EDHEAD

Reforming the Doctoral Education in Europe

libertyave — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:35:36 +0000

In a very interesting article published in Academe, Alexandra Bitusikova of EUA gives an overview concerning the ongoing reform of the doctoral studies in Europe. What wonders me however is why Europeans always seem to feel the need to justify the complexity of its structures (“Europe’s diverse structures of doctoral education may look confusing to outsiders, but the European motto is “one goal, different routes.”) We don´t need to be on the defense. All the more as the motto of US Higher Education is “let a thousand flowers bloom”. Which I by the way find a much more appealing way of positively describing diversity.

Entre les murs

libertyave — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:37:03 +0000

Saw a fantastic movie about education in France this week: Entre les murs (english: “The class”). Not suprisingly it´s nominated for this year´s Oscar. To me, it almost felt like a documentation, although it is fiction, based on a book by François Bégaudeau, who is an author and a teacher. All the actors seem to suffer for real. The dilemmas they are caught in are multiple, their problems clearly go beyond the interpersonal level. I think I´ve seldom seen a movie where you can sense the conflicts related to systemic factors like immigration and to an outdated teaching philosophy more clearly. To me, two scenes were especially impressive: first, the teacher, played by the author himself, really tries to teach his students French, but when he gives examples, he frequently uses French names, thereby ignoring about half of his class. As one student complains, he responds something like: “If I would take into account all of your cultural backgrounds, we would never get ahead.” And second, in the end, you see teachers´ team play soccer against the students. It is a competitive setting, yet all seem to enjoy themselves, and all play by the same rules. Then – cut – the camera shows the empty class room, with its 19th century hierarchical structure, while you hear the people outside cheering and laughing. No wonder it´s so hard to have fun entre ces murs.

Liberal arts, continued

libertyave — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:07:36 +0000

Thanks to the comment of Eric from Beerkens´ Blog, I now know that there is a growing liberal arts college scene in the Netherlands. However, there also seem to be very recent liberal arts activities in Poland or Sweden (see at the bottom of page). And there is a new consortium of of European Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences (ECOLAS). Interestingly, US based “Inside Higher Ed” has just published a story where they take a look at liberal arts education around the world, including Europe.

Europe to rediscover liberal arts?

libertyave — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 03:28:01 +0000

At a time, when Europe still does not have a clear answer what a Bachelor degree actually means, a small university in the UK, Winchester, is about to additionally offer liberal arts undergraduate education. That´s interesting, since they are not the first ones to introduce such a generalist approach. In Lüneburg, Germany, for example, the Leuphana Universität offers a whole liberal arts college. Is this the beginning of a new paradigm in European undergraduate education?

Ranking craze

libertyave — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:13:59 +0000

Rankings lately seem to have become an obsession of the global Higher Ed community. Fortunately, they can also be fun. Whatever you may have imagined could be ranked you´ll find ranked at Laura Milligan´s Learning XL Blog. Look if you can find the campus with the most squirrels.

Chinese recession would hit UK Universities

libertyave — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:58:16 +0000

Talking about a globalized Higher Ed: At a seminar of Oxford´s HEPI in London, City University´s vice chancellor painted a fairly grim picture should less Chinese families decide to send their children abroad due to the economic crisis. Data however points in this direction: while the number of international students in Scotland still grew by 2% back in 2007/2008 whith the economy still roaring, this was 15% less than the previous year.

EDHEAD faster than the Times

libertyave — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:25:54 +0000

Haha – my first success: I was one day faster than the London Times in breaking the news that the EU Commission wants to advance cooperation between universities and business. Ok, they got a personal interview. But wait and see…

US: Growing attentiveness towards European Higher Ed

libertyave — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:34:53 +0000

One of the most interesting recent developments in US Higher Ed from a European perspective is its increasing attentiveness to what is happening on the other side of the Atlantic, and whether that could be used as a model. The Bologna process, for example, seems to slowly make its way from the papers of a few specialized researchers to more mainstream media.