European Union Education Policy Research Articles

Analysis of European Financial Interventions to Strengthen Education in Romania

The European Union's education policy supports actions in the field of education through specific funding mechanisms at the Member State level with the aim of contributing to addressing common challenges and building the 'European Education Area'. The study aims to analyse the funding programmes in the field of education, for preschool and compulsory education, implemented in Romania in the period 2014-2022, from the Structural and Investment Funds of the European Union. For this purpose, through secondary data, an analysis of the main funding programmes was carried out. The results of this study outline an overview of the main components of the funding programmes in the field of education.

The Study on the Internationalization Policy of Portuguese Higher Education

Portuguese higher education institutions have experienced avigorous internationalization process, involving personnel mobility and academic cooperation. This article analyzes the globalization of higher education within the overall framework of European Union education policy, and examines the transformation of Portugal's internationalization policies and institutions in higher education. Based on this analysis, the article summarizes the implications of Portugal's internationalization policies for China's higher education internationalization efforts in the areas of Sino-foreign cooperative education, international projects, external exchange and cooperation, at the theoretical, cooperative, and communicative levels. These implications have significant reference value for China's establishment of an internationally connected higher education internationalization policy.

Effect of European Union Education Policy on Turkish Education System in Scope of European Union-Turkey Relations

Avrupa Birliği (AB), ortak kültür ve değerler temelinde bütünleşerek 27 üye ülke arasında işbirliğini geliştirmeyi ve aynı zamanda entegrasyonu derinleştirmeyi hedeflemektedir. Bu hedeflere ulaşma noktasında büyük bir öneme sahip olan eğitim konusu, Birlik politikalarının başarısında da oldukça etkin bir rol oynamaktadır. Böyle bir Birlik içerisinde yer almak isteyen Türkiye, tam üyelik sürecinde diğer politika alanlarında olduğu gibi eğitim alanında da AB’ye uyum kapsamında çeşitli düzenlemeler gerçekleştirmiştir. Bu çalışmada; AB- Türkiye ilişkileri bağlamında AB eğitim politikası tarihsel süreç içerisinde ele alınarak, AB eğitim politikasının Türk eğitim sistemi üzerindeki etkisi değerlendirilmeye çalışılacaktır. Araştırmada literatür tarama yöntemi kullanılmış ve konuya ilişkin güncel makale, kitap ve AB raporları incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın sonucunda; AB eğitim politikasının AB tam üyelik sürecinde olan Türk eğitim sistemi üzerinde oldukça etkili olduğu görülmüştür. Bu kapsamda Türkiye, AB tarafından aday ülkeler için belirlenen kriterler çerçevesinde eğitim alanında önemli düzenlemeler gerçekleştirmiştir. Ancak 2019 yılı yıllık ilerleme raporuna bakıldığında Türkiye tarafından gerçekleştirilen bu düzenlemelerin yeterli olmadığı, Türkiye’nin hala eğitim alanında AB üye ülkelerinin gerisinde kaldığı görülmüştür. Dolayısıyla Türkiye, eğitim alanına ilişkin sorunların temel nedenlerini doğru bir şekilde saptamalı, gelişmişlik düzeyi yüksek bir toplum olabilmek adına bu alanda AB tarafından belirlenen kriterleri tam anlamıyla gerçekleştirme çalışmalarını hızlandırmalıdır.

The rise and change of the competence strategy: Reflections on twenty-five years of skills policies in the EU

The principal aim of this article is to provide a historical overview of 25 years of competence policy in the European Union, highlighting connections between past and current initiatives and outlining possible scenarios for the decade to come. The article presents the social investment turn in social policy as the critical political background against which the emergence of a competence strategy in European Union education policy should be analysed and understood. The competence strategy, it is argued, finds its roots in a renewed attention at the European Union level for harmonising educational outputs and labour market demands. While trying to produce a schematic history of the emergence and change of the competence strategy, the article does not seek to offer strict definitions of competence itself; instead, it conveys the nebulous and context-dependent nature of the concept.

THE EUROPEAN UNION EXPERIENCE REGARDING THE EDUCATION POLICY FOR INTERCULTURAL CITY DEVELOPMENT

The article analyzes the trends of the European Union's education policy in the field of intercultural dialogue and intercultural development. The chronology of the intercultural education, the transformation of the terms interculturalism is presented, the main legislative acts of the Council of Europe, European conventions, UNESCO documents are analyzed. The basic principles of intercultural education, which form the basis for the development of appropriate education policies, are summarized. The paper proposes the next stage of the interculturalism evolution – the intercultural cities network movement. Sumy city has joined the network but there is a new stage of intercultural education is needed. Keywords: intercultural dialogue, education policy, Council of Europe, intercultural urban development, intercultural education, intercultural cities network.

What kind of citizenship for whom? The ‘refugee crisis’ and the European Union’s conceptions of citizenship

ABSTRACTThe European Union (EU) plays a dominant role in coordinating the responses to the massive inflow of refugee-migrants into Europe; consequently, the conceptions of citizenship and future integration which are embedded in its policies are significant. We explore and analyse the key EU education policy documents that refer to immigrants to identify the forms of citizenship attributed to various types of incomers by the EU. Our analysis demonstrates that the EU’s conception of refugee-migrants is more closely affiliated with the notion of ‘Global citizens’ rather than with that of ‘European citizens’. Furthermore, we suggest that the EU distinguishes and navigates between various migratory flows, namely internal-European, desired external-European and undesired external-European (refugee-migrants), each associated with a distinctive conception of citizenship as well as with related policy discourses. In the light of the migratory flows into Europe, the particularistic conceptions of citizenship shaping the EU’s educational policy carry considerable implications for the future integration of refugee-migrants in Europe.

The Impact of Education Policy to Country Economic Development

Future growth and social welfare will depend on knowledge-intensive industries and services. In this case more jobs will require a higher education qualification. It is important to determine the relations between education policy, other policies – such as research and technological development, social - and economic development of the country. The article analyses the human capital as a factor of production, accumulated by individuals through education and its impact in to higher production. Other important issue is high education impact on research, technological development and total factor productivity growth. The development of knowledge society requires new attitude to European education policy. The main aim of the article to exam the European Union education policy, its relation and impact for economic development.

Proposal of a Model of Teaching Quality Assessment at University Level

Globalization has generated a high level of competition worldwide between universities. Students’ mobility to study abroad and, above all, graduates’ mobility to work in an international setting has forced universities to acquire a level of quality at least comparable to those of their counterparts in other countries. Thus, the culture of quality has become a basic pillar of any university. Based on the objectives of the European Union education policy and the Spanish university regulations on education, this paper proposes a model of teaching quality assessment at university level: the different functions of faculty members’ teaching activities are evaluated, the sources of information needed for the implementation of the model are revised, and the weighting that those sources should have to get the final quality evaluation are assessed.

European Union Policies on Lifelong Learning: In-between Competitiveness Enhancement and Social Stability Reinforcement

The present paper draws on European Union (EU) policies for Lifelong Learning, through thorough review of policy papers. Adopting an interpretative approach, it seeks to define trends and detect interrelations between EU education policy and developments in the context of European enlargement, as well as global socioeconomic mandates. Ambitious objectives set at the Lisbon Council, in 2000, legitimised enforcement of a coherent European education policy. Hence, in alignment with the Lisbon Strategy mandates (since 2010, renewed as “Education and Training 2020”), widening access and raising adult participation in education throughout lifespan emerged as a major component of sustainable economic growth and social cohesion reinforcement, so as to allow Europe to retain its strong global role.

New Forms of European Union Governance in the Education Sector? A Preliminary Analysis of the Open Method of Coordination

This article critically explores how a new form of European Union (EU) governance — the open method of coordination (OMC) — impinges on education policies. The first part discusses three key characteristics of the OMC, in particular its flexibility, reflexivity and reliance on the techniques of new public management. It also outlines briefly why the OMC is being applied to EU education policy. The second and main part of the article develops a critical analysis of the OMC in education by questioning to what extent it can be considered as a new form of EU governance and with what vision of Social Europe it is associated. Most importantly, the second part argues that there may be significant potential for the politicization of mutual policy learning in the context of OMC education measures.

Problems of Political Education in a Multi-level Polity: Explaining Non-teaching of European Union Issues in German Secondary Schooling

The link between European integration and education has always been politically sensitive. The European Union (EU) initiative ‘European Dimension in Education’, designed to raise pupil's awareness and knowledge of European integration issues, is highly contested and has not always found its way into the school curricula of the member states. German education policy, however, has generally been favourable to Europeanization, as this article will show. What then explains the rather fragile level of awareness and particularly the lack of knowledge among German youngsters? This article evaluates the implementation process of EU education policy in the German education system. It will be argued that the reasons for the failure of the German education system to deliver EU education are structurally determined and not politically. This argumentation contrasts the liberal inter-governmentalist premise of nationally protected educational systems and curricula.