The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is based on a quantitative and accumulative understanding of time, which increasingly frames academic practices and notions of learning in higher education (HE). By example of a recent Danish policy reform, the article explores the connections between the ECTS, new institutional…

This paper critically examines the impact of neoliberalism on Quality Assurance (QA) in Higher Education (HE), employing an integrated approach that combines Foucauldian deconstruction and Freirean reconstruction. It explores the pervasive issues of accountability, standardization, and control that have increasingly dominated the field,…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of an "affective assemblage" approach in the study and practice of decolonizing "the University" in Europe. In particular, the analysis aims to better account for the affective dimensions of decolonizing "the University" in Europe,…

Over the last two decades, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has become ubiquitous in ELT. In this article, I consider how differences in the way in which the framework is being interpreted by different powerful actors, including governments and for-profit organizations, affect its usability for ELT practitioners, a…

In this paper, I discuss the concepts "teaching" and "learning" and investigate the connections between them. Starting from the perspective on teaching and learning expressed in "The European Qualifications Framework" ("EQF"), I analyse three theses on the concept of teaching: the Dewey-thesis, the…

This paper explores the declining trend of fine arts education in secondary schools. We examine mechanisms that may explain this phenomenon on structural levels of policymaking and policy implementation in different areas of the education system. What will be defined as the "selection device" refers to the structurally determined…

Situated within research and practice on intercultural communication education, this paper suggests an urgent inclusion of dialogism and ethics in the ways it is dealt with around the world. Supranational institutions such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Council of Europe, treat intercultural…

To ensure quality of education, a language framework should be the foundation on which second language curricula are developed. In 2010, the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), as suggested by Vandergrift (2006a, 2006b), recommended the use of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) in the K-12 Canadian school context and…

Due to the rapid development of information and communication technology, society has had to change the way it lives, works, communicates, collaborates, educates and learns. Academic research has begun to focus on this phenomenon, which is widely known as digital transformation (DT). This chapter explores how e-learning and information culture…

Since it was first published by the Council of Europe in 2001, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has become one of the most widely referenced documents in language education, particularly in English language teaching and assessment (Savski, in press). The recently released CEFR Companion Volume (2020), with its new…

In modern methods, in line with the social constructivist and action-oriented approaches, knowledge should be (co-) constructed by the learner in interaction with his or her learning environment which has been established by the teacher prior to the session. A social constructivist approach can be described as learning-centered. This approach…

East Asia shows newly emerging experiments in lifelong learning that contrast with European experiences. The concepts and ideas share a similar platform, while the trajectories of institutionalization reveal great differences. It is because the idea of lifelong learning was coined by international agencies, like UNESCO, to share, it rather shows…

As the main technique of grammar-centred teaching, translation apparently has no use in communicative teaching. However, this contradicts the idea that both translation and language teaching share the common goal of communication. This article argues that the underpinnings of translation coincide with the mediation skills promoted by CEFR and…

This article discusses the use of mixed methods design for transnational migration research. It draws on two currently expanding strategies that can form part of an integrated framework that reveals multiple complementary perspectives: (a) the incorporation of quantitative data and methods in what has been a largely qualitative field and (b) the…

The CEFR was conceived as part of the Council of Europe's project 'Language Learning for European Citizenship'. The social and political context out of which this project grew has often been lost from view. This is perhaps due to the success of the CEFR not only within Europe but also worldwide. That success is largely due to the quality of the…