This is the 2nd symposium discussing the development and implementation of education policies and political instruments dealing with early school leaving in the aftermath of the Lisbon Strategy (2000) in 7 European Union member states (Belgium, United Kingdom, Portugal, Poland, Spain, Hungary, Austria). It builds on the project Reducing Early School Leaving in the EU (RESL.eu, financed by EU, 2013-2018), involving 9 European countries. This part will be focusing the Spanish, Hungarian and Austrian papers (the other four, Belgian, English, Portugeuse and Polish papers were presented in the1st symposium).

Building on a wider view of how the problem of ESL is shaped within the EU in the 9 member states participating in the project, the symposium brings to the fore the policy drivers underpinning policy making induced by the European level and intends to provide an understanding about the national similarities and specificities of the policies at stake. The presentations focus on the interaction between EU agenda the national agendas dealing with ESL, identifying the workings of rescaling processes (Dale, 2007) and the renationalisation processes. They draw on content analysis of EU and national relevant documents, and interviews and focus group discussion with national and local stakeholders. 

References

Balzer, C., & Martens, K. (2004). International higher education and the Bologna process: What part does the European commission play? Paper presented at the epsNET 2004 plenary conference, Charles University, Prague. 

Barroso, João (2006). Introdução: A investigação sobre a regulação das políticas públicas de educação em Portugal. In João Barroso (Org.), A regulação das políticas públicas de educação: espaços, dinâmicas e actores (pp. 9-39). Lisboa: Educa.

 Dale, R. (2007). Globalization and the rescaling of educational governance: A case of sociological ectopia. In C. A. Torres & A. Teodoro (Eds.), Critique and Utopia: New developments in the sociology of education in the twenty-first century (pp. 25–42). New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

 Ferlie, E., Musselin, C., & Andresani, G. (2009). The governance of higher education systems: A public management perspective. In C. Paradeise, E. Reale, I. Bleiklie, & E. Ferlie (Eds.), University governance:Western European comparative perspective (pp. 1–19). Dordrecht: Springer.

 Magalhães, A. Veiga, A., Ribeiro, F. M., Sousa, S. & Santiago, R. 2013. “Creating a common grammar for European higher education”, Higher Education, vol. 65, 95-112.