, develop each and every criterion, concentrating instead on some of the most important, especially those relating more directly to pedagogy. Before doing so, the general context in which TQA has emerged will be presented. Note that while I have been working in the French system for five years, I have also been trained in both Anglo-Saxon and French speaking North American universities and worked as a pedagogical advisor for the Japanese ministry of education. Hence, my examples and reflections will be based on what I observed in these different contexts.
