Inter-University Cooperation and ERASMUS: The Integration of French LEA Students in British Undergraduate University Courses

With the advent of the ERASMUS programme a new impetus has been given to the exchange of students between countries within the European Community. Having outlined the aims and objectives of ERASMUS, the authors take as a case-study the development of links between the Universities of Birmingham and Grenoble III (Stendhal University), from the initial inter-university agreemart to the creation of an ERASMUS diploma. The problems posed by diffetences in university systems and practices in Britain and France are identified. Academic issues discussed include the relative merits of contrastive and complementay study programmes, the tailoring of course packages to the needs of specific groups of students, linguistic difficulties, assessment and validation procedures. After a brief consideration of practical arrangements, the article concludes with an evaluation of lessons which are to be learnt and of the extent to which such an initiative might be said to fulfil the ideals of the ERASMUS program.     

Political and Individual Rationales of Student Mobility: a case-study of ERASMUS and a French regional scheme for studies abroad

The aim of this article is to analyse political rationales for promoting student mobility in Europe and discuss these in the light of individual experiences of mobile students. Since the creation of the ERASMUS programme in 1987, student mobility in Europe has been the subject of unusual political promotion. More recently, in the context of the Bologna process, the goal of increasing student mobility has been reaffirmed by various higher education actors. Student mobility is thought to be both a component of the European Higher Education Area and one of its outcomes. Beyond this apparent widespread acceptance, we examine, on the one hand, underlying legitimating ideas and rationales that accompanied the institutionalisation of student mobility by the European Commission and a regional French authority. We also discuss the extent to which drives for mobility and outcomes at the individual student level are in line with the political perceptions and expectations of the above‐mentioned institutional actors.     

A Bourdieusian analysis of the participation of Polish students in the ERASMUS programme: cultural and social capital perspectives

In this paper we examine the perceptions of ERASMUS agents’ of Polish students’ participation in the EP. We provide a Bourdieusian analyse of the cultural and social capital acquisition of students based on the qualitative data, collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Erasmus agents, of a European research project. We argue that: Polish students’ participation in the EP has a positive impact on their academic achievement, cultural, social and linguistic capital, but, at the same time, it has a negative impact on degree completion of students as they get highly paid jobs, which prevent them from fully developing their cultural capital; ERASMUS Tourism has its value and place in the EP, because it provides students with the opportunity to develop their cultural, social and linguistic capital; and a Bourdieusian analysis of the experiences of ERASMUS students provides a better understanding of the impact student participation in the EP on their development.     

Engineering Education in ERASMUS: an overview

The ERASMUS Programme has meant a leap forward in both the quality and the quantity of student exchange programmes in engineering. About 4700 engineering students will be involved in the first three years of the programme. There is a variety of organisational patterns in the inter-university co-operation programmes, ranging from bilateral exchanges of short duration (three months) to fully integrated multilateral programmes leading to a double qualification. The ERASMUS exchanges have proved to be highly beneficial to students: in addition to the basic academic training, the period abroad allows students to improve their language proficiency, obtain cultural and social enrichment, and develop important personal virtues like openness, adaptability and the ability to stand on their own feet.     

欧盟“伊拉斯谟计划”及其意义

伊拉斯谟计划作为欧盟(欧共体)推动的欧洲国家间的大学生流动计划,为我们提供了了解欧洲高等教育跨国合作的一个独特视角。本文通过阐述伊拉斯谟计划的实施背景、目前情况以及相关评估,指出了欧盟在该计划之外致力于推动高等教育国际化的新举措。     

Reading for academic purposes: the literacy practices of British,French and Spanish Law and Economics students as background for study abroad

Study‐abroad students, products of their own particular academic literacy culture, face the challenge of rapidly integrating into a foreign academic literacy community. This study identifies possible culturally dependent sources of literacy problems in Law and Economics students in Great Britain, France and Spain. Nearly 600 potential European study‐abroad candidates (ERASMUS programme) and 169 of their university teachers from 17 universities in the three countries completed a questionnaire on first language (L1) reading practices. Results revealed distinct academic literacy profiles within disciplines across national cultures. Academic reading practices are seen to be more important overall in Britain, significantly less so in Spain, while France shows some characteristics of both British and Spanish approaches. Summarised results of a concurrent investigation into ERASMUS students' foreign language reading skills suggest the influence of L1 literacy traditions on foreign language reading, which points to pedagogical implications and directions for further study.     

Internationalisation of higher education: European experiences

‘Internationalisation’ is generally defined as increasing cross-border activities amidst persistence of borders, while ‘globalisation’ refers to similar activities concurrent to an erosion of borders. Study mobility is viewed as the most visible component in this framework in Europe with ERASMUS as the largest scheme of temporary mobility. ERASMUS was a trigger for a qualitative leap of internationalisation strategies and policies since the 1990s: towards cooperation and mobility on equal terms, and towards systematic and strategic internationalisation. The ‘Bologna Process’ aimed to make higher education more attractive to students from other parts of the world and to facilitate intra-European mobility; however, many other activities are needed to stimulate mobility, and the Bologna Process pursues many other objectives. It remains to be seen whether supra-national and national policies and institutional strategies will continue to opt for wide-ranging cooperation based on mutual trust or whether the ‘competition paradigm’ will determine the scene.     

欧洲学分互认体系:一个转换与累积体系

欧洲学分互认体系(ECTS)于1989-1990学年开始推行。其最初目的是根据欧共体"伊拉斯莫"计划,对学生流动转学期间的学习给予认可,学生将获得经由ECTS认证的学分和一个ECTS等级,这些学分和等级可以使学生流动期间就读学校的成绩获得母校的认可。"用户手册"是欧洲学分互认体系的解释性文件。该系统的核心是,学分的授予是建立在所完成的学习任务和通过考试所获得的学习成绩上的。本演讲将详细介绍ECTS系统,以及它目前在49个国家和地区之间作为转换与累积学分体系的作用。     

大学生国际流动对人力发展和全球理解的贡献

在高等教育国际化的进程中 ,大学生国际流动已经从无组织或自发的行为进入到有组织的形式 ,并且也已经成为各国经济竞争的一个重要方面。本文考察了全球范围内大学生流动的趋势 ,并重点以欧盟的依拉斯玛斯计划为例 ,分析了大学生国际流动的重要作用 ,以及阻碍大学生国际流动的因素与可能的解决方案。研究表明 ,大学生国际流动有助于人力的发展和全球的相互理解 ,应当进一步推动大学生的国际流动。     

DEUS and the DEUS TraiNet

Historically DEUS (Danish Enterprise University System) grew out of a number of distance learning projects in various educational sectors, i.e. both open university degree courses and tailor-made continuing and training courses. The DEUS TraiNet is recognised as a UETP (University Enterprise Training Partnership) by the COMETT programme. It is a network of universities, organisations and Danish companies established with a view to promote collaboration between industry and higher. education institutions. DEUS partners are engaged in a number of international projects including COMETT, ERASMUS and the DELTA-programme. DEUS is a fill sponsor of EuroPACE.     

Enriching students’ language skills and confidence through a university mentoring scheme

University can be a challenging learning environment for students entering with a lower level of English. This report focusses on a mentoring scheme which aims to enhance undergraduate students’ English language skills so that they gain the most from their studies. Around 200 students participate in this mentoring scheme each academic year and the programme involves around ten university English teachers who act as mentors. In this report, we describe the programme and reflect on our experience as mentors.     

The two faces of political science studies—junior and senior students’ thoughts about their education and their future profession

The article reports on an empirical small scaled interview study among junior and senior students in the political science programme in a Swedish University. The aim is to describe how students at various stages of their studies conceive of their education as well as their future professional life. Questions about their identity as students have also been posed. The results indicate that a programme with a major emphasis on political science appears to have two different faces as experienced by the students. The first half of the programme is experienced as traditional liberal arts studies, i.e., the students enrol in a ‘personal bildung project’ and conceive of political scientists as a kind of watchdog for democracy. Students in the latter part of their studies report an emerging identity as investigators and civil servants and an appreciation of the parts of the studies that enhance their generic skills.     

A Review of the Disability Access Route to Education in UCD 2010-2013

This article offers a review of the DARE as it operated in University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland from 2010 to 2013. This DARE scheme allows applicants to provide details of their disability and its impact on their education, with a view to competing for specially allocated places on their programme of choice, should they not receive an offer of a place based on the merit of their Leaving Certificate Second Level examination results. This article provides an overview of the DARE scheme and a detailed analysis of the profile of students who applied and were eligible for the DARE scheme, and accepted a place in UCD, between 2010 and 2013. It details how these students have progressed and how their educational outcomes compare to that of the general student body as well as making recommendations for the improvement of the scheme.     

Culture and the school: The degree of educational integration of Roma and Gypsies in the Peloponnese region of Greece

This article examines the degree of integration of Roma and Gypsy children in formal education in the Peloponnese region of Greece. It is based on field research conducted by the University of Patras during the school year 2006/07 within the framework of the Greek Ministry of Education’s “Integration of Roma children in school” programme, funded by the European Union. Despite governmental incentives for poor families to enrol their school-aged children, school attendance of Roma and Gypsy children was found to decline from primary year one to primary year six, with hardly any of them entering secondary school at all. Besides looking at school attendance figures and Roma and Gypsy children’s proficiency in reading, writing and numeracy, this paper also considers gender, family composition, living conditions and economic situation, as well as culturally constructed perceptions of childhood and a person’s life cycle. The aim of this article is to highlight the contradictions and ambiguities involved in the process of incorporating Roma and Gypsy children in formal education, and to evaluate their school performance and assess their academic choices.     

Shaping global teacher identity in a short-term mobility programme

This article explores the shaping of Australian and Malaysian pre-service teachers’ possible selves in a short-term mobility programme. With the theory of possible selves, individuals imagine who they will become based on their past and current selves. The focus of the research was on pre-service teachers’ possible selves as global and culturally responsive teachers. The experiential learning through participation in the programme allowed participants to consider their future possible selves as teachers with a deeper understanding of diverse learners’ needs and how they might strive to address these needs in their own classrooms. The scaffolding of reflections in the programme encouraged the pre-service teachers to take on multiple perspectives, to step outside their comfort zones and in many ways to see the world from different eyes. The research found that through experiential learning in the short-term mobility programme both the Australian and Malaysian pre-service teachers gained in positioning their cultural selves currently and as future teachers, suggesting that there is merit in utilising the theory of possible selves in future research in the area of shaping teacher identity.     

Management education at a distance and its effects on career progression: The case of MBA in retailing and wholesaling students

Students who register for any MBA programme anticipate that their career opportunities will be improved. When they are also practising managers, evidence shows that career changes may occur at any time during the course of their programme. Using a survey on students studying the University of Stirling's MBA in Retailing and Wholesaling by distance learning this paper was able to support this evidence as well as investigating the type and frequency of career changes being experienced by managers.     

PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ESTABLISHING A TRANS‐EUROPEAN MOBILITY SCHEME FOR UNIVERSITY STUDIES “TEMPUS"

This article is a reprint of the explanatory memorandum of a proposal formulated by the Commission of the European Communities for the establishment of a mobility scheme intended to enable students, teachers, and researchers to participate in education and training programmes similar to those in the Community. A principal goal is to develop links between central and eastearnn Europe and such . European Community programmes as ERASMUS, COMETT, LINGUA, and SPES. The indicative calendar presented assumes that the scheme will be in operation as of the 1990‐1991 academic year.

     

ERASMUS: THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY'S HIGHER EDUCATION ACTION PROGRAMME IN ITS FIRST YEAR

On 14 May 1987, the Education Ministers of the Twelve reached agreement on the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS). With a total of 85 million ECU** ** One ECU is worth approximately $ 0.8131 United States dollars. View all notes earmarked for its initial phase (1 July 1987 to 30 June 1990), the programme will aim at encouraging increased student and staff mobility throughout the European Community by means of the creation of a European University Network, the award of grants to individual students, arrangements for the mutual recognition of qualifications and courses or parts of courses, and a range of additional supporting measures. In the following article, the authors will examine, in some detail, the Actions provided for in the Programme, which was formally adopted by the Council on 15 June 1987.