'Quality' in the Bologna Process: from 'competitive edge' to quality assurance techniques

The theoretical premise of this article is that policy is constructed and presented discursively. The Bologna process presents us with an example of such a policy construction process where the quality policy goals are set jointly in transnational settings, requiring different kinds of negotiations and discursive strategies. Discourse analysis of policy texts can be useful in tracing policy changes and describing them, but also in explaining and understanding some of the developments that lead up to the implementation of the policies and the (political) views which are embedded in the debates. In this article, some discourse analytical methods are used to analyse the potential meanings of ‘quality’ at the European and national level of the Bologna process. The linguistic analysis focuses on the different meanings of ‘quality’ and the value assumptions attached to it from the point of view of word choice, metaphors and argumentation strategies. The data used are the official declarations and communiqués of the Bologna process; the central background reports of the process; and brief national follow‐up reports prepared for the Berlin meeting of 2003 from Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands.     

Reception of the quality assurance commitments of the Bologna process in Finnish higher education institutions

This article analyses Finnish higher education institutions’ reception of the implementation of the new quality assurance systems that governments participating in the Bologna Process have committed to establishing in the Berlin Communiqué of 2003. The data were collected using a web survey and the respondents were classified with a cluster analysis. The reception was more positive in the polytechnics than in the research universities and women were more positive than men. People working in managerial positions were most positive about, and committed to, quality assurance. Most critical were young researchers in research universities working in temporary jobs. Some opinions were so strongly shared that respondents with short work experience expressed their opinions, even though they could not have personal experience of the topic in question. For some topics, respondents without personal experience, but having a critical attitude, tended to give their opinion whereas those with neutral attitude abstained from commenting.     

解读“博洛尼亚进程”

＂博洛尼亚进程＂目的在于通过资源整合在欧洲实现高教一体化,这个进程始于由29个国家签署的《博洛尼亚协议》。从经济学的视角来看,＂博洛尼亚进程＂是顺应经济全球化的一项举措。学位体系变革是＂进程＂中最为重要的一项改革,尽管对这个进程存有不少质疑,但欧洲各国仍积极推进,因为＂博洛尼亚进程＂已经不是单纯的教育问题。     

The Bologna Process in Italy

Italy was among the promoters of the Bologna Process and the early adopters of the reform. If one looks at its impact on the formal structure of curricula and study programmes, the reform undertaken under the Bologna banner seems to have been one of the major educational reforms ever achieved in Italy. This article describes how the Bologna Process has unfolded in Italy, looking at the reasons why a reform that for long eluded Italian policymakers and higher education managers finally succeeded. The theme is approached from the point of view of the contemporary theories of institutional change, looking at the actors and interactions that made this reform possible despite strong opposition. In fact, it was a series of contingent events that weakened the balance of powers governing Italian HE, thus making institutional change possible.     

法国博洛尼亚进程实施状况述评

博洛尼亚进程的总目标已成为欧洲各国高等教育改革的参照标准,对以多样化为特点的法国高等教育而言,欧洲高等教育一体化的实现是一个长期的历史进程。法国高等教育系统的改革以整合博洛尼亚进程,建立欧洲高等教育研究区为主旋律。博洛尼亚进程的实施对法国高等教育产生了巨大的影响,增强了法国高等教育体制的开放性和流动性,促进了学生的流动性,密切了高等教育领域与社会经济部门的联系,提高了毕业生的就业率。     

博洛尼亚进程述论

作为欧洲高等教育改革重大举措的博洛尼亚进程,即欧洲高等教育区建设进程,是在高等教育国际化和欧洲经济政治一体化的背景下产生的.它以建构欧洲高等教育区为目标,旨在加强各成员国之间高等教育的可比性和兼容性,增强欧洲高等教育的吸引力和竞争力,提高欧洲高等教育的质量,重塑欧洲高等教育的辉煌.1999年6月,欧洲29国教育部长共同签署<博洛尼亚宣言>,提出建设欧洲高等教育区的具体构想、行动纲领和工作计划.其后,经过历次会议特别是5次部长峰会的评估和改革,逐步形成"学位体系建设、质量保证、学位互认、促进流动、联合学位、终身学习、社会维度和机会均等、提升就业力、全球化背景下的欧洲高等教育"等新的行动目标,并在学制改革、质量保证、学分互换、学位互认等方面取得明显进展.2007年的伦敦会议明确提出,要建设"全球化背景下欧洲高等教育区".从<索邦宣言>欧洲高等教育区的设想到EHEA的形成规模,从当初的4个发起国到现在的46个成员国,博洛尼亚进程走过了10年,其内容不断丰富,目标日益完善,原则广受认同,且一直处于发展、改革和完善之中,致力于协调进程在各国实施进度的差异、保持进程趋同化发展中的多样性、寻求不同民族和国家在区域性合作和竞争中的平衡.     

The implementation of the Bologna Process

This study identifies the responsibilities of the bodies and institutions involved in the implementation of the Bologna Process. They include the levels of Europe, nations, higher education institutions, departments, degree programmes, teachers and students. The future planning is analysed using the Balanced Scorecard approach designed for the communication and implementation of the strategy. The approach is used to analyse the objectives of European education policy from the different perspectives. Strategic planning and quality assurance are most efficient when they are transformed into action at the closest possible point to teaching and learning.     

博洛尼亚进程:中国视角

一、《博洛尼亚宣言》的核心内容1996年6月,欧洲29国教育部长签署的《博洛尼亚宣言》的核心内容是:(1)在欧洲各国之间实行清晰的、透明的、可比较的学位制度,使各国授予的学位和学历有等值性和对比性。(2)实行高等教育的两级制:学士和硕士。学士学制3-4年,硕士1-2年,承认学士在欧洲劳动力市场上作为完整的高等教育。(3)实行统一的学分制。(4)鼓励学生、教师、教育管理人员和研究人员的自由流动,并为他们的流动创造条件。(5)加强在质量监督领域的欧洲合作,以便制定出可比较的标准和方法。这些做法的目的是在2010年以前建立起欧洲统一的高等教…     

俄罗斯的博洛尼亚进程:困境及走势

俄罗斯加入博洛尼亚进程既是提升其国家竞争力的需要,也是其参与世界教育服务市场竞争的需要。但是,目前它面临着对"博洛尼亚化"的倡导与反对并存、被认为是一场"没有激情的运动"等困境。尽管如此,俄罗斯的博洛尼亚进程仍有"软着陆"的趋势。     

The Social Dimension of the Bologna Process

The Bologna Follow Up Seminar, which took place in Athens in February 2003, continued discussions that had emerged from the Prague Communique´ of May 2001 to the effect that higher education is a public good. This article focuses on the public good aspect of higher education and calls for broadened access and no tuition fees, for the social role of higher education should be viewed as a value in itself.     

博洛尼亚:城市的战略转型与大学的制度选择

成功的大学城是大学和城市的相互建构,也是环境变迁和组织制度选择共生的过程。作为大学城的博洛尼亚市,其战略转型和经营是围绕博洛尼亚大学进行的,博洛尼亚大学也在城市发展中不断改变历史演进路向。博洛尼亚大学的办学理念、制度体系和教学科研的演变反映了组织在环境中的使能,博洛尼亚市的政治经济环境、文化传统和关键行动者形塑了组织结构。     

博洛尼亚进程的最新进展与未来走向

从1999年29国教育部长共同签署《博洛尼亚宣言》到2009年鲁汶会议召开,博洛尼亚进程已经走过了10年的发展历程。虽然博洛尼亚进程国家在建设欧洲高等教育区取得了很大进展,但欧洲高等教育一体化的道路还很长。鲁汶会议发表的《鲁汶公报》和《2009年博洛尼亚进程评估报告》总结了博洛尼亚进程10年来取得的进展和存在的问题,提出了新的要求和行动计划,指出了欧洲高等教育发展的未来走向。     

Finnish Higher Education Policy and the Ongoing Bologna Process

|spagf|it|epagf|The Bologna train is running at full speed. The next stop at ministerial level is the Berlin follow-up meeting to be held on 18-19 September 2003. This article is an attempt to investigate the background to the Bologna Process, which, with all the haste, has remained rather obscure. It examines how the educational policy of the EEC/EU has reached a stage at which one can speak of a European Higher Education Area with reference to the concepts of harmonization and the Bologna Process. It will also examine possible future scenarios, focusing particularly on the Finnish situation. Why has Finland been so keen to embark on reforms? What does Finnish higher education policy aim to achieve through the Bologna Process, and what does it stand to gain from it?|spagf|ro|epagf|     

Professionalism,profession and quality assurance practitioners in external quality assurance agencies in higher education

This article seeks to spark a dialectic discussion on the establishment of a set of professional competencies for quality assurance practitioners who serve in external quality assurance agencies in higher education. Such a need is identified due to the shortage of relevant and sufficient coverage in the quality assurance literature. To substantiate the need, the concepts of professionalism and profession, and how these concepts are linked to the quality assurance in higher education sector, are carefully examined through a desk-top research study. References are drawn from the experiences in several other occupations. The result reveals that the development of the essential competencies for external quality assurance practitioners in higher education is valuable and essential and it will be useful for the practitioners to transform themselves into a profession in the long run.     

博洛尼亚进程中的乌克兰高等教育： 变革与挑战

在欧洲一体化和国内高等教育停滞不前的双重压力下,乌克兰于2005 年加入博洛尼亚 进程,对本国高等教育学位体系、学分体系和质量保障体系进行了深入的改革。改革取得了明显的 成就,但也面临着新旧体制并存、政府与高校间的分歧和教育市场化危机等重重挑战。乌克兰高等 教育会因这次改革比过去更具国际竞争力。     

博罗尼亚进程下的瑞典高等教育变革

瑞典的高等教育紧跟国际化趋势,在博罗尼亚进程下,积极改革高等教育,扩大入学人数与保证教育质量相结合,学位结构改革与高等教育国际化相结合,重视并加强高等教育在终身学习中的作用,改革与时俱进、富有特色并系统进行,促进高等教育和谐发展。