Showing papers in "European Journal of Education in 2015"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that teaching and teachers have recently become the centre of attention of policy makers and researchers, and that the question that is either not asked or is only answered implicitly is why teaching matters.
Abstract: Teaching and teachers have recently become the centre of attention of policy makers and researchers. The general idea here is that teaching matters. Yet the question that is either not asked or is only answered implicitly is why teaching matters. In this article I engage with this question in the context of a wider discussion about the role, status and significance of the question of purpose in education. I suggest that this is the most fundamental question in all educational endeavours. It is a normative question which poses itself as a multi-dimensional question, since education always functions in relation to three domains of purpose: qualification, socialisation and subjectification. Against this background I analyse the specific nature of teacher judgement in education and show how the space for teacher judgement is being threatened by recent developments in educational policy and practice that concern the status of the student, the impact of accountability and the role of evidence. I indicate how, where and why these are problematic and what this implies for regaining a space for teachers’ professional judgement.
383 citations
90 citations
TL;DR: The empowerment process must consider the close connection between the private and the public arenas, as the private space seriously constrains women's availability and possibilities for transformative action; therefore, both macro-and micro-level interventions are needed to create a modified gender division of labour as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Women's empowerment is a concept that has acquired substantial recognition in the past decade. However, it is better known among international development organisations, NGOs, and grassroots groups than in academic circles. This article examines the concept of women's empowerment as a foundational element in a theory of social change in which the oppressed must be key actors in the change process. On the basis of empirical evidence, it highlights four dimensions of empowerment: economic, political, knowledge, and psychological. The knowledge dimension is fostered by one of the most respected and universal of institutions: formal education. Yet schools do not always provide friendly or even safe spaces for girls; moreover, the school curriculum emphasises academic subjects and avoids ‘life skills’ discussions. Most successful cases of empowerment through education have occurred in non-formal education programmes that specifically promote critical reflection on gendered social norms and encourage corrective responses. The article argues that the empowerment process must consider the close connection between the private and the public arenas, as the private space seriously constrains women's availability and possibilities for transformative action; therefore, both macro- and micro-level interventions are needed to create a modified gender division of labour. The promotion of agency — at both the individual and collective levels — plays a major role in the development of women's empowerment. Such a process requires the engagement of non-state actors, particularly women-led NGOs. The article ends with challenges for policy.
86 citations
TL;DR: In the field of digital technologies, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have recently received a great deal of attention as discussed by the authors and have been used for lifelong learning as an integral part of man's quest for meaning.
Abstract: Our societies have come to be known as knowledge societies in which lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important. In this context, competences have become a much discussed topic. Many documents were published by international organisations (UNESCO, World Bank, European Commission) which enumerated 21st century key competences. The field of learning theories has also experienced advances. Findings from neuroscience have promoted a new understanding of what really happens in the brain when we learn. At the same time, the fact that learning increasingly takes place in virtual communities led George Siemens (2004) to propose connectivism as a learning theory for the digital age. Similarly, Roberto Carneiro (2010) suggested a theory he called generativism which aims at describing collaborative learning with digital technologies and open educational resources. These theories might be better able to describe and explain lifelong learning than classical learning theories. In the field of digital technologies, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have recently received a great deal of attention. While Siemens suggested connectivist MOOCs (MOOCs) as the ideal platform for connectivist learning, other forms of MOOCs were also developed. These MOOCs have spread at a breath-taking pace in the last few years although it is far from clear to what extent they are based on principles from learning theories and really support learning. These developments will be presented and discussed with respect to their relevance for lifelong learning as an integral part of man's quest for meaning.
78 citations
TL;DR: Futures literacy is the capacity to design and implement processes that make use of anticipation, generally with the purpose of trying to understand and act in a complex emergent context as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Futures Literacy is the capacity to design and implement processes that make use of anticipation, generally with the purpose of trying to understand and act in a complex emergent context. This article examines the potential of Futures Literacy to contribute to the realisation of a better balance between learning that is shaped by the supposition that what needs to be learned is knowable in advance, what I will label ‘push’ education, and ‘pull’ learning, that starts from the discovery of not knowing something, initiating the search for hypotheses, experiments, and evidence that eventually lead to understanding. Insufficient Futures Literacy impedes the expansion our anticipatory activities beyond preparation and planning, with the result that at both the individual and institutional levels it is difficult to find the motivation and capability to undertake and organise learning that goes beyond ‘push’ education, or what people ‘need’ to know now in order to get: a ‘good job’, be ‘good citizens’, etc., in the future. As a result humanity may be less able to embrace complexity or pursue a diversification approach to resilience.
73 citations
TL;DR: Two education reports, Learning to be (1972) and Learning: The treasure within (1996), have been associated with the establishment of lifelong learning as a global educational paradigm as mentioned in this paper, which is at odds with today's utilitarian view of education.
Abstract: Two education reports commissioned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Learning to be, otherwise known as the Faure report (1972) and Learning: The treasure within, otherwise known as the Delors report (1996), have been associated with the establishment of lifelong learning as a global educational paradigm. In this article, which draws on archival research and interviews, I will explore how these two reports have contributed to debates on the purpose of education and learning. In the first half, I will shed light on their origins, the context in which they came about, how they have been received by the education community and by UNESCO member states and how they have been discussed in the scholarly literature. In the second half, I will discuss the key themes of the reports, in particular lifelong learning as the global educational ‘master concept’. In the last section, I will reflect on how the Faure report and the Delors report are still relevant for our debates about learning today. I will argue that the concept of lifelong learning, as put forward by these reports, was a political utopia which is at odds with today's utilitarian view of education.
73 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that global citizenship education (GCE) must be an element of ecopedagogy to contextually learn globalisation's effects upon local communities and to increase students' understanding of diverse cultures to respect them.
Abstract: Teaching the connections between environmentally-harmful acts and social conflict is essential but is often ignored in education. This article presents two ways in which these are not taught because of the policies of those who benefit from the ignorance of these connections: first, the avoidance of teaching global-local connectivity and second, the devaluing of non-dominant cultures. Ecopedagogy is a democratic, transformative pedagogy centred on increasing justice by critically teaching the politics of environmental issues. I argue that global citizenship education (GCE) must be an element of ecopedagogy to contextually learn globalisation's effects upon local communities. In addition, GCE's goal is to increase students' understanding of diverse cultures to respect them. Ecopedagogy is also essential to GCE to fully teach social conflicts resulting from environmentally harmful acts. I offer policy and pedagogical changes to disrupt reproductive environmental pedagogies that help to sustain environmental ills for ecopedagogy-GCE models to emerge.
68 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of global universities and globalisations in an age of global interdependence and cosmopolitanism is discussed, and competing agendas that result from actions and reactions to multiple globalisations are considered in relation to global citizenship education.
Abstract: This article focuses on the role of global universities and globalisations in an age of global interdependence and cosmopolitanism. Competing agendas that result from actions and reactions to multiple globalisations are considered in relation to global citizenship education. These agendas are crucial in understanding dilemmas of the local and the global in relation to education. Key emerging agendas are highlighted, including those of the hyperglobalisers, skeptics and transformationists. Three themes are central for this conversation, namely a) how multiple globalisations are impacting global life and academics, b) how networks have become privileged sites for global education, and c) the implications of globalisation and networks for global citizenship and global universities.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an account of how the author developed a comprehensive understanding of human learning over a period of almost 50 years is given. But the theory was built up as his own structure by critically adding new elements from the examination of other theories and carefully analysing experience from teaching, supervising and observing learning courses at all levels from primary school to adult education and university studies.
Abstract: This article is an account of how the author developed a comprehensive understanding of human learning over a period of almost 50 years. The learning theory includes the structure of learning, different types of learning, barriers of learning as well as how individual dispositions, age, the learning environment and general social and societal conditions influence learning possibilities. All this started when the author, aged 27, broke off his career as a travel agent and joined a course for matriculation at the university. He found this course extremely ineffective and got the idea that a firm knowledge about how human learning takes place might be a starting point for the development of more engaging and effective learning, teaching, schooling and education. Over the years, he gathered inspiration from a broad range of learning theorists such as Piaget, Rogers, Ausuble, Leithauser, Schon, Kolb, Furth, Mezirow, Kegan and his own Danish instructor, Thomas Nissen. But the theory was built up as his own structure by critically adding new elements from the examination of other theories and carefully analysing experience from teaching, supervising and observing learning courses at all levels from primary school to adult education and university studies.
42 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present evidence on the importance of social and emotional skills; on how policy makers and schools are currently enhancing and monitoring such skills; and, on the existing gaps between knowledge, expectations and practices to mobilise these skills.
Abstract: Children need a balanced set of cognitive, social and emotional capabilities to adapt to today's demanding, changing and unpredictable world. OECD countries and partner economies recognise the importance on the holistic development of individuals. However, there are big gaps between stakeholders' knowledge, expectations and practices on how to foster such skills. This paper presents evidence on the importance of social and emotional skills; on how policy makers and schools are currently enhancing and monitoring such skills; and, on the existing gaps between knowledge, expectations and practices to mobilise these skills. The paper concludes by pointing ways in which education stakeholders can do more to better develop and mobilise the skills that drive individual's well-being and social progress. The paper draws on findings and frameworks that are being published in a full OECD report entitled ‘Skills for Social Progress: the Power of Social and Emotional Skills’ in the first half of 2015.
40 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors look at successful second generation Turkish professionals in Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands and reconstruct the pathways to a professional position in the four countries based on the large quantitative international TIES survey.
Abstract: Education is often seen as the most important mobility channel for children of immigrants. To what extent is this true? In this article, we look at successful second generation Turkish professionals in Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands. What kind of pathways did they take to become a professional? Based on the large quantitative international TIES survey, I reconstruct the pathways to a professional position in the four countries. We see how the open, comprehensive school systems in Sweden and France provide the main paths to a professional job. In Germany, however, it is the apprenticeship system. The Netherlands is a case in between. I describe how different educational institutional arrangements and the different ways the transition to the labour market is organised in the four countries also result in different routes to a professional career. I use new qualitative material from the ELITES project that was gathered in the four countries to illustrate the pathways to success in greater depth.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the emergence of higher education as a field of research, scholarship and study, contrasting Europe and the US, focusing on the relationships between higher education research, policy and practice.
Abstract: This article describes the emergence of higher education as a field of research, scholarship and study. In the first part, the meaning of higher education as a field of research is defined contrasting Europe and the US. Then, the institutional basis of higher education research in Europe is analysed (learned societies, institutes and centres, professorships, journals, study programmes). In the second part, the main areas of research and knowledge production are discussed, while the third focuses on the relationships between higher education research, policy and practice. The article ends with sections on future perspectives and conclusions.
TL;DR: The authors argue that early childhood policies that aim at "closing the gap" between children from marginalised and dominant groups in society are grounded in a logic of integration and assimilation into an assumed normality that no longer exists.
Abstract: In this article, I offer a critical enquiry into the landscape of European and international policy approaches and strategies towards young children, their families and communities in a rapidly changing global context. Early childhood has attracted unprecedented attention among policy makers and international bodies in the last two decades. The apparent consensus about the ‘need to increase participation in early childhood education and care’ has been framed mainly by a ‘human capital’ discourse that promises high returns on investment in early intervention, and social cohesion through increased educational achievement. While members of the early childhood research and practice community have welcomed (or actively contributed to) this argument in order to raise visibility and support, questions arise whether policies and practices grounded in this logic are appropriate and make a difference in the lives of children and families, especially those from marginalised backgrounds. Drawing on experiences from recent European and international research projects, this article argues that early childhood policies that aim at ‘closing the gap’ between children from marginalised and dominant groups in society are grounded in a logic of integration and assimilation into an assumed normality that no longer exists. Instead, marginalisation, hyper-diversity, inequality and fragmentation have become the defining feature of all societies. Against this background, the article explores possibilities and strategies for developing ‘competent systems’ for all children, families and communities that are based on democratic practices, recognition and affirmation.
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of early learning studies aimed at understanding children's personal, intellectual and social development, and promoting that development is presented, with particular reference to attachment and attention, the process of self-regulation, and the adult-child engagement strategies that advance the child's receptive and expressive language.
Abstract: Learning in the earliest stage of life — the infancy, toddlerhood and preschool period — is relational and rapid. Child-initiated and adult-mediated conversations, playful interactions and learning through active involvement are integral to young children making sense of their environments and to their development over time. The child's experience in this early phase of life is at the heart of ‘Learning to Be’ in any society. This article reviews early learning studies aimed at understanding children's personal, intellectual and social development, and promoting that development. Particular reference is made to attachment and attention, the process of self-regulation, and the adult-child engagement strategies that advance the child's receptive and expressive language: these all exercise substantial influence on early childhood learning and child development outcomes over time. The selected research studies variously highlight the development of infants, toddlers, and young children in kindergarten and the early years of school, and how children make sense of their environments as social, learning and unique human beings. Both the home learning environment and early childhood education programmes are important in children's development. This article argues for high-quality early childhood experience and giving attention to the engagement role of adults in advancing young children's development, minimising the risk of poor development and supporting positive long-lasting personal, academic and social benefits. In this early phase of life, in the words of Jacques Delors: ‘… none of the talents which are hidden like buried treasure in every person must be left untapped’. (Delors et al. 1996, p. 23).
TL;DR: In this paper, an account of how the author developed a comprehensive understanding of human learning over a period of almost 50 years is given. But the theory was built up as his own structure by critically adding new elements from the examination of other theories and carefully analysing experience from teaching, supervising and observing learning courses at all levels from primary school to adult education and university studies.
Abstract: This article is an account of how the author developed a comprehensive understanding of human learning over a period of almost 50 years. The learning theory includes the structure of learning, different types of learning, barriers of learning as well as how individual dispositions, age, the learning environment and general social and societal conditions influence learning possibilities. All this started when the author, aged 27, broke off his career as a travel agent and joined a course for matriculation at the university. He found this course extremely ineffective and got the idea that a firm knowledge about how human learning takes place might be a starting point for the development of more engaging and effective learning, teaching, schooling and education. Over the years, he gathered inspiration from a broad range of learning theorists such as Piaget, Rogers, Ausuble, Leithauser, Schon, Kolb, Furth, Mezirow, Kegan and his own Danish instructor, Thomas Nissen. But the theory was built up as his own structure by critically adding new elements from the examination of other theories and carefully analysing experience from teaching, supervising and observing learning courses at all levels from primary school to adult education and university studies.
TL;DR: In this article, a body of research has shown that participating in certain forms of discussion-based instruction can lead to gains in performance, not only in the subject taught, but also in other, distant domains.
Abstract: We now understand that human intelligence, once thought to be determined almost solely by heredity, is malleable. In developed countries, average intelligence test scores have increased substantially since the tests began to be administered 100 years ago. In school settings, however, intelligence is often still treated as a fixed attribute that limits many students' ability to learn. We argue that schools can and should create intelligence. A body of research has now shown that participating in certain forms of discussion-based instruction can lead to gains in performance, not only in the subject taught, but also in other, distant domains. This means that schools can actually ‘grow the mind.’ Here, we look at a few powerful examples of dialogic teaching and learning, and discuss some of the implications for the future of education.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate the outcomes of the efforts of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to make their education systems more effective in enhancing broader social and economic goals, including the impact of some European mechanisms that have contributed to the strengthening of linkages between education and social-economic progress.
Abstract: This article evaluates the outcomes of the efforts of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to make their education systems more effective in enhancing broader social and economic goals. It focuses on those 11 Central and Eastern European countries which became members of the EU in 2004 or following this date. First, it presents a short analysis of how educational goals were connected with the broader goals of social and economic progress before and during the first phase of the transition period after the collapse of Communism. It then analyses the impact of the accession of these countries to the EU, including the impact of some European mechanisms that have contributed to the strengthening of linkages between education and social-economic progress. The third part of the article attempts to evaluate the outcomes of the relevant national education reforms, development programmes and policies, most of them generated by these mechanisms, in the light of a number of selected indicators. A key conclusion of the article is that the adoption of the lifelong learning approach of the EU has been a major engine to strengthen the role of education in social and economic development in the CEE region, but most countries still need further efforts to translate this approach into coherent and effective national policies and to implement them so that they produce relevant and significant outcomes.
TL;DR: Desjardins et al. as discussed by the authors focused on the theme of education and social transformation, a theme which is strongly inter-linked with the big question of What is Learning for? and Learning to Be (theme of issue 2 in volume 50).
Abstract: Education and Social Transformation Richard Desjardins This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Desjardins, R. (2015). Education and Social Transformation, European Journal of Education, vol. 50, no. 3., pp. 239-244. In keeping with the overall design and concept of our special 50 th anniversary volume, this issue focuses on the theme of Education and Social Transformation – a theme which is strongly inter- linked with the big question of What is Learning for? (theme of issue 1 in volume 50) and Learning to Be (theme of issue 2 in volume 50). It is also a theme that was directly inspired by the Learning to Live Together pillar in the famous 1996 UNESCO report on lifelong learning, produced by a commission headed by Jacques Delors, which included among its members our current chair of this journal’s editorial board (Roberto Carneiro). Educational systems contain both transformative and reproductive elements. The balance and tensions between these has varied extensively over time and continues to vary across countries and the world’s region. Ideally, education would reproduce the “good” and transform the “bad”, but “good” and “bad” are value based and inherently political in nature. Accordingly, the prevailing form of governance and the nature of power relations, as reflected in the dominant socio-cultural and socio-political institutions in a given context, profoundly condition the balance and tensions between these elements. To reiterate from my contribution in the last issue (Desjardins, 2015), there is little doubt that education has played a crucial role in transforming societies. In OECD countries, it has played a central role in the modernisation process – where modernisation is defined as moving from ‘traditional values’ to ‘secular-rational values’, and from ‘survival values’ to ‘self-expression values’, as defined by Inglehart and Welzel (2010). Inglehart and Welzel also point out with evidence from the World Values Survey that ‘secular-rational values’ which correlate with ‘self- expression values’ tend to be observed in countries with large portions of the population who have studied ‘emancipative type’ philosophies as well as empirically-based science at universities, but especially when this has been in countries which also experienced ‘emancipative type’ political developments (e.g. social democracy). It is thus not just education per se, but the socio-cultural and socio-political contexts in which education is delivered that matter for the transformation of society in ways that are consistent with notions of social justice. For example, in Western democratic societies, the emancipation of individuals as well as of collectives is a key aspect undergirding prevailing notions of social justice, both in terms of conscientization (Freire, 2005), and the extent of freedom that people are capable of reaching so as to identify and pursue what it is that matters to them (Sen, 2009). It is easy to see that education has the potential to foster this kind of emancipation, but as social science has consistently revealed over the last 50 years, this is in no way a straightforward or a ‘to be taken for granted’ process (e.g. Bourdieu and Passeron, 1970).
TL;DR: In this paper, the relation between school and work is investigated in the context of vocational education and training (VET), and the authors provide guidelines for researchers and policy makers to carry out high quality research on the relation and the quality of the relation.
Abstract: Researchers and policy makers agree that the relation between school and work is an important characteristic of vocational education and training (VET) and needs attention. The relation itself poses several challenges for research to be successful and useful for policy makers. In this article, we outline these challenges and answer the following question: What needs to be considered when researching the relation between school and work? Our central claim is that research on the relation between school and work needs to (1) take into account contextual conditions of the VET system, including identifying the central actors and their responsibilities within a VET system, (2) take into account the characteristics of VET itself, (3) define the quality of the relation between school and work (depending on the context, characteristics of the VET system and VET itself), and (4) be consistent with respect to chosen research aims and paradigms. To illustrate how these aspects can be taken into account an example of empirical research conducted in the German dual apprenticeship system is described. The readers are provided with guidelines for researchers and policy makers to carry out high quality research on the relation between school and work in VET systems that enables policy makers to make use of the results to improve the relation between school and work in VET systems.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that active ageing rather than lifelong learning represents a more promising embracing framework through which to develop learning in retirement and old age, and draw comparisons with the early childhood sector, which has since moved rapidly upwards among policy priorities.
Abstract: This article is about education and learning for the ‘retired’. In using this term, it is recognised that any such definitions and given age bands cover a wide range of situations and learning needs. Such diversity should closely inform the educational agenda for older adults, and as it is a life phase defined by challenge and change ‘learning to be’ encapsulates much that is essential to that agenda. The international evidence shows how rapidly our societies are ageing, and how much longer is spent in retirement: so rapid is that change and so large the numbers of seniors and the elderly that the active nature of learning represents a critical aspect of response to this major phenomenon. Contrary to a popular image of declining skills and capacities, the evidence reveals a much more nuanced picture of capability among the retired. Comparisons are drawn with the early childhood sector, which had parallel characteristics but which has since moved rapidly upwards among policy priorities. In conclusion, the article argues that ‘active ageing’ rather than ‘lifelong learning’ represents a more promising embracing framework through which to develop learning in retirement and old age.
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between higher education and the world of work has been one of the 10 major themes in the European Journal of Education over the years, and the persistent questions as to whether we have too few or too many graduates.
Abstract: Higher education has been one of the major thematic areas of the European Journal of Education over the years, and the relationships between higher education the world of work have been one of the 10 major themes in this area. The multitude of related articles shows substantial changes of the situation and the related discourse. The employment and work situation of graduates underwent changes in the course of expansion, the respective political climate had its ups and downs, and the knowledge base on the impact of study conditions and provisions of graduate employment and work improved over time. This notwithstanding, we note a constant return to the persistent questions as to whether we have too few or too many graduates. In recent years, higher education has been increasingly exposed to greater instrumental expectations. The paradigms of ‘knowledge society’ and ‘knowledge economy’ reinforce a call for higher education to serve more directly the ‘employability’ of graduates. As views vary strikingly regarding issues such as specialisation vs. general competences, preparation for predictable tasks vs. preparing for an unexpected future, etc., higher education could keep a diversity of options in the best ways to ensure professional relevance.
TL;DR: The authors revisited the longstanding debate engaged both inside and outside higher education about whether the university has the responsibility to educate students in "transferable skills" in addition to disciplinary content, including critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and innovation and communication.
Abstract: This article revisits the longstanding debate engaged both inside and outside higher education about whether the university has the responsibility to educate students in 'transferable skills' in addition to disciplinary content. The author includes skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and innovation and communication in this category of 'transferable skills'. From the perspective of many years teaching communication in a major US university, the author briefly reviews the debate on whether such skills should be a prominent part of the university curriculum, and specifically addresses one argument advanced by the critics - that these skills cannot be taught. The author concludes with a recommendation to expand the teaching and learning of transferable skills and suggest how this can be accomplished.
TL;DR: This article reviewed the evolving role of major institutions thought to form, reproduce and transform individual as well as collective identities and values, with an emphasis on the impact of state vs market forces via educational systems.
Abstract: This article briefly reviews the evolving role of major institutions thought to form, reproduce and transform individual as well as collective identities and values, with an emphasis on the impact of state vs market forces via educational systems. This is accompanied by a discussion of various pressures against the state to exert social control on identity and value formation processes. The growing influence of market forces on education and in turn on identity and value formation processes is outlined with reference to specific policy prescriptions that are aligned with the neoliberal agenda, for example the No Child Left Behind Act in the US. The analysis suggests that these prescriptions have contributed to a narrower role for education which may have positive as well as negative implications on identity and value formation processes.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that beliefs about the purpose of schooling are shifting from a narrow, knowledge-based approach to understanding that students need knowledge, skills and attitudes to succeed in their private, public and professional lives as adults.
Abstract: There has been a shift in the core idea of schooling in both Germany and Canada: While schools have traditionally focused on cognitive development, they now increasingly focus on ‘engaged learners’ and use integrated settings to support their cognitive, metacognitive and social-emotional development. In line with the theme ‘Learning to Be’, we argue that beliefs about the purpose of schooling are shifting from a narrow, knowledge-based approach to understanding that students need knowledge, skills and attitudes to succeed in their private, public and professional lives as adults. To this end, pedagogical concepts developed in alternative education are increasingly being implemented by mainstream schools. This article examines this significant development in Germany and Canada. We analyse current examples from mainstream schools, highlighting how they use alternative pedagogical concepts to transform the ways in which students come to know themselves as learners. In both countries, this process has been simultaneously bottom-up, driven by early-adopter schools, and top-down, driven by public awards or broad public initiatives.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the concept of learning outcomes has played a conspicuous role in European policy with respect to vocational education and training (VET) and across the field of education generally, for example, in higher education and lifelong learning.
Abstract: The concept of learning outcomes has played a conspicuous role in European policy with respect to vocational education and training (VET) and across the field of education generally, for example, with respect to higher education and lifelong learning. This article argues that conceptualising education in terms of 'learning outcomes' offers a distinctive and coherent politico-economic perspective on education and training. In short, the economic strategy adopted by the European Union (EU) and the European Council in 2000, the Lisbon Strategy, identified VET reform as a key strategy for improving Europe's competitiveness and growth. The concept of learning outcomes facilitates this policy move since it conceptualises reform in VET in terms of its potential contribution to these goals.
TL;DR: In the past two centuries in the industrial era, education has developed into society-wide school systems as mentioned in this paper, and young people are expected to go through such systems, and education is about learning processes designed by adults for the young.
Abstract: There is a prime necessity to make a distinction between education and learning. Learning is a human instinct. Education is not. Education is about learning processes designed by adults for the young. In the past two centuries in the industrial era, education has developed into society-wide school systems. Young people are expected to go through such systems.