Hi
Laurel,
Hmmm
…
I’m going to risk
death and opprobrium here, but might I humbly suggest that ‘excellence’, for
the very reasons you give, is not a very helpful aim to set yourself.
Certainly, objectives (that come underneath aims, and are more operationally
based) will be more detailed, and should be SMART, but I often feel that this
gives people the excuse to be as vague as they like with aims, and they set
themselves unattainable ones (or ones that are so ill-defined as to be without
much use).
The purpose of any
set of measurement criteria is somehow to relate to a business plan – you need
to stretch yourself, for sure, but essentially, everything relates back to
your giving value for money, and providing the service you set out to provide;
so it should be rooted in the measurable and attainable; remember, aims
indicate strategy, and, as
such, must still come from the world of the real.
I’d also add that the
word ‘excellence’ now appears in so many aims and strap-lines (particularly
material coming out of government, who seem to have developed a strategy of
finding buzzwords without considering what they mean), that even on its own
terms, it has become hackneyed, clichéd, and without any meaning whatsoever.
Go for it – be more creative and realistic!
I’ll shut up
now.
Barry
From: List for discussion of issues in
museum education in the UK. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Miller, Laurel
Sent: 11 May 2009 15:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Measuring
excellence
Dear
All,
one of the aims for the new
service that I am developing is to be
"excellent".
A laudable aim, but how do I measure whether or not excellence
has been achieved?
Are there a set of benchmarks out
there for an excellent education service?
Any suggestions on how to measure
this would be gratefully received.
Laurel
Miller
PGCE
Education Officer,
Community
Services,
Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire
& Swindon History Centre
Cocklebury
Road
Chippenham
Wilts
SN15
3QN
Tel: 01249
705529 (external)
Tel: (71) 5561
(internal)
Fax: 01249
705527
email:
laurel.miller@wiltshire.gov.uk
www.wiltshire.gov.uk
Wiltshire &
Swindon History Centre - Your Passport to the Past: Archives, Archaeology
& Building Records, Museums, Conservation, Local
Studies.
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