Literature Review on Total Quality Management in public and private Essay

Literature Review on Total Quality Management in public and private preschools - Essay Example The use of quality management issues in public and education sector is more recent, and the interest of working with quality from a TQM point of view within the education sector has grown during the last decade (Dale, et al., nd). The use of TQM in the public sector such as education and the health sectors is deemed as part of the new public management. New public management is a general term for various change initiatives, which has been brought about by escalating requirements from different authorities. The Swedish public sector introduced an administrative law in 1987 that requires counteracting of inconveniences and enhancing accessibility among authorities. The Swedish commission on advanced vocational education necessitates that educational organizations employ quality assurance as some kind of quality evaluation. Formal definitions of total quality management preschool The external concept of quality refers to attempts to enhance the quality of the incoming product. In the ca se of schools, the product is the student or the child who is entering school for the first occasion. Industry operates with sellers who make parts, which when assembled will be the end product. Schools on the other, hand have two vendors, which are the preschool children and their parents or guardians. Schools ought to have programs for preschool and parenting. Nevertheless, this is often not possible to have preschooling as part of an ongoing program in most cases due to cost inadequacies. If possible, any school wishing to implement the external quality concept should have a preschool program. There are numerous definitions of the quality concept as put forward by different scholars (Karoly & Bigelow, 2005). There are five broad concepts of the term quality. One aspect is the transcendent concept where quality is taken as the innate excellence, which is absolute and universally acknowledgeable and long lasting. In preschooling, transcendent quality can be learned to be acknowledg ed through experience. The second approach to quality is product based, where quality reflects differences in the amount of some ingredient or factor possessed by a product. Preschool quality management concept on product based refers to attributes possessed by students. The third attribute of quality is user based, where the quality of the best satisfies clients’ preferences. Preschool quality management reflects on students meeting the requirements and needs of the employers as they look for those students with the highest quality. The fourth aspect of quality is manufacturing based, where the focus is on the supply side. Manufacturing based quality is essentially concerned with manufacturing practices and fulfilling tolerances (Bradley, 1994). The final concept of quality is value based, where quality is measured in terms of costs and price. In preschooling total quality management, the school should offer performance or conformance at an acceptable price and cost. Main co mponents of total quality management in preschool There are five main basic components in preschool total quality management that foster young children skills and abilities. These are the curriculum, the early literacy learning principles, accountability and assessment, teacher education and professional growth, as well as home-school relations (Bracken, 2004). Early literacy learning principles Developing standards for preschool is among the best