Aufsatz in einer Fachzeitschrift
Editorial
Details zur Publikation
Autor(inn)en: | Kehm, B. |
Publikationsjahr: | 2012 |
Zeitschrift: | European Journal of Education |
Seitenbereich: | 343–347 |
Jahrgang/Band : | 47 |
Zusammenfassung, Abstract
The creation of a European Higher Education Area was declared at the Bologna Ministerial Meeting 2010, although the Ministers emphasised in their final Communiqué (Bologna Ministerial Meeting 2010) that the implementation and calibration of the higher education reforms which had started in 1999 still needed time. Current debates are now revolving around the reform agenda until 2020. And while several of the 27 European countries which had signed the Bologna Declaration in 1999 believe that they have fully implemented the reforms, many of those which signed the Declaration at a later stage are still working to achieve full implementation. Furthermore, many of the Bologna reform goals have been shaped and even distorted by national adaptation and interpretation. Although we can note a certain degree of convergence at the macro-level, e.g. the system-wide introduction of a tiered structure of studies and degrees and the use of ECTS, there is still considerable heterogeneity at the meso- (higher education institutions) and micro-levels (study programmes). Some elements of the Bologna reform agenda such as modularisation, learning outcomes and their assessment are not well understood in many systems and thus create a further element of divergence. Researchers in the field of higher education in many Bologna signatory States have followed the reform process and carried out analyses or stock-taking studies at the national level or in comparative perspective. The variety of approaches and thematic emphases often reflects the different stages of the implementation process in a given country. This issue of the European Journal of Education assembles contributions which demonstrate the many ways in which the implementation of the Bologna reforms is studied and mirrors the existing diversity rather than convergence. Possibly the idea that convergence at all levels was an inherent part of the Bologna Process must be given up altogether and its successes and failures measured and analysed along a different set of indicators, including, for example, to what extent the European higher education systems are successful in competing for and attracting best talent on a global scale.
The creation of a European Higher Education Area was declared at the Bologna Ministerial Meeting 2010, although the Ministers emphasised in their final Communiqué (Bologna Ministerial Meeting 2010) that the implementation and calibration of the higher education reforms which had started in 1999 still needed time. Current debates are now revolving around the reform agenda until 2020. And while several of the 27 European countries which had signed the Bologna Declaration in 1999 believe that they have fully implemented the reforms, many of those which signed the Declaration at a later stage are still working to achieve full implementation. Furthermore, many of the Bologna reform goals have been shaped and even distorted by national adaptation and interpretation. Although we can note a certain degree of convergence at the macro-level, e.g. the system-wide introduction of a tiered structure of studies and degrees and the use of ECTS, there is still considerable heterogeneity at the meso- (higher education institutions) and micro-levels (study programmes). Some elements of the Bologna reform agenda such as modularisation, learning outcomes and their assessment are not well understood in many systems and thus create a further element of divergence. Researchers in the field of higher education in many Bologna signatory States have followed the reform process and carried out analyses or stock-taking studies at the national level or in comparative perspective. The variety of approaches and thematic emphases often reflects the different stages of the implementation process in a given country. This issue of the European Journal of Education assembles contributions which demonstrate the many ways in which the implementation of the Bologna reforms is studied and mirrors the existing diversity rather than convergence. Possibly the idea that convergence at all levels was an inherent part of the Bologna Process must be given up altogether and its successes and failures measured and analysed along a different set of indicators, including, for example, to what extent the European higher education systems are successful in competing for and attracting best talent on a global scale.
