The Agile in Higher Education as a Quality Question

Quality can mean the difference between “better” and “worse” as well as just clarifying distinctions between different characteristics, as in “possessing a certain quality”. Agileness as a quality of processes encompasses both aspects: It is foremost a neutral qualification, a description of a characteristic a process can have along a continuum. But nowadays, it is most often seen as “better.” Increasingly, “agile” as a concept arises in texts on higher education and in pedagogy in general. But what exactly is meant by this term and how to embed its aims into higher education theory? Into different streams of pedagogy in general? This text contributes to those two goals: Proposing a clear definition for the term and drawing lines between its core concerns and preexisting theories, concepts, streams and traditions in higher education and in pedagogy in general. The term “agile” deserves conceptual clarification to prevent the word “agile” – like other important terms such as “competence” and “reflection” before it – from becoming watered down. Finally, we discuss to what extent and with which arguments a qualification of “agile” as “better” is plausible and how this discussion can foster quality in higher education in general.