THOUGHTS ON TRANSPARENCY INSTRUMENTS Sjur Bergan, Council of Europe Kraków, October 12, 2011
WHAT’S IN A WORD? • • Rankings “soft” ECTS Diploma Supplement Help for parents, students, general public Tool for newspapers “Transparency international”?
A QUESTION OF DEFINITION? • Dictionary: A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. • Ambrose Bierce: The Devil’s Dictionary
SOME TRANSPARENCY TOOLS IN THE EHEA • • • Quality assurance Recognition Reporting Qualifications frameworks Bringing it all together
QUALITY ASSURANCE • • European Standards and Guidelines EQAR ENQA Ensuring that institutions and programs meet threshold standards • No ranking of those that do • What is the reality behind the procedures? • Issue of trust
RECOGNITION • Council of Europe/UNESCO (Lisboa) Recognition Convention • Subsidiary texts – Especially Recommendation on Criteria and procedures • ENIC/NARIC – LRCC • Interpretations of “substantial differences” • National action plans an exercise in transparency? ? ?
REPORTING • • • Eurydice Report Stocktaking Trends Bologna with Student Eyes Different perspectives important Degree of transparency also depends on the will to be honest about shortcomings
QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKS • Originally: degree systems • Describing – how qualifications fit together – how learners can move within and between systems • Learning outcomes
• • • QUESTIONS ASKED ABOUT QUALIFICATIONS Is it good enough? What level is it? What is the workload? What is the candidate’s profile? What does the candidate know, understand is able to do? • How can I trust this?
IS THE QUALIFICATION GOOD ENOUGH? • Has the institution or program been quality assessed: – According to the ESG – By an agency that is an ENQA member or similar – And that is in the EQAR? – Or by a well established agency operating according to other accepted standards?
WHAT LEVEL IS THE QUALIFICATION? • Qualifications framework – National QF – Self certified against the QF-EHEA (and referenced against the EQF) – With a credible self certification report – With international experts – In the public domain
WHAT IS THE WORKLOAD? • Expressed in terms of credits rather than years or weeks • ECTS as “common currency” • National credits with established and credible “exchange rates” to the ECTS • Link workload <-> level?
WHAT IS THE CANDIDATE’S PROFILE? • Study programs • Rules for combining credits – Broad vs. deep orientation – Combining area of specialization and other areas of interest – Core and additional competences • Learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING, ABILITY TO DO • Learning outcomes – Understandable – Credible – Put into practice • Qualifications frameworks – Understandable – Credible – Implemented
HOW CAN I TRUST THE QUALIFICATION? • Diploma Supplement • Sincere information: admitting problems increases credibility • Presented in terms that relate to international experience (e. g. QF-EHEA, ESG) • Coherent information on the same qualification in different sources • Present own qualities – not necessarily by comparing to others (I can do anything better than you…) • Information, not marketing
WOULD YOU BUY A USED CAR FROM THIS GRADUATE?
AND NOW TO THE… • … Discussion: A method of confirming others in their errors. • Ambrose Bierce: The Devil’s Dictionary
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