The aim of this report is threefold. Its first section provides an overall sketch of the situation across Europe and the underlying mechanisms for the differences in European countries. The second section focuses on the heterogeneities within each country. It examines the disparities among students in order to understand which of those correlate…

Innovation is a key component to the success and longevity of companies. Our research opens the "black box" of creativity and innovation in R&D teams. We argue that understanding the nature of R&D projects in terms of creativity/innovation, efficiency/inefficiency, is important for designing education policies and improving…

This article reports the findings of a PhD study, which offers comparative perspectives on teacher education in a period of reforms, inquiring into stakeholders' perceptions in English, French, Italian and Spanish contexts as case studies. The interaction of needs and constraints in European initial teacher education within higher education…

This paper aims at providing a theoretical and empirical discussion on the concept of pedagogisation which derives from the hypothesis of a new era of "totally pedagogised society" in Basil Bernstein's work. The article is based on empirical research on higher education policy, with a focus on the implementation of curriculum change…

This article focuses on the interaction between the European dimension driven by the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the development of national reforms to fulfil that objective. On the basis of data gathered in eight countries involved in EuroHESC project TRUE (Transforming European Universities), the curricular and the…

In "Why Knowledge Matters," influential scholar E. D. Hirsch, Jr., addresses critical issues in contemporary education reform and shows how cherished truisms about education and child development have led to unintended and negative consequences. Hirsch, author of "The Knowledge Deficit," draws on recent findings in neuroscience…

The history of education in France, with its inherited link between the Republic and the religion of knowledge, produces a specific form of educational functioning, consubstantial to a tradition of selection and a symptomatic lack of what elsewhere is called a curriculum. While the recent introduction of the "common grounding of knowledge and…

The transformations that have taken place in the French "ecole maternelle" (nursery school) over the last 30 years may be characterised by a dual dynamic, internal and external, of scholarisation. Firstly, the analysis of its changing position with regard to primary school and within early childhood education and care shows a relative…

Agricultural education very early on tested a generalized mandate of modular interdisciplinary education. In this regard, it constitutes an interesting medium for observing the conditions required for developing interdisciplinarity in an academic context. Based on a historical approach, this text shows how a series of experiments led to a…

The title of this document is a deliberate play on the title of the biennial reports on the progress of Bologna produced by the European Students' Union, "Bologna With Student Eyes." It is a way of paying tribute to student involvement in the Bologna reforms, and marking a parallel student working participation in the state system…

Examines quantitative changes in French higher education since the mid-1980s, focusing on vocational tracks. Looks at sources of this change in educational policy and the demographic and social influences on demand. Highlights the impact of this growth on equality of opportunity, particularly among traditionally disadvantaged populations, and on…

Clarifies the goals of technology education from a political perspective. Presents founding program choices of the discipline and teaching method problems involved in constructing the discipline. Outlines reflections on the idea of curricular matrices and points out the necessity for some re-examinations of curriculum theory. (Author/KHR)

The early years of childhood are receiving increased public policy attention in many countries around the world. Debates on providing quality services and ensuring a good foundation for lifelong learning are generating a new interest in curriculum issues. What understandings do we have of young children? How do they access and construct knowledge…

Examines recent attempts to restructure French secondary schooling in order to provide equal opportunity and more relevant curriculum. Discusses some impediments to these reforms, particularly the opposition of teachers and their unions. (SJL)

In France, technology is a compulsory school discipline at the junior high school level (ages 11-15). Technology studies were initiated at the beginning of the 1960s when school attendance until the age of 16 became mandatory and when it was decided to delay vocational training because of the irreversible drive towards technical modernity, a…