Session Information
23 SES 04 E, Education Policy Making: The European Union
Paper Session
Time:
2009-09-28
16:00-17:30
Room:
HG, HS 45
Chair:
Romuald Normand
Contribution
The European Qualification Framework (EQF) for Lifelong Learning should be implemented in all member countries since the beginning of 2010. It aims at harmonization of different national (esp. academic/HE, vocational and adult education) qualification frameworks in Europe under the umbrella of lifelong learning. The EQF should function as a tool for transparency and transferability of knowledge, skills and competences, for employability, for learning outcomes-based recognition and certification of knowledge, skills and competences, for international sectoral qualifications and for governance by quality assurance and evaluation.
My claim is that the trans-national frameworking policy does not decrease the importance and crucial role of nation states in education and training. Through analyzing EU and national reform and implementation documents, which relate to the ECTS-system, the EQF and the CQAF, I show their educational assumptions and implications. “EQF is based on eight… `reference levels´, defined in terms of … knowledge, skills and competences,… enabling individuals to be classified … according to learning outcomes… Learning outcomes is…statement, what a learner knows, understands, is able to do on completion of a learning process,…defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competences.” (EQF_broschure_en2008.) Pedagogical activities are defined as a process of operations in educational service production. (QAF of Finnish VET 2008, EU commission 2006).
The EU frameworking policy is an example of a global tendency, where nation-states struggle for a place in the sun of global markets. By considering the changing role of state in national industrial, financial and political (military) context, I suggest that nationalist interests continue to underpin educational reforms despite the change in the rhetoric. Finally I question the role of different actors, including researchers, in the frameworking policies.
Method
The approach is historicizing and contextualising. The material under study is chosen from exemplary documents related to contemporary qualification policies in Europe. The reading of documents can be characterised as deconstructive content analysis, which is supported by discussion with relevant research literature.
Expected Outcomes
Interpretations about the educational content and implications of qualification policies.
References
Short list: Bologna workplan 2008 Ecclestone 2008 The dangerous rise of therapeutic education EQF brochure 2008 EU commission 2002 EU commission 2004 EU commission 2006 Foucault 2004 Society must be defended Furedi 2005 Politics of Fear Hage 2003. Against Paranoid Nationalism Heikkinen 2006 European, a global player KTM 2004 Osaava, avautuva ja uudistuva Suomi NBE 2008 Finnish Quality Assurance Framework
Update Modus of this Database
The current conference programme can be browsed in the conference management system (conftool) and, closer to the conference, in the conference app.
This database will be updated with the conference data after ECER.
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance, please use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference and the conference agenda provided in conftool.
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.