Education Reforms and Modernization of Education: Mission, Reality and Reflection. International Experience for Ukraine
Author(s):
Yuliia Kobiuk (presenting / submitting) Inna Meleshko (presenting) Iryna Lytovchenko Olena Ohiienko
Conference:
ECER 2017
Network:
Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)
Format:
Paper

Session Information

ERG SES D 06, Educational Reform

Paper Session

Time:
2017-08-21
13:30-15:00
Room:
W3.16
Chair:
M. Allyson Macdonald

Contribution

The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the methodological approaches and preliminary findings of a research project aimed to conceptualize and systematize the results of comparative analysis of education reforms in European countries (the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Finland) as a prerequisite for modernization of education. The objectives are to define the content of European education reforms and modernization processes, effective ways of their implementation, positive and negative trends, possibilities of using innovative European experience in modernization of education in Ukraine. The research questions are:

-         Why can the transition from education reforms to modernization of education be an adequate response to challenges of modern civilization?

-         Can the European experience be useful in modernizing the Ukrainian educational system?

The theoretical framework of the study is based on concepts of theories of education, philosophy of education, education policies and documents of the European Council, CEDEFOP, OECD and other organizations.

By means of analysis of education reforms in the above mentioned European countries the study focuses on the following issues:

-            Reasons for initiation of education reforms.

-            Political and structural aspects of European education reforms reflecting the search for efficiency, cost-effectiveness and quality.

-            Modernization and education reforms, their interrelationship and interdependence.

-            Modernization of higher education in European countries in the context of the Bologna Process and the Lisbon Strategy.

-            Transition from education reforms to modernization of education in Ukraine and implementation of the European experience.

It has been found that modern education reforms are a multidimensional process of changes caused by a complex of conceptual factors, such as globalization, transition to knowledge economy and integration, as also by socio-economic transformations and crisis of national education.

In this paper we will discuss the following aspects of educational reform policies of the European countries: the influence of political forces, content of reforms, their implementation in practice, results which allowed defining both positive and negative trends. To analyze the structural aspect of education reforms we used the structural-functional approach which helped to gain insight into the goals of transformations, identify differences and common features of education reforms in the four countries, show the importance of the transition of education systems to innovation in order to ensure efficiency, economic feasibility and quality of education.

The examples of implementation of education reforms in the European countries have proved that reformation of education is an essential precondition of modernization as it lays the conceptual and legal foundations for systemic changes in this field according to the vectors chosen by society. The modernization of education can be viewed as changes that support and ensure the dynamic development of education in accordance with the goals of reforms and creation and implementation of models of anticipatory development of education to meet the needs of society.

The study of education reforms in the European countries allowed identifying the main stages of reformations. It has been found that the formation of the new education system is based on simultaneous implementation of education reforms at national and European levels, as they are carried out within the Bologna Process aimed to create the European Higher Education Area, the Lisbon Strategy (2000) and the “Europe 2020: A European Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth”.

The reformation and further modernization of Ukrainian education is complicated by the fact that the education sector in this country could not be reformed gradually. The importance of the European experience of transition from education reforms to modernization of education, possibilities and ways of its implementation in Ukraine in the process of joining the European educational space have been defined.

Method

From the methodological perspective, the research is based on the interdisciplinary and system approaches. Therefore, we have used a complex of interrelated research methods: general scientific (comparative, structural, systemic-functional analysis, comparison and synthesis that are necessary to study scientific works, official regulations and empirical data) and empirical (conversation, dialogue, discussion, questionnaire, expert survey, etc.) ones. The authors followed the methodological pluralism of Feyerabend who believed that objective cognition needs diversity of opinions and only those methods that encourage such diversity are compatible with the humanistic position (Feyerabend, 1998). They also used epistemology in the context of philosophical ideas of Dewey who argued that “we inquire when we question; and we inquire when we seek for whatever will provide an answer to a question asked” (Dewey, 1938, p. 106). The paper presents data collected through a set of research strategies: expert surveys of workers of Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (4), heads of higher education institutions (8), professors (27), students (192), teachers (51), members of community-based organizations (11) and scientists (25) on the effectiveness of education reforms; discussion of ways of transition from education reforms to modernization during round-table discussions and conferences. The study relies on conclusions of experts of the International Foundation for Education Policy Research, the Center for Testing Technologies and Education Quality Monitoring, the “Education Policy” Internet portal that present an independent and systemic opinion about the level of effectiveness of education reforms in Ukraine, demonstrate that the government education policy, despite the large number of legislative acts and guidelines regulating the development of the national education, is not entirely effective. At the same time the debatable nature of the results reflects the urgency of problems in the education system of Ukraine and the need for search and implementation of complex effective solutions for its modernization.

Expected Outcomes

The paper presents the results of the analysis of education reforms in the UK, France, Germany and Finland and their implementation into practice. They show that at present these countries are still searching for mechanisms to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the national education, particularly through the development of the pan-European education policy of the European Dimension in Education, implementation of methods for monitoring the effectiveness of reforms (primarily the Open Method of Coordination ‒ OMC), introduction of an innovative model of education, creation of the European Higher Education Area based on the shared architecture of a three-cycle degree structure and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). At the same time, the education systems of these countries have undergone radical systemic changes in the context of challenges of the XXI century confirming the transition from individual reforms (some of which were ineffective and inconsistent) to the modernization of education which is a natural phenomenon of dynamic and evolutionary nature, aimed at creating innovative mechanisms of education development and management of innovation processes. The paper also highlights positive and negative trends in educational changes that are important for outlining possibilities of implementing the European experience into Ukrainian education system. The obtained results allow predicting the priorities in transition from individual education reforms to modernization of Ukrainian education: improvement of current laws and regulations in education; reorientation of administrative principles of reformation to gradual introduction and spread of the Open Method of Coordination; transition of higher education institutions of Ukraine to the mode of innovative development providing high-quality education in accordance with international standards; formation of efficient economics of education, effective organizational and economic mechanisms of using resources; growth of government support for educators; reorganization of education management system and financing mechanisms according to objectives of modernization of education.

References

Callender, C. & Scott P. (eds.) (2013) Browne and Beyond: Modernizing English Higher Education. London: Institute of Education Press. Carnoy, M. (1999) Globalization and educational reform: what planners need to know. Paris: UNESCO, International Institute for International Planning. Dewey, J. (1938) The theory of inquiry. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Wiston. Feyerabend, P. (1998 [1975]) ‘How to Defend Society Against Science’, in E. D. Klemke, R. Hollinger, D. W. Rudge, et al. (eds) Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, pp. 54–65. European Commission (2010a) Communication from the Commission, Europe 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, COM(2010) 2020 final, Brussels, 3.3.2010. http://ec.europa.eu/eu2020/pdf Eurydice (2011) Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Funding and the Social Dimension. http://www.finhed.org/media/files/12-131EN.pdf Finikov, T. & Sharov, O. et al. (eds) (2014) Monitoring the integration of Ukrainian higher education system into European higher education and research area: analytical report. Кyiv: Takson. Keeling, R. (2006) The Bologna Process and the Lisbon Research Agenda: the European Commission’s expanding role in higher education discourse. European Journal of Education, 41 (2), 203-223. Lawn, M. & Grek, S. (2012) Europeanizing Education: Governing a new policy space. Oxford: Symposium Books. Levin, B. (1997) The lessons of international education reform. Journal of Education Policy, 12 (4), 253−266. Ohiienko, O. (2014) Tendencies of higher education reforming of Great Britain in the context of European integration processes. Pedagogical sciences: theory, history, innovative technologies, 35(1), 10 – 19. Ohiienko, O. (2013) The Modular-Competence Approach in vocation education: European Dimension. Kształcenie zawodowe: pedagogika i psychologia : rocznik polsko-ukraiński, ukraińsko-polski, XV, 179-188. Sahlberg, P. (2014) Finnish lessons 2.0: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland? (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Sysoieva S. (2013) Education reforms: educological context. Theory and Practice of social systems, 3, 44–55. Tjeldvoll, A. (2010) Finnish Higher Education Reforms: Responding to Globalization. European Education, 40 (4), 93-107. Vasconcellos, M., Daniel, C. (2011) Education: Grandes tendances. L’état de la France, 2011–2012. Paris: La Découverte, 58–64. Winkel, O. (2010) Higher education reform in Germany: How the aims of the Bologna process can be simultaneously supported and missed. International Journal of Educational Management, 24(4), 303 – 313.

Author Information

Yuliia Kobiuk (presenting / submitting)
Institute of Pedagogical Education & Adult Education of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine
Department of Foreign Pedagogical Systems and Adult Education
Kyiv
Inna Meleshko (presenting)
National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”
Department of English for Engineering
Brovary
Iryna Lytovchenko
National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”
Department of English for Engineering
Brovary
Olena Ohiienko
A.S. Makarenko Sumy State Pedagogical University
Department of Pedagogy
Kiev

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