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Education in Europe: Quality Enhancement and Setting Standards

Dr Marie Donaghy

Head of School of Health Sciences

European Higher Education Area (EHEA)

Sustainable reform of higher education in Europe but……

‘regular and close involvement of professional associations and employers in curricular development still seems to be rather limited’

Trends 2003; Progress towards a EHEA published by the European University Association (EUA)

“Bologna, education and Europe”

“European higher education institutions (HEI), for their part, have accepted the challenge and taken up a role in constructing the European area of higher education in the wake of fundamental principles laid down in the Bologna Magna Carte Universitarium of 1988” (Bologna, 1999)

1999 Bologna Conference led to the Bologna Process (BP) Sorbonne declaration (universities central role in developing culture/employability)

2001 Prague Conference Lisbon recognition convention (ie academic recognition procedures ENIC/NARIC)

What are ENIC/NARIC

European Network of Information Centres (ENIC)

National Academic Recognition Information Centres (NARIC)

May jointly work to link Quality Assurance (QA) to recognition critical to facilitate recognition of a students’ academic work ‘abroad’

Bologna concepts and principles

Employability and mobility of the workforce Flexible access and learning pathways for a diverse ‘student body’ “Learning” workload credits as educational units to be accumulated (ECTS) ‘new’ two tiers of education across Europe & taught doctorates Curricular design that takes into account qualification descriptors, level descriptors,skills and learning outcomes Internal and external quality assurance procedures

Berlin (2003)

‘the ministers meeting in Berlin has highlighted the need for national qualification frameworks for their respective higher education systems…’

Lisbon Convention (1997)

The convention on the recognition of qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European region (legal document)

Recognition of qualifications, giving access to HE etc etc

But ‘importance of transparent criteria and procedures’

Quality Assurance (Evaluation or Accreditation)

ExternalUsed for quality improvement

And accountability to society (UK Health Professions Council, HPC)

InternalQuality of teaching

Quality of research

50% HEIs would welcome pan-European Accreditation Agency (Trends, 2003) or mutual recognition

Frequency of the types of evaluation

The heart of Bologna….

1 ‘…….lies in the enhancement of quality and curricular reform, the core competence of academics.’

2 Preparing graduates for the labour market in Europe

But pragmatically:

‘….enhancing the attractiveness of the European systems of HE in the rest of the world is a driving force….’

(Trends 2003)

Students….what do they want?

To gain further support

…HEIs would have to make it clearer to public authorities, parliaments and governments, how vital the contribution of HE graduates and HE-based research has become to national and global social and economic welfare.’

(Eurostudent, 2002; Trends, 2003)

…and a Diploma Supplement

A transcript of achievement across Europe

Recognition of study and level obtained

which is essential for qualification and work

Towards comparable structures(ECTS introduced 15 years ago!)

First cycle3 year (minimum) bachelor degree (> 180 ECTS but < 240 ECTS)

Second cycleMaster/doctoral (> 60 but but most 120 ECTS)*

Eg Austrian University Act: doctoral degree = 120 ECTS

But 240 ECTS or more leads to a PhD

*medicine = 300ECTS

Implementation of Bachelor/Master structures

Use of ECTS or other credit transfer systems by HEIs

Transparency and equivalents

Transparency

What do we mean by…. ’level descriptor….learning outcome…qualification framework…learning workloads’

Towards a European Qualifications Framework (EQF) a system of easily readable and comparable degrees Berlin 2003

Quality assurance

Most countries have a QA Agency

European Quality Association (ENQA)

‘more and more agencies are using standards and criteria in the evaluation procedures’

Benchmarking for good/best practice

European Physiotherapy Benchmark Statement

Adopted by WCPT June 2003

What is it?

Who should use it?

How can it be used?

What are the benefits?

European Physiotherapy Benchmark Statement

What is it?“It describes the nature and standards of programmes of study in Physiotherapy that lead to awards made by HEIs in Europe”

It describes the nature and scope of practicethe knowledge understanding and skills of physiotherapists as applied to practice the attributes of a physiotherapist entering the profession

European Physiotherapy Benchmark Statement

Who should use it?It can be used by

National Physiotherapy Organisations HEIs Governments Quality assurance agencies Physiotherpay educatorsManagers and service users

European Physiotherapy Benchmark Statement

How can it be used?To inform governments and other bodies of the skills knowledge base and autonomy of the professionBy educators to inform curriculum development and programme structureAs a benchmark for quality assurance

European Physiotherapy Benchmark Statement

What are the benefits?By setting standards for Physiotherapy in Europe It provides HEIs and QAAs with a mechanism for assuring quality It provides managers with information regarding the level of skills and attributes of physiotherapists entering the profession It provides transparency and should help us achieve a common platform of learning in Physiotherapy

The Future

Towards a common platform of physiotherapy programmes of learning in Europe…...

‘regular and close involvement of professional associations and employers in curricular development using the EU Physiotherapy Benchmark Statement should move HEIs and National Organisations closer to this goal’ Donaghy 2003

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WEB sites and further reading

WCPT Physiotherapy benchmarking @ www.

Trends 2003

found through the European University Association web-site

http://www.unige.ch/eua/

Practice placements

http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/publications/qstandards/practice_placement.pdf

HPC http://www.hpc-uk.org/publications/standards/Standards_of_Proficiency_Dietitians.pdf

WEB sites and further reading

Learning and Teaching site:

Learning and Teaching Support Network for AHPs is the

The Centre for Health Science and Practice

http://www.health.ltsn.ac.uk/

Also visit the Generic Centre at same address