European Knowledge Society Research Articles

The value of doctoral education in the intersection of the multiple purposes of higher education

In the knowledge society, conceptions about the value of DE have been challenged by transformations in its characteristics and finalities fostered by global drivers of change, including widening the purposes of higher education. This study explores the perceived value of DE in social and health sciences within the intersection of the purposes of higher education in the European knowledge society. Data were collected using 25 focus groups with members of scientific and monitoring commissions, supervisors, PhD candidates and holders from one Portuguese university's doctoral programmes in social and health sciences. The study identified three dimensions of the value of DE: personal, academic and career agency and development; knowledge and knowledge outputs and outcomes; and socioeconomic impact. These multiple dimensions of value coexist and interact in ways that may reinforce or hinder each other. Our findings reflect an ecological university constantly re-organising in the context of the knowledge society. The study stresses the need to strive for a better balance between the ecosystems involved in DE to foster its potential contribution to understanding and (re)creating a knowledge society that effectively strives for the betterment of the world.

Značaj reformi i internacionalizacije visokog obrazovanja u skladu sa Bolonjskim procesom

Higher education reform process introduced many innovations in educational systems and caused the passing many new regulations in this area. European knowledge society rests on two pillars - European Research Area - ERA and European Higher Education Area - EHEA. EHEA is being developed through international cooperation and academic exchange that is performed through government ministries, institutions of higher education, and students and teaching staff. It must be emphasized that economic and cultural globalization has imposed new challenges for the system of higher education. Internationalization of higher education is seen as one of the ways a country responds to the impact of globalization. Also, an important feature of the Bologna Process is the adoption of new approaches in higher education. One of them is concept Open Educational Resources. As can be seen in the paper, the Bologna Process represents a strategic transformation of higher education institutions, and the conclusion is that reform process in higher education leads to economic and social well-being of the country.

Designing and building dedicated Ph.D. courses contributing to international EU mobility at doctoral level

After the Bologna framework formally incorporated doctoral education in the three-cycle structure of degrees as part of its nine Action lines in the Berlin Ministers Communique in 2003 (Berlin 2003), the AQUA-TNET network devoted a significant part of its activities to follow the subsequent developments in order to help its members understand and meet the demands of the Bologna reforms at the doctoral level. To this end, the network carried out a series of detailed and comprehensive surveys of its members. Interestingly, the results of these independent surveys reveal close similarities with the EUA survey of Doctoral Programmes for the European Knowledge Society (2005) and the sets of guidelines known as the Salzburg Principles (EUA 2005b) and the Salzburg II Recommendations (EUA 2010). The article describes the measures taken by the AQUA-TNET network to design, develop and implement structured doctoral programmes for its members in response to the specific needs as identified by its academic and industry members from those surveys.

Working the boundaries between education and work: transformations of the German educational system reconsidered

The Lisbon commitment for a European knowledge society together with the subsequently implemented policy of lifelong learning and social inclusion has significantly affected the German educational system and its teaching practices. This article examines the impact of these policy reforms on educational work in Germany through an analysis of the career narratives of workers in school-to-work transition programmes, career guidance activities and training and education programmes for long-term unemployed who are constantly negotiating the boundary zone between work and education. This qualitative analysis is contrasted with an analytical description of the meso-level reconfigurations in the framing of school-to-work transition.

A Sociological Approach to Visual Arts Teaching in Contemporary Greek Pre-school Education

The purpose of this study is to investigate the official contemporary Greek Preschool curriculum for Visual Arts teaching, which was introduced in 2003. More specifically, the reform of the Greek compulsory education curricula at the beginning of the 21st century represented the implementation of the decisions of the European Leaders in Lisbon in 2000 regarding the establishment of a new European knowledge society. The reform of the Pre-school curriculum introduced the teaching of the subject areas of Language, Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Computer Science and Creation and Expression, a significant part of which is the Visual Arts. The sociological theory of Basil Bernstein on pedagogic code and curriculum was utilized and the method of content analysis was applied to investigate the modern curriculum in pre-school Greek education and its official commentary, the 'Kindergarten Teacher's Guide'. In addition, the following research questions were explored and discussed: a) what is the relationship between the Visual Arts and other knowledge areas of the pre-school curriculum? And b) what are the didactic/interactive relationships between kindergarten teachers and their pupils in the teaching of the Visual Arts?

Ciudadanía y participación en el espacio electrónico europeo

The Lisbon Agenda and e-Europe 2002 and 2005 plans aimed to promote the European information and knowledge society. Although public participation was not a priority in the first phase, since 2005, the EU has shifted its strategy, promoting the creation of the Single European Information Space and fostering citizens’ electronic participation, making it sometimes depend on e-inclusion, sometimes on governance. The i2010 program was a step towards the use of the European electronic space for citizen participation. The recent Digital Agenda for Europe, however, does not seem to prioritize e-participation, although it maintains plans for the e-inclusion and e-government.

European Knowledge Society and Higher Education: Universities between the Tradition and Transformation

Bu çalışmada gelişmekte olan Avrupa Bilgi Toplumu ile ilgili olarak ortaya çıkan yeni sosyal riskler ve değerler dizisi değişimi, yükseköğretimin pay sahiplerinin görüşleri açısından incelenmiştir. Araştırma sorusu bilgi toplumu ile ilgili olarak yükseköğretimdeki yaklaşım değişimi, politikalar, uygulama, gerçeklik ve deneyim konularını kapsamaktadır. Araştırma altı Avrupa ülkesinde altmışaltı katılımcı ile bir yılda tamamlanmıştır. Veriler yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler ve odak grup toplantıları ile toplanmıştır. Araştırmanın tasarımı ve örneklem niteliksel araştırma yöntemlerinden kartopu yöntemi ile yapılmıştır. Her odak grup toplatısında yeni sorular oluşmuş bu sorular görüşmelerin sorularını yapılandırmıştır. Ayrıca küçük bir grup ile başlanan odak grup toplantılarında görüşmeler için daha geniş bir katılımcı grubuna ulaşılmıştır. Veriler niteliksel veri analizi algı kodlama yöntemi ile analiz edilmiştir. Bulgular Avrupadaki üniversitelerin geleneksel rollerini koruduklarını ve bilgi toplumunun geliştirilmesi için yeni bir role hazır olmadıklarını göstermiştir. Hızla değişen toplumda üniversiteler gelenek ile dönüşüm arasında bir ikilemle yüz yüze kalmışlardır. Üniversiteler Brüksel ve/veya ulusal kaynaklı değişim isteklerinin baskısı altındadır. Değişim baskısı küreselleşme sorunlarına yanıt vermekten çok kuramsal düzeyde kalmaktadır. Böylece toplumun dönüşmesinde rolü olan üniversitelerin, temel sorunlar nedeniyle, hızla değişmekte olan toplumun gerisinde kaldığı ortaya çıkmıştır. Avrupa vizyonunda yer alan toplumun hızlı dönüşüm ihtiyacı ile Avrupa üniversitelerinin gerçeği arasındaki uçurum bu çalışmada ortaya çıkan önemli bir vargıdır.

Towards a humane school in modern knowledge society: Antique guidelines

This article discusses the concept of humane schools in the context of contemporary knowledge society, from pedagogical aspect. The authors specifically indicate that the knowledge society achieves its true meaning and proper importance as well as full pedagogical potential, only when the values on which it is based are defined, and what kind of knowledge it implies. The basic features of humane school are discussed, their interdependence explained and major paradoxes that may occur in this regard perceived. Listening to the voices of some ancient thinkers that can be clearly heard, the authors discover deep roots and distant traces of important arguments in favor of the implementation of a school of thought in a new way, that is authentic humane school. Accordingly, it is concluded that on the uncertain and laden with contradictions road towards European knowledge society for the 21st century and the humane school in it, we need solid guidelines. By all accounts, these guidelines may be sought and found in the creatively transformed and newly assumed ideas of ancient Greek philosophers and in their global application on lifelong education for all people, i.e. for each man as a conscious and self-responsible human being.

A Democracy Paradox in Studies of Science and Technology

Today many scholars seem to agree that citizens should be involved in expert deliberations on science and technology issues. This interest in public deliberation has gained attraction in many practical settings, especially in the European Union, and holds the promise of more legitimate governance of science and technology. In this article, the authors draw on the European Commission’s (EC) report ‘‘Taking the European Knowledge Society Seriously’’ to ask how legitimate these efforts to ‘‘democratize’’ scientific expertise really are. While the report borrows from deliberative democrats’ normative accounts of legitimacy, the authors identify a tension between the principles for legitimate rule prescribed by deliberative democratic theory and the report’s celebration of diversity and dissent. While this inconsistency suggests that the legitimacy of deliberative governance arrangements is justified on empirical rather than normative grounds, it remains an open question whether studies of science and technology offer enough empirical support for such a justification. In this article, the authors address this pressing question and propose three possible responses.

The Tacit Epistemology of the GMO Debate: A Case Study

The issue of biotechnology has been chosen in the MIRRORS project in order to analyze the sometimes uneasy relationship between science and society. After analyzing the situation of biotechnology regarding the GMO debate in Spain, France and Italy during a previous MIRRORS Workshop (This MIRRORS Workshop is entitled European Policies and Knowledge Society, held in Catania on December 15th 2008, during the which the undersigned, Anna Benedetta Francese and Cinzia Rizza discussed three papers about this topic [see the MIRRORS website www.mirrors-project.it]), in this essay I have tried to tackle the relationship science–society, focalizing my attention on the epistemological and methodological problems behind the biotechnology debate that are often not clearly expressed, remaining mainly tacitly presupposed. I will take as a starting point some questions about the role of science in society and about the way science is used by policy makers in decision-making processes. These questions are fundamental in order to analyze (and possibly to propose salvation strategies) the existing problems of the relationship between science and society which has assumed, especially nowadays, more conflictual aspects. Our Research Team firmly holds that it is not possible to tackle this topic without an in-depth discussion of the most significant epistemological questions regarding research, discussions, and methods of biotechnology.

European Experiments

European science policy, as well as the creation of research agendas for converging technologies, functions as a testing ground for a transnational European identity. In light of competing conceptions of European identity formation, the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Program (2002–2007) adopted an experimental mode. Given that the quest for European identity is already an open‐ended experiment, the policy process invites experiments in governance, for example, by developing participatory schemes. Moreover, as European science studies scholars advance the notion of “real experiments” in the laboratory of society, one basis for identity formation among Europeans is to be the very fact that they all partake in “collective experiments” with new technologies. This analysis draws for its central cases on the creation in 2003/2004 of a “European vision” for converging technologies and a 2007 report on innovation processes in the “European knowledge society.” It thereby highlights also the contribution of historians, sociologists, and philosophers of science and technology to the European quest for identity.

Introduction: The university revisited

Although universities are asked to play a role in the European knowledge society, the precise scope and meaning of this role is still under discussion. A major issue in this debate is the trend to adapt universities to economic needs and demands of society. In view of taking a critical stance against a one-sided economic interpretation of activities and functions of universities, their so-called “public” role is increasingly stressed in the debate as a crucial responsibility of universities that should not be marginalized and therefore deserves our attention. In this paper, which is the introduction to a special issue on the public role of the university, we want to stress the importance of addressing the question of “the role of universities in the Europe of knowledge” in an open way and thus, without prejudices against or in favour of possible answers. It is our contention that a critical view of what is happening in universities today cannot simply rely on authoritative ideas or principles that are vaguely reminiscent of our university traditions. Consequently, this introductory paper pleas for a firmer argumentative and a richer empirical basis that takes account of the fact that our background (horizon) has thoroughly changed in comparison to traditions that still implicitly inform our judgement of what universities can do, should do or should not do. Finally, we will discuss the way in which the articles collected in this issue are intended stimulating and supporting the debate on the public role of the university in Europe.

The ‘Renaissance of the University’ in the European knowledge society: An exploration of principled and governmental approaches

A ‘renaissance of the university’ in the European knowledge society is regarded today as a necessity. However, there is an ongoing debate about what that renaissance should look like. The aim of this article is to take a closer look at these debates, and in particular, the disputes related to the public role of the (future) university in the European knowledge society. The aim however is not to assess the validity of the arguments of each of the protagonists but to place the discussion within a broader socio-historical context. From a genealogical point of view, and drawing upon the work of Foucault and Hunter, it is possible to distinguish two kinds of milieu, each embodying their own “intellectual technology” and each leading to a specific conception of the public role of the university: firstly the principled milieu (with the persona of the academic as critical intellectual), and secondly the governmental milieu (with the persona of the state official or governmental expert). From this genealogical point of view, I will argue that the modern (research) university was from the very beginning a hybrid institution due to the claims and scopes of both milieus. Furthermore, I will argue that the current discussions reveal the ongoing influence of both milieus and their respective gazes and approaches.

'Education Through Research' at European Universities: Notes on the Orientation of Academic Research

Traditionally, ‘education through research’ is understood to be a main characteristic of education at the university. In this article we will explore how ‘education through research’ is argued to be of major importance for the European knowledge society, how there is still a reference to the idea of Bildung or liberal education, and what research is presumed to be like if it is to have this edifying potential. It will be argued that the edifying potential of research is related to a normative component in the research activity and that this normative orientation and its presuppositions are problematic today. This lays the way for the exploration of alternative approaches to the edifying potential of research (with reference especially to Jürgen Mittelstrass and Jacques Derrida) and for the discussion of what could be at stake for ‘education through research’.

Using scenarios to create common understanding across different cultures

PurposeA High Level Expert Group (HLEG) was set up to consider the topic of converging technologies and to propose to the European Union how to approach it. But the group soon developed communications problems. A few members of the group proposed using scenario methodology to develop a common language.Design/methodology/approachThe HLEG decided that creating four scenarios for Europe in 2020 would provide an explicit framework for discussing the contribution of converging technologies to society and the economy, and thus would ameliorate the communications problems that plagued the group.FindingsUsing scenarios to create alternative worlds allowed different views of desirable and acceptable futures to be set in context. The net result was a useful report presented to the European Commission.Research limitationsThis case study reports on four scenarios for Converging Technologies for the European Knowledge Society (CTEKs) in the year 2020.Practical implicationsManagers of diverse groups could use the same techniques to promote effective communication.Originality/valueManaging diverse groups – such as networked communities – is becoming an important management skill and so is using scenarios to facilitate communication and learning among them.

The European knowledge society and the diminishing state control of education: the case of Sweden

In this article I explore the changing relation between education and the state as this is expressed through a new language of education within Sweden, structured by terms such as the knowledge society, life‐long learning and validation. I read closely a policy document on life‐long learning, taking as my point of departure the ‘authentic state’, a state that is possible only when the desires of individuals for a good life are made the conditions of democratic society. What the reading illuminates is that what is taken for granted within the new language of education is instead an ‘agentic’ state in which the will of the individual is subordinated to the will of the state and that this is most profoundly expressed through the subject position offered the individual, what I call Homo economicus. Thus the knowledge society tends to be a society that excludes the idea of education understood in any terms other than economic ones.