Like many others, I am catching up on back messages after traveling -
so a little delay in response time here...
In the Deming in Education thread initiated (I believe) by Taylor
Jenkins in LO8449, several issues came up that I would like to
address. [Msg reference corrected by your host...]
Comments:
1. Deming's philosophy *is* alive and well in education - from
kindergarten to graduate schools. His philosophy is both being taught
and applied. There are more and more people (like myself) who are
bridging industry and education - with learnings occuring in both
directions.
2. RE: "reworking students" - As an employee of the post-secondary
educational system (post high school) - I am in a larger system of
education that begins with the primary and secondary systems; then
continues to either more schooling or work in industry. In the
context of this system, and in comparing this to the industry model,
we *do* receive high school graduates as inputs to our part of the
process/system. As is the case in many post-secondary systems, our
"rework" rate is about 65% - 65% of our incoming students require
*some* form of remedial work.
This is *not* to reduce variation in our student body (re: comments in
previous LO thread postings). Following the philosophy of Dr. Deming,
we educators understand that learning differences and diversity are
part of Deming's win/win process.
3. RE: Grading - Unfortunately, the grading curve *is* alive in many
to most educational systems. The 400 year old educational paradigm is
rooted on this forced ranking of students. The good news is that some
of us are challenging this system.
4. Deming & statistics - I think that far too many people associate
Deming's philosophy with *only* statistics. His *System* of Profound
Knowledge is truly holistic and universal. I also believe that it
dovetails well with Senge's Learning Organizations.
Resources:
1. As part of my commitment to quality in education, I run a
discussion list called TQM-L - TQM/CQI in Higher Education. The list
is a discussion forum for folks that are interested in quality
applications in the classroom as well as the administrative side. I
just did an archival search on TQM-L and got 167 'hits' on the keyword
Deming. The TQM-L Welcome file contains info on the list and contains
a list of net and text resources on quality in education. To receive
this file, send a message to:
listserv@ukanvm.cc.ukans.edu
with
get tqm-l welcome
in the body of the message text.
2. I also run a discussion list on the work of Dr. Deming called the
Deming Electronic Network or DEN (mentioned here occasionally). The
references to education are less frequent than on TQM-L. The DEN runs
on the Clemson CQI server, which contains the archives of the DEN as
well as 800+ files on quality. The URL is
http://deming.eng.clemson.edu
3. For those looking for more substance on links between Deming and
education: look at the works of Bob Cornesky and David Langford. Bob
has written a number of texts on quality in education; and applies
both Deming's 14 Points and the Baldrige criteria. David is most
noted for his work in the Mt. Sitka system and with his use of
competency matrices in education.
4. The W. Edwards Deming Institute now has a web page at
http://www.deming.org
5. I teach both credit and non-credit classes based on the Deming
philosophy and would be glad to answer any questions in that area.
Back-channel would probably be best as the topic probably has a
limited audience.
Thanks for your time,
**************> Moderator, Deming Electronic Network <***************
* Jim Clauson, Director Phone (W): +1 423 882 4611 *
* Quality Training Programs Phone/FAX (H): +1 423 717 0250 *
* Center for Quality & Innovation clauson@deming.ces.clemson.edu *
* Roane State Community College den_moderator@a1.rscc.cc.tn.us *
* Harriman, TN 37748-5011 clauson_jr@a1.rscc.cc.tn.us *
******************> Primary Listowner, TQM-L <***********************
--Jim Clauson <CLAUSON_JR@A1.RSCC.CC.TN.US>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>