The Bologna Process and the Lisbon Research Agenda: the European Commission's expanding role in higher education discourse

This article examines the role of the European Union's Commission in weaving together the Bologna Process and the Lisbon research strategy with its existing educational initiatives to define and disseminate an influential vision of European higher education. The article begins by outlining the Commission's activities in relation to EU education programmes, the Lisbon research agenda and the Bologna Process. It goes on to examine, in a variety of policy texts, the discourse of European higher education that is supported by, and supporting, these large-scale policy developments. Whilst the overall coherence and cohesiveness of this emerging discourse can be queried, the article argues that the Commission is drawing effectively on both Bologna and Lisbon to firmly constitute — and reconstitute — higher education as a European policy domain. The article concludes with an analysis of how different educational stakeholders are supported and restricted by the Commission's views of higher education, as articulated through its 'hybrid' Bologna/Lisbon agenda.     

Book Reviews

Book Reviews in This Article: Mastering Statistics Second Edition. From Cooperation to Coordination. Implications of New Technology for the School Curriculum.     

Using Assessment to Induct Students and Staff into the PBL Tutorial Process

The introduction of a new problem-based Graduate Medical Course with over 230 students and more than 200 staff required a systematic process for induction into the PBL philosophy and tutorial process. The 4SAT (4 Step Assessment Task) was designed for use as an instrument for formative and summative assessment of reasoning ability, elements of the PBL tutorial (group) process and individual learning outcomes. The instrument was developed through evaluative cycles based upon staff and student feedback, reflection and peer review. The 4SAT has face validity with the learning process and emphasises reasoning and integration of knowledge. An unexpected out come of its development was its use as a powerful tool to induct staff and students into the PBL group processes, scaffold development of hypothetico-deductive reasoning and provide guidance on the depth and breadth of learning expected in the course.     

Leaving Safe Harbors: Toward a New Progressivism in American Education and Public Life. Dennis Carlson. New York and London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2002. Pp. x, 200. $ 125.00 (hardcover).

The third edition of the Standards for Academic and Professional Instruction in Foundations of Education, Educational Studies, and Educational Policy Studies (Standards) challenge us to envision what “a more holistic, inclusive and intellectually challenging approach to preparing educators” might look like. This article discusses how the operating principles of a teacher education program parallel the commitments for educators found in the Standards and explores why collaborative relationships between teacher education and social foundations matter. Given the current political and social climate surrounding the field of education, it is important for those of us in the field of social foundations to think outside the box.