The Assessment of Competencies Acquired by Returnees from Individual Student Exchanges

Abstract

To achieve the objectives that the European Council planned in Lisbon in 2000, “to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world” (Lisbon European Council, 2000), the school of the future is outlined by EU official bodies, more and more, like a school that must provide and establish new key competencies, rather than simply one that provides and ensures knowledge. This objective is spreading vigorously in all member countries of the Union because the conclusions of the Lisbon Council gave Europe a mandate to develop a common approach to education that goes beyond the diversity of national education systems: we are then going a bit everywhere in Europe toward a school of competencies (Hingel, 2001). Well-known as they are, key competencies have been defined by the European Recommendation of December 18, 2006(European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2006). They are: communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, mathematical competency and basic competencies in science and technology, digital competency, learning to learn, social and civic competencies, a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, and cultural awareness and expression.