Quality as Illusion? Considering Hidden Trade-Offs and Risks in Undergraduate Education Conceptualised as ‘Regulated Play’

In-depth interviews exploring academics' teaching practices and views on undergraduate education at one English university reveal concerning examples of educational trade-offs in delivering on national and institutional quality expectations. Evidence reveals the negative impacts on teaching and students' learning and achievements. Quality instruments reflect their neoliberal managerialist environment, its internal structures of power, organisation and monitoring and are viewed through Foucault's concept of governmentality. Academics' responses align with a post-Foucauldian construct reflecting their negotiating behaviours in this space. A new conceptual model extends on Docherty's construct of ‘contained’ play to capture ways in which institutional quality systems and structures might restrict learning. The questions, ‘what lies hidden from the gaze of traditional quality measures?’ and ‘where does the real risk to quality lie?’ are asked, revealing quality to be illusory in some instances. Findings reinforce the critical need to better understand teaching academics' experiences as key mediators in this area.