Public Administration (PA) Education in Italy

PA education is closely related to the public administration understanding of the relevant country and the public administration reform process. In this context, the structure of the Italian public administration, its historical roots, traditions, and public administration reform processes are discussed in order to understand the PA education in Italy. Since Italy is from the Continental European school of public administration, its effects on public administration reforms and PA education in Europe have been examined. Factors such as the spread of the new public management approach and the Bologna process initiated by the European Union, the convergence process in PA education and its effects on Italy are discussed. It is aimed to shed light on the PA education studies in Turkey by considering the PA education in Italy, one of the important representatives of the Continental European public administration understanding, which constitutes the intellectual foundation of the Turkish administrative system.

The main aspects of modernization of the higher education system in the perception of students and teachers: a sociological analysis

Introduction. The Rome Conference of Ministers of Science and Higher Education set a new direction for the implementation of key commitments necessary for the full functioning of the European Higher Education Area. As a participant in the Bologna process, Russia is rapidly increasing the pace of modernization in the higher education system, which actualizes the need to analyze the results and consequences of the ongoing reforms. The research purpose is to identify the specifics of perception of the main aspects of the modernization process by students and teachers as key agents in the provision and consumption of educational services. Materials and methods. During the study, a questionnaire survey was conducted among first-to-fifth year students (N=300) and teachers (N=100) of the Volgograd Institute of Management, a branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Results. The research results demonstrate an ambiguous attitude towards the ongoing reforms. 39.3% of the surveyed students and 37.8% of the teachers support the transition to a two-tier higher education system, 28.6% of the students and 44.4% of the teachers do not approve of it. The main risk of the reform relates to the loss of the quality of education when changing the field of study and a student’s obligation to obtain a master’s degree in order to be in demand in the labor market. The transition to a modular-rating training system is perceived positively by more than a third of the surveyed students and teachers. Negative consequences of the reform affected teachers to a greater extent: an increase in time costs and the risk of error when completing modules with teaching materials. The transition to the credit system as a tool for the development of academic mobility is supported by 62% of the surveyed teachers and 39.9% of the students. The contradictory attitude to stimulating the change of universities is associated with the risks of student adaptation and stereotyped education as the consequences of reforms. Conclusions. Based on the research results, the authors come to the conclusion that to overcome the ambiguous attitude towards the ongoing reforms, it is important to develop and implement measures to highlight the current modernization directions, goals and results: at meetings of the Academic Council or through teaching and student exchanges at the regional and international level. Also, the identified problems can be compensated by the intensification of advanced training courses taken by teachers to use the tools of work against the backdrop of new tasks, the development of a regulatory framework that regulates the transition between levels of education and measures to prevent the risks of students’ adaptation when changing universities.

University Teachers’ Conceptions of What University Is: Implications for the Future of Higher Education

This chapter presents the perception of university teachers about the university, the most recent changes and how they have influenced their activity. The phenomenographic study was conducted with 10 university teachers, nine females and one male with more than 15 years of professional activity. The perception of the university emerges, in the teachers’ voice, focused on the description of its mission, namely as a context for the production and diffusion of knowledge to society, as a space for creative and critical thinking about the world, as an interdisciplinary space and as a system focused on teaching and research. It also includes characteristics related to its structure and functioning, such as the level of hierarchization, bureaucratization, competitiveness, dehumanization and bibliometrics overvaluation. Regarding the perceived changes, they are related to the structural reforms resulting from the Bologna Process, diverse student populations, research and internationalization, new technologies, institutional cooperation, bureaucratization and relationship with the community. Teachers also revealed some dissatisfaction in the way they are experiencing university life due to the overwork resulting from the multiple tasks required in the four activity strands (teaching, research, management and extension) with an impact on quality and innovation, but in line with what the institution demands.

Training of Future Specialists in Programme Subject Area 029 "Information, Library and Archival Studies": Main Trends of the Formation of Educational Literature Fund

It is the first articulation of the problem of forming a fund of educational literature as a theoretical and methodological basis for a successful educational process for students majoring in 029 “Information, Library, and Archival Studies” based on the example of Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts (hereinafter KNUCA). By applying general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special research methods (bibliographic, statistical, visual analysis), analysis and systematization of the entire literature presented in the teaching materials of the teaching staff of KNUCA on educational programmes in the programme subject area 029 “Information, Library and Archival Studies” the main trends in the formation of the fund of educational literature KNUCA for students of 029 “Information, Library and Archival Studies” have been identified, including compliance of educational literature for higher education to the current legal field, impact of the reform of domestic higher education in accordance with the principles of the Bologna process on structure and content of educational literature; reflection of the process of reforming library education in educational literature – the intensity of educational literature preparation is correlated with the implementation of a new programme subject area 029 “Information, Library and Archival Studies”; active usage along with educational publications in the educational process scientific monographs, scientific articles, reference books (though, these types of publications have not been classified as educational publications officially, they start to perform educational function); availability of publications which names are identical to the names of academic disciplines, which is due to the need for educational and methodological support of new academic disciplines; preparation of educational literature by author’s teams formed, in particular, by teachers of various educational institutions; cooperation with various publishers, which provides the required number of publications for the educational process and their availability to the general public. Five functional levels of complex educational and methodical support of the educational process and formation of the fund of educational literature are substantiated: the level of the institution of higher education; the level of the scientific library of the institution of higher education; department level; level of authors; level of publishers / producers of educational literature.

Prometheus bound? European initiatives and trends on Higher Education and their association with economic competiveness, skills and employability.

Globalization and increasing internationalization of Higher Education has clearly resulted in a persistent demand for the further transformation of Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), towards competitiveness and contribution to development. What is actually in stake is the employability, while another key issue is the harmonization with the economy and the labor market. That raises, of course, a lot of issues concerning the gradual transformation of the Higher Education and the relation between Higher Education and Society at Large. Globalization has affected all the abovementioned, which is crystal clear in large scale initiatives, in Europe, such as the “Bologna Process” and the subsequent development of the European Higher Education Area, in the case of Europe. Given all the abovementioned, the present article mainly focuses on the European trends, transformations and initiatives in Higher Education, related to HEIs’ active and potential contribution to economic development and the enhancement of graduates’ employability and skills.

Trajectories of Education Development: from 1960s to 2000s

The article is devoted to the analysis of the formal and substantive aspects of the development of education in the process of forming a single European educational space. The formal conditions for the integration of education (the development of common quality criteria, the choice of educational trajectories, the mobility of students and teachers) were considered by default as arising from the European concept of individual rights and freedoms. The content of education in the post-industrial era, when society refuses to impose strict value and behavioral imperatives on the individual, is aimed at ensuring a level of autonomy of the subject that would allow him not only to realize his creative potential, but also to determine his life goals and meanings. In this regard, an important task is to develop the theoretical and conceptual foundations of the leading trends in the transformation of the educational system - personalization, autonomization of the subject, the introduction of projective techniques, recognition of the leading role of creative activity. The conditions for Russia's entry into the Bologna process and the thesis about the alienness of the standards introduced in this regard for national education are analyzed. It is shown that the cognitive foundations of design and creative activity, as well as the ideas of intellectualization of education, developed in the 1960s in Russian philosophy, psychology and pedagogy, can be used as methodological foundations for reforming Russian education. The possibilities of using the activity paradigm as a conceptual framework for developing a teaching methodology, a methodology for the formation of critical thinking and project activity are shown. This allows us to conclude that there is still variability in the trajectories of the development of domestic education, which can be based both on methodological and technological advances, as well as cultural and anthropological perspectives.

10th INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “EUROPEAN INTEGRATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION OF UKRAINE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE BOLOGNA PROCESS. QUALITY ASSESSMENT: APPROACHES AND TOOLS”

10th International Scientific and Practical Conference “European Integration of Higher Education of Ukraine in the Context of the Bologna Process. Quality Assessment: Approaches and Tools” was held on November 10, 2021, organised by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Higher Education of NAES of Ukraine, National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine, National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, British Council in Ukraine, Union of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine. The conference was focused on: higher education development strategy, higher education reforming, assessment of university performance, accreditation of educational programmes, surveys of students, university rankings, etc.

Harmonisation of higher education in Africa: 20 years after the Bologna Process

It has been 20 years since the Bologna Process has been realized, and the present paper examines efforts made to harmonise higher education in Africa. Similar to other continents, the higher education reform in Africa is inspired by the Bologna Process. This is clearly reflected in the African Union strategy for harmonisation of higher education and different reforms and harmonisation initiatives. The reforms in African higher education are directly and indirectly influenced by the European Union which is also the main financer and technical partner in the development and implementation of higher education harmonisation in Africa. There are different factors that affect the institutionalisation and sustainability of harmonisation initiatives in Africa. Some of the major factors include lack of strong and genuine cooperation among African HEIs, lack of nations’ political commitment to higher reforms, and lack of contextualisation in adopting reforms and strategies. Although the effort to harmonise African higher education is commendable, it is important to look for innovative strategies and reforms which are mainly based on the actual challenges that Africa is facing and the ultimate goal it envisions to achieve. Africa also needs to earnestly ‘conainise’ (continentalise, nationalise and institutionalise) reforms and harmonisation strategies adopted from elsewhere. Received: 18 October 2020Accepted: 9 September 2021

The recognition of a period of studies abroad as a determinant for learning mobility of female students of pedagogy

The implementation of the Bologna Process has contributed to the rising level of recognition of qualifications and study periods in higher education. Consequently, the level of student mobility increased (e.g. Erasmus+). Current research shows, that the recognition of courses completed abroad is important, yet not crucial factor that impacts mobility.