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Portuguese higher education: a view from the outside. Presentation of report, 1 Howard Davies February 19 2013 Lisbon. Introductory remarks. The team expresses its gratitude to CNE A3ES and all other stakeholders CRUP The dual focus of the report
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Portuguese higher education: a view from the outside Presentation of report, 1 Howard Davies February 19 2013 Lisbon
Introductory remarks • The team expresses its gratitude to • CNE • A3ES and all other stakeholders • CRUP • The dual focus of the report • Restructuring of the higher education system • Rationalisation of the national course portfolio • The report sets out the collective (and independent) view of the team, delivered here in a sequence of four presentations
The team • Ms Andrea Blättler, former executive committee member, European Students’ Union • Professor Dr Jean-Marc Rapp, former Rector, Université de Lausanne, former chair, Swiss Rectors Conference, former president of EUA • Professor Dr Carles Solà, former Rector, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, former chair, Spanish Rectors Conference • Dr Howard Davies, convener and rapporteur • Professor Dr Pedro Teixeira, director of CIPES, national expert and adviser to the team
Methodology (1) • High level of public awareness of dual focus • Preparatory work • Monitoring of Portuguese press and other sources • A3ES consolidated data on institutions and student numbers • Support from national expert • Week-long visit to meet wide range of stakeholders: • Government, Parliament, CNE, A3ES, FCT, FCG • APESP, CCISP, CRUP, international relations and research communities • Student and trade unions
Methodology (2) • The report is not: • A formal system-level evaluation • An extensive research-backed foresight exercise • An explicit continuation of previous appraisals (OECD, ENQA, EUA) • A vademecum of Bologna Process and EU higher education policy • The report is a contribution to national debate • Record of stakeholder opinion • Observations by the team • Recommendations
A four-part presentation • 1st part • the binary system; regional development • 2nd part • research; Foundations and mergers; funding; re-structuring of the HE system • 3rd part • Lifelong learning; learning and teaching; internationalisation; quality assurance; the rationalisation of the course portfolio • 4th part • the Conselho Cordenador do Ensino Superior (CCES)
The binary system (1) • ‘… not a system, but a landscape…’ • The academic / professional distinction exists in law; the binary system is supported by RJIES • But the distinction is obscured by: • lack of regulation over the last 40 years • reciprocal mission drift • the employability imperative • regional imbalance in distribution of providers • co-location of university and polytechnic schools • lack of strategic perspective
The binary system (2) • A formal distinction, with its substance diluted, but reinforced by disparity of esteem • Paradoxically, weak mission distinctiveness does not mean diminished mission loyalty • Both sub-sectors wish to thrive with separate identities, but with a more dynamic interface • Doctoral education aside, the differentiation should tend towards the horizontal: • measures to reduce funding discrepancies by levelling upwards • measures to increase access and system versatility
Regional development (1) • Recommendations 1-5 address the need for a more flexible and versatile binary system… • … but not the geographical dimension • The team believes that system re-structuring must go hand in hand with regional development • Stakeholders suggest: • more cross-border collaboration with Spain • more and better use of EU structural funds • affirmative action in favour of institutions in the interior
Regional development (2) • These and other viable options require support: • incentives to institutions to engage in trans-binary curriculum development and knowledge transfer • incentives to individuals to re-locate to the interior • facilitating agencies which will liaise between institutional consortia, CCDRs and the CCES (R6-8) • Subsequent slides deal with the CCES, as well as with issues (funding, research, etc) relevant to the fostering of effective interventions • All Recommendations are predicated on growth