1 août 2012

Les Espaces Ouverts d'Education Permanente sont une expérience totalement originale, progressivement mis en place depuis le début 2004 dans les différents territoires de la Région.
Ils prennent au pied de la lettre le concept d'Education Permanente, en complétant l'offre de formation existante, de type plus traditionnelle et aux objectifs plus conventionnels, mettant réellement en œuvre la possibilité pour chacun et pour tous d'accéder à la formation tout au long de la vie.
Ils constituent une nouvelle approche de la formation, une offre d’accès aux savoirs et à la connaissance, en réponse aux demandes de la population comme aux exigences sociales et économiques du monde dans lequel nous vivons.
Leurs principes de fonctionnement sont les suivants:
* Initiative individuelle : le moteur est la personne, son envie, son désir d'apprendre; l’accès n’est pas lié à une prescription.
* Ouverture : notamment en dehors des horaires "classiques" de la formation (soirées, samedi), afin de pouvoir accueillir les usagers ayant des activités dans la journée, notamment les salariés.
* Tous publics : et particulièrement tous ceux qui ne rentrent pas dans les formations à critères d’éligibilité, telles que celles appartenant aux dispositifs liés à la qualification et à l'emploi.
* Tous contenus : en particulier de formation et de culture générales, de documentation visant notamment à comprendre le monde contemporain, ce qui suppose la mise à disposition d'un minimum de ressources sur place (livres, revues, logiciels et autres CD Rom), mais aussi via Internet.
* Sans "encadrement" : pas de positionnement à l'entrée ni d'établissement d'un "parcours de formation", d'un contrat, ce qui n'exclut pas un accompagnement dans la recherche et l'appropriation des ressources disponibles.
Les Espaces Ouverts d'Education Permanente viennent rappeler ou faire re-découvrir que la connaissance est une dimension essentielle de tout être humain, de l'humanité. Explorer, comprendre, pour agir en connaissance de cause et de conséquences, en passant par une démarche, sans cesse renouvelée, vers une meilleure maîtrise de son environnement et de son destin, individuel et collectif.
Télécharger La carte des Espaces Ouverts d'Education Permanente.

INQAAHE 2013 Conference. From Monday 8th until Thursday 11th April 2013 INQAAHE will organise its Biennial Conference in Chinese Taipei. The conference host is the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT). The conference theme is Managing Diversity: Sustainable quality assurance processes.
There are four related subthemes:
1. The QA of cross-border education: from quality providers to quality assured provision
2. Innovative approaches to external QA in tertiary education: not a single approach towards excellence
3. Impact of QA and the effects of external and internal QA: regional perspectives to a shared issue
4. National qualifications frameworks and their links to QA (including involvement of stakeholders)
The Conference organisation accepts papers or posters on the four sub-themes of the Conference. Please consult the call for papers and posters below for the exact requirements.
We are looking forward to receiving your contribution at Secretariat[at]inqaahe.org by 15 November 2012.
More information about the programme and registration for the conference will follow soon. Call for papers and posters (PDF / 91.7 KB).
Call for Papers and Posters for the INQAAHE Conference - Chinese Taipei, 8 – 11 April, 2013
The Conference accepts papers or posters on the sub-themes of the Conference. The Conference Program Committee welcomes any contributions on the sub-themes. Examples of topics for contributions are listed under each sub-theme. Paper and poster proposals will be assessed by members of the Conference Program Committee for compliance with the criteria for acceptance.
Conference Themes and Sub-Themes
Theme: Managing Diversity: Sustainable quality assurance processes
Sub-Themes
1. The QA of cross-border education: from quality providers to quality assured provision
The QA of Cross-Border Education has turned into an essential topic in the agenda of the major HE systems all over the world. Agencies –and regional networks– have led the debate following the initiative of UNESCO-OECD on the Guidelines for Quality Provision
in Cross-border Higher Education, issued in 2005. Cross border provision takes many faces, and each of them poses different challenges for quality assurance agencies.
Papers presented under this subtheme should address the ways agencies deal with the need to assess the provision of CBHE in various settings. A special attention on good practices on the definition of published general frameworks or criteria to facilitate the QA of CBHE is welcome.
Issues to be covered could include the following:
• Sharing responsibility for QA: role of the QA agency from the home country, and that of the agency in the receiving country.
• Main issues to be addressed in evaluating CBHE offerings: focus on the programme contents, delivery methods and resources, the quality of the academic staff.
• Consistency of the diploma awarded with similar diplomas granted in the home country; relationship of the diploma awarded with the receiving country’s national regulations or quality criteria for similar programs (including the national qualifications framework when available).
• On-line provision and the challenge for QA mechanisms
• Information on quality assured provision: What can the QAAs regional networks do?
• Cultural-academic challenges in the provision of TNE
2. Innovative approaches to external QA in tertiary education: not a single approach towards excellence
Innovation is within the genome of tertiary education. QA processes must also be geared towards favouring innovation, and avoiding the bureaucratic burden of the procedures. But innovation is an overused word, needing a clear context to be entirely understood. In QA nowadays innovation means a plea for ways to rethink the current approaches, in order to develop QA processes that are sustainable in terms of financial and human resources; that effectively provide sound information on the quality of HE offerings; that allow higher education institutions enough flexibility to reach excellence; that take into account institutional and programme diversity.
The conference provides a forum for sharing and discussing innovative approaches and good practices for external QA in various settings and academic traditions; papers dealing with those or some of the following topics will be welcome:
• Analysis of QA approaches from the point of view of their potential to enhance innovation in tertiary education – ideally with some evaluation results.
• Innovation within the external QA agencies: How are agencies dealing with the changes in higher education? Have these changes impacted in their organization, their procedures or the standards they apply?
• Lessons learned from external review of agencies or from studies measuring the impact of QA processes, which have led to revised external QA processes.
• International benchmarking and innovative processes: the benefits of the regional networks.
• Good practices and mechanisms for their dissemination
3. Impact of QA and the effects of external and internal QA: regional perspectives to a shared issue
For many years, external assessment of QA focused on the activities of the agencies. Nowadays, it has become essential to learn about the effect of the introduction of QA practices on the actual operation of higher education institutions. On the other hand, budgetary constraints and economic difficulties in some regions push decision makers to require QA agencies a reflection on the impact of their processes.
Several countries, in different regions of the world, are carrying out such studies, asking stakeholders about their perceptions of the changes that QA has promoted in the higher education institutions they are associated with. This subtheme presents an opportunity to share efforts and experiences on the analysis of external QA processes and to discuss the lessons that can be learned from them.
Issues to be covered could include the following:
• How can impact be defined and measured, taking into consideration the difficulty to isolate the effects of QA on the operation of HEIs?
• Reporting on information showing anticipated and unanticipated effects of the introduction of quality assurance processes on different dimensions of HEIs.
• Changes or adaptations in the QA processes as a result of information on the impact of external QA processes.
• Is there a ‘regional agenda’ related to the impact of QA according to different regional settings?
• Links between QA processes and other policy instruments in place.
See also INQAAHE 2012 Forum, INQAAHE Conference 2011.

ERA is a unified research area open to the world based on the Internal market, in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely. Through ERA, the Union and its Member States will strengthen their scientific and technological bases, their competitiveness and their capacity to collectively address grand challenges.
The European Commission's 2012 policy Communication on the European Research Area (ERA) should lead to a significant improvement in Europe's research performance to promote growth and job creation. The measures in the Communication will have to be implemented by EU Member States, the Commission and Research Organisations to ensure the completion of ERA by 2014 as called for by the European Council.
To complete ERA and maximise the return on research investment, Europe must increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its public research system. This requires more cooperation so that the brightest minds work together to make greater impact on grand challenges (e.g. demographic-ageing, energy security, mobility, environmental degradation), and to avoid unnecessary duplication of research and infrastructure investment at national level. It also requires more competition to ensure that the best researchers and research teams receive funding - those able to compete in the increasingly-globalised and competitive research landscape.
With the explicit objective of opening up and connecting EU research systems, the ERA reform agenda focuses on five key priorities:

• More effective national research systems
• Optimal transnational co-operation and competition
  On common research agendas, grand challenges and infrastructures
• An open labour market for researchers
  Facilitating mobility, supporting training and ensuring attractive careers
• Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research
  Encouraging gender diversity to foster science excellence and relevance
• Optimal circulation and transfer of scientific knowledge
  To guarantee access to and uptake of knowledge by all.

Useful Links

This benchmark will be the reference level of European average performance on the share of employed graduates from education and training and will help monitoring progress towards the targets set by the Europe 2020 strategy.
Based on the proposal presented by the Commission in May 2011, the Council agreed that by 2020, the share of employed among the graduates 34 year olds having left education and training no more than three years before the reference year should be at least 82 as compared to 76.5 in 2010. This target level refers to an EU average and does not constitute a national target for individual Member States.
Employability - that is, the combination of factors which enable individuals to progress towards or enter employment, to stay in employment and to progress during their career - is a complex concept, involving not only each individual's characteristics, skills, attitudes and motivation, but also other external factors which lie beyond the scope of education and training policy, such as labour market regulations, demography, the structure of the economy and the overall economic situation.
Since 2010 researchers of the JRC's Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning CRELL have developed the conceptual and methodological frameworks defining the present benchmark. They have also been evaluating the role played by specific education and training policies in explaining within country and cross country variations in its value.
The European benchmark for education and training for employability complements those already adopted in May 2009 and the one on learning mobility adopted in November 2011 and will be examined by Member States and the Commission in 2014 as part of the Education and Training 2020 ET 2020 the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training in order to decide whether a revision of the indicators is needed. Press release: Council conclusions on the employability of graduates from education and training
CRELL methodological note: http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/.

The European Commission has the pleasure to announce that the international conference "Improving skills: Evidence from Secondary analysis of international surveys" will take place in Limassol Cyprus, 15-16 November 2012. The Conference will bring together researchers who have worked on secondary analyses of international surveys on skills and competences, to present key results and findings in areas pertinent for policy-making.
The aim of the conference is to develop the knowledge about results from large scale international assessments such as PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) and ESLC (European Survey on Language Competences). The conference will also point to EU relevant areas where there is a need and prospect for further data development and/or areas for secondary analyses in the next years.
The conference will have a strong focus on European results and be targeted to an audience of policy makers as well as researchers in the field. The "Improving skills" conference is organised by the European Commission in close cooperation with the Cypriot EU Presidency. You find an outline of the conference sessions here.
Further details about the programme, registration and various practical information will be provided in due time before the conference.  Registration for the conference will open in August.
Questions about the conference can be addressed to:
Kjartan Steffensen, DG Education and Culture, unit A4 - Analysis and Studies
E-mail: Kjartan.Steffensen@ec.europa.euThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Phone: +(32) 2 2957593.

The Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning (CRELL) was established in 2005 in order to provide expertise in the field of indicator-based evaluation and monitoring of education and training systems and their contribution to the achievement of Community objectives specified in the Lisbon Agenda and more recently in the EU2020 agenda as regards this domain. CRELL combines expertise in the fields of economics, econometrics, education, social sciences and statistics in an interdisciplinary approach to research.
CRELL is sponsored by the European Commission Directorate General Education and Culture (DG EAC) and co-ordinated by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (DG JRC).
The Centre is hosted by the Econometrics and Applied Statistics Unit of the Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen at the JRC in Ispra, northern Italy.
more about CRELL...
The policy demand for the monitoring and evaluation of national education systems is increasing on an international level.  The Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning  (CRELL) based on indicators and benchmarks, located at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, northern Italy, was established in this context and in response to the need to underpin monitoring instruments with sound scientific research.
The European Commission monitors progress towards the Community goals in the area of education and training using a framework of indicators and benchmarks, reported annually in the report on the Progress towards the Lisbon Objectives in Education and Training- Indicators and Benchmarks (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).
The set of indicators currently employed is less than fully developed. As stated in the Joint Interim Report "Education & Training 2010":
“The work carried out to date has pinpointed the key areas for which there is a lack of relevant and comparable data for monitoring progress in relation to the objectives set. The quality and comparability of the existing indicators need to be improved, particularly in the field of lifelong learning, and regularly reviewed. Priorities should be established for the development of a restricted number of new indicators, taking due account of the work carried out by other bodies active in this area. […] The following areas should come in for particular attention: key competences, and particularly learning to learn; investment efficiency; ICT; mobility; and adult education and vocational education and training."
The Council Conclusions of May 2009 on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training "ET2020" further emphasize the need for periodic monitoring of progress towards a set objective as an essential contribution towards evidence-based policy making. The strategic objectives defined in the "ET2020" strategy are accompanied during the period 2010-2020 by indicators and by reference levels for European average performance (‘European benchmarks’) and work on proposals for possible benchmarks in the areas of mobility, employability and language learning is requested.
Various strategies are underway to address these needs, among them the establishment of CRELL. The European Council Conclusions of 24 May 2005 on new indicators in education and training recognised that it was necessary to develop a coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks to monitor performance and progress, and stated that "the establishment of the research unit on lifelong learning at the Joint Research Centre at Ispra can significantly increase the Commission’s research capacity in terms of the development of new indicators." CRELL is involved in actively supporting the European Commission by providing scientific expertise and research in order to underpin the policy dossiers of  DG Education and Culture. Click here for more information on the Strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training "ET2020." Click here for more information on Indicators and Benchmarks. The Econometrics and Applied Statistics Unit at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra has estabished a world-renown scientific expertise in the field of composite indicators. It has co-authored together with the OECD the widely used  Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators and supports an information server on composite indicators.

Education databases and catalogues
BEI- British Education Index
Index to the contents of 300 education and training journals published in the British Isles, together with some internationally published periodicals. Includes: Education-line, a freely accessible database of the full text of conference papers, working papers and electronic literature which supports educational research, policy and practice; catalogue of professionally evaluated internet sites; conference programmes and papers.
CERUK - Current Educational Research in the UK
CERUK aims to provide a complete record of current or on-going research in education and related disciplines.
EENEE - European Expert Network on the Economics of Education
Network on economics of education with a directory of experts and researchers by field and country, journal databases and other information.
EPPI-Centre - Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordination Centre
EPPI-Centre supports the writing of systematic reviews of research evidence in the field of education. Seventeen review groups undertake reviews of individual topics, and a series of reviews commissioned by the Teacher Training Agency is also produced. All the reviewed research is included in a database.
ERIC - Education Resources Information Centre
Sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the US Department of Education, hosts a large database of journal and non-journal education literature.
ETV Library - European Training Village
The ETV library maintains a host of databases and catalogues on VET, including: European Research Overview (ERO Base); bibliographical database; VET internet resources; training institutions database; collection of 300 electronic-journals.
Eurostat - Eurostat
The statistical office of the European Communities, with extensive data collections in the area of education and training (Population and Social Conditions).
Eurydice - Eurydice
Information network on education in Europe. Includes several databases on education systems, Key Data publications and thesauri.
INCA - International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Internet Archive
INCA provides descriptions of government policy on education in Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland (forthcoming), Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA and Wales. It focuses on curriculum, assessment and initial teacher training frameworks for pre-school, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education in schools (3-19 age range).
NCES - National Centre for Education Statistics (US)
Database of US education statistics and analysis. The Education Statistics Quarterly is also available - an overview of all work carried out at NCES, including publications and data products.
PERINE - Pedagogical and Educational Research Information Network for Europe
The 'PERINE Internet Resource Catalogue' is a collection of information about national and cross-national resources supporting educational research in Europe. The catalogue will contain references produced by partners, presented within a multilingual search environment utilising the European Education Thesaurus. Initially the catalogue is experimental, providing information on themes identified by educational researchers connected with the European Educational Research Association (EERA).
VOCED - Vocational Education and Training Research Database
VOCED is the UNESCO/NCVER research database for technical and vocational education and training, an international database of research abstracts, in English.
WIFO - Gateway to Research on Education in Europe
This website has emerged in the context of European research projects carried out by the Research Forum WIFO (Wissenschaftsforum Bildung und Gesellschaft). It is an free information service provided by researchers for researchers. Focus on vocational education, recently also including human resource development. The database also includes a ‘search by method/approach’ facility.
See also About CRELL (Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning).

Higher education plays an essential role in society, creating new knowledge, transferring it to students and fostering innovation. EU-level actions help higher education institutions throughout Europe in their efforts to modernise, both in terms of the courses they offer and the way they operate.
Europe has around 4 000 higher education institutions, with over 19 million students and 1.5 million staff. Some European universities are among the best in the world, but, overall, potential is not being fully realised. Curricula are not always up to date, not enough young people go to university, and not enough adults have ever attended university. European universities often lack the management tools and funding to match their ambitions.
In the light of these challenges, governments and higher education institutions are looking for ways to create better conditions for universities.
National governments are responsible for their education and training systems and individual universities organise their own curricula. However, the challenges facing higher education are similar across the EU and there are clear advantages in working together.
The role of the European Commission is to support national efforts. This is done in the following ways:
* By working closely with policy-makers from Member States to help them develop their higher education policies. The Commission published a modernisation agenda for higher education in 2011, identifying five priority reform areas for action. Read more about the agenda.
* The Commission actively supports the Bologna Process, the inter-governmental process which promotes reforms in higher education with 47 countries, leading to establishing a 'European Higher Education Area'.
* By encouraging the exchange of examples of good policy practice between different countries – in particular, it gathers together a group of national experts – the 'cluster' on the modernisation of higher education – to share experiences and look at common challenges.
* The Erasmus Programme funds around 200 000 students every year to study or work abroad, along with other projects to increase co-operation between higher education institutions and other relevant institutions.
* There are a number of European programmes to promote co-operation in higher education with countries beyond the EU, including Tempus and Erasmus Mundus. Read more about these external co-operation initiatives in higher education.
* The Commission launches studies on specific areas relevant to higher education policy by gathering, analysing and sharing information on the state of play across Europe. Find EU studies and research on higher education.
More information
* Documents on EU actions in higher education.
* Summaries of EU legislation/initiatives relevant to higher education:
o Modernising universities
o Reform of universities in the framework of the EU2020 Strategy and the Education and Training 2020 initiatives
o The role of universities in the Europe of knowledge
o The Bologna Process: make higher education systems in Europe converge
o Quality of higher education.

In depth

There are more than four thousand higher education institutions in Europe, from top-level research establishments to small, teaching-focused colleges.
Europe itself is no less diverse, extending from the Arctic Circle to the coast of Africa.
Study in Europe provides up-to-date information on thirty-two European countries, their universities and what it takes to live and study in them.
European Higher Education
Europe has many hundreds of higher education institutions, renowned as centres of excellence around the world. However, higher education systems have traditionally been formulated at the national level. Increasing European integration is changing that, with the development of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) helping to reinforce the attractiveness of higher education in Europe. The EHEA is a region with a world-class knowledge base and cutting-edge research facilities in internationally-renowned centres of excellence. This is what attracts hundreds of thousands of foreign students each year to study in Europe. Increasing mobility and links between national higher education systems serve to reinforce this attraction. Foreign students coming to Europe can see for themselves the amazing diversity available to them (both inside and outside the university), while taking advantage of the smooth transferability of coursework, qualifications and research opportunities.
Why study in Europe?
Quality
Excellence - Value for money - Lasting legacy
Diversity
Choice - Tradition and innovation - Multicultural
Opportunity
World-renowned - Opening doors - Portable skills - Springboard for your travels.
How to choose a course
Step 1 – Prioritise your requirements
Step 2 – Gather information
Step 3 – Search and find
Find a course
Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorates
PromoDoc
BachelorsPortal
MastersPortal
PhDPortal
ScholarshipPortal
ShortCoursesPortal
xStudy.eu.
Application Guide Overview
This section contains practical details on applying to study in Europe. You can find out about the application, visa and residency requirements and the funding possibilities that exist.
The following general guidelines should be borne in mind, whatever country you choose to study in:
    * Leave plenty of time for the application process. Application submissions are usually required in the first few months of the year in which you are to study, but the process of finding a suitable institution and supervisor and drawing up a good proposal can take many months.
    * The grant and funding opportunities listed here are many, but they are by no means exhaustive. Do not hesitate to explore the financial aspects with your future supervisor.
    * Foreign nationals should also inquire closely about the immigration requirements to avoid difficulties at the consulate. The faculty where they are proposing to study can usually help with this.
    * Visa rules for studying and working can be quite strict, so do not assume you can legally take work during your spare time. On the other hand, research students can often conduct assistant research work (like giving seminars), so these possibilities should be looked into closely.
    * Make sure you take into account the language of instruction. English and other languages are increasingly used for degree and coursework, but they remain minority languages outside the United Kingdom and Ireland. Make sure you have adequate language proficiency and, if not, look into the possibilities of acquiring it before or after you arrive in your host country.
Living in Europe.