英国院校研究发展与演变的逻辑：从“平等”到“质量”

The Development and Evolutionary Logic of Institutional Research in Britain: From “Equality” to “Quality”

与美国相比，院校研究在英国的发展是迟缓的。从历史渊源来看，英国早期的“院校研究” 活动包括“校史研究”和“政府报告”。但其“真正意义上”的院校研究起源于英国政府决定推行高等教育大众化的政策过程（１９６３—１９８７）。在此期间，院校研究主要是促进“教育平等”的政策研究和大学内部教学法改进研究。２０世纪８０年代后期，英国政府与大学之间的关系发生了重大变化，“质量评估运动”和“问责”促成了院校研究在英国高校内部地位的确立。院校研究的旨趣也从关注“平等”转向“质量”。院校研究在英国发展的历程和经验，对于其他欧洲国家甚至对中国院校研究的推进，都具有启发和借鉴意义。

Compared with the United States， the development of institutional research in Britain is tardy. From the historical origin， the early British “institutional research” activities included “individual university’s history” and “government reports”. But the “serious” institutional research originated in the process when the Britain government decided to boost the massification of higher education policy from 1963 to 1987. During that period， institutional research mainly focused on policy research on the system level which aimed to promote the “education equality” and pedagogical adjustment of the university to support “the new students” learning. Since the late 1980s， great changes on the relationship have taken place between the higher education institutions and the UK government. “Quality Assessment Movement” and “Public Accountability” have madea contribution to strengthening institutional research in universities and colleges. At the same time， the focus of institutional research has shifted from “equality” to “quality”. Much could be inspired and learnt from the experience of the institutional research in the UK for other European countries and for China to develop a formally constituted institutional research capacity.