Competitiveness, diversification and the international higher education cash flow : EU’s higher education discourse amidst the challenges of globalisation

This paper focuses on the EU discourse on Higher Education and analyses thisdiscourse within the context of globalisation. Importance is attached to the issuesof lifelong learning, competitiveness, diversification, entrepreneurship, access,knowledge society, modernisation, quality assurance, innovation and creativity,governance and business–HE partnerships. The paper also provides a criticalanalysis of this discourse focusing on certain issues involved in policy borrowingand transfer, the corporatisation of HE, international competition with the USAand Asia and the implications of all these aspects of the dominant EU HE policydiscourse for HE and the public sphere. The paper seeks to tease out the tensionthat exists in the discourse between neo-liberal tenets and the idea of a SocialEurope. References throughout the paper will be made to the situation concerningHE in a variety of contexts in Europe.peer-reviewe

Mapping of sensitivity to oil spills in the Lithuanian Baltic Sea coast.

This research develops an integrated environmental assessment tool for Lithuanian coastal area that takes due account of the major oil spill risks posed by the D-6 oil drilling platform, vessel traffic in the south-eastern Baltic Sea, and operation of the Butinge oil terminal. The goal of this paper is to present an environmental sensitivity index (ESI) mapping approach based on four specific indexes: coastal features (ESIC), socio-economic aspects (ESISE), biological (ESIB) and fishery resources (ESIF). The relevant methodology approach was selected. The core dataset is provided by GIS-based environmental atlas updated with other relevant GIS data of Lithuanian coastal resources. Four ESI maps were developed and an overall environmental sensitivity index (OESI) map produced. Results indicate that in the case of an oil spill, two areas need to be prioritized due to their biologic and socio-economic resources: the 25 km long shoreline between the settlements of Nida-Juodkrante on the Curonian Spit (CS) and the mainland coast (MC) between the settlements Palanga and Sventoji

Employees’ Service Innovation Behavior and New Service Development in Four- and Five-Star Hotels

This study aims to explore the impact of Employee Service Innovation Behavior (ESIB) on New Service Development (NSD) among hotels’ employees. A research model was proposed in which one hypothesis was developed. The empirical data were collected from employees who are working in four- and five-star hotels in Jordan. A total of 332 questionnaires were returned and the data were analyzed using a single regression to determine the relationship between ESIB and NSD. The results supported the proposed model that there is a significant relationship between ESIB and NSD, and it also found that service innovation performance is exited in the hotel industry. The theoretical and managerial implications were drawn based on the study findings, and recommendations for future researchers were made, and limitations and conclusions are discussed

Research into the use of ICT and e-learning for work-based learning in the skills sector

This research has been commissioned by Becta to provide an evidence-based overview of the current use and effectiveness of work-based e-learning and its integration with more traditional learning methods. The specific objectives of the research were to: investigate the known impact of ICT and e-learning on the skills sector; and describe the ways in which ICT and e-learning can support key workforce development issues such as addressing skills gaps and achieving sustainability in training and development

Research into the use of ICT and e-learning for work-based learning in the skills sector

The report provided an overview of the research commissioned by Becta into the use of ICT for learning by SMEs and the public sector, in the context of work-based learning (WBL). The findings were illustrated with a number of case studies and vignettes of good practice. The report was targeted at stakeholders in work-based learning (WBL)

Analysing change in international politics: a semiotic method of structural connotation

Processes such as internationalisation and privatisation bring along new challenges both for the conceptualisation and for the measurement of transformations of the state. This paper outlines a semiotic Method of Structural Connotation, which combines content- and network analysis, thus to model change in international politics. After an investigation of the methodical and epistemological chances and pitfalls a 5-step-toolbox is presented and illustrated with a current application: The Bologna-Process for a European Higher Education Area. -- Angesichts neuerer Entwicklungen wie Internationalisierung und Privatisierung stellen sich auch neue Herausforderungen für die Konzeptualisierung und Messung von Staatlichkeit im Wandel. In diesem Arbeitspapier wird eine semiotische Methode Struktureller Konnotation vorgestellt, die inhaltsanalytische und netzwerkanalytische Elemente zusammenführt, um den Wandel internationaler politischer Prozesse und Akteursfigurationen zu erfassen. Nach einer Betrachtung der methodischen und epistemologischen Herausforderungen und Chancen folgt ein konkreter Verfahrensvorschlag nach dem Baukastenprinzip. Am Beispiel des Bologna-Prozesses für einen Europäischen Hochschulraum wird das methodische Vorgehen Schritt für Schritt erläutert.

Europeanisation of the "European Student Movement"

European Students’ Union [ESU], representing through its member National Unions of Students [NUSes] from 37 countries over 11 million students in Europe, is one of major interest groups in Europe, and a recognised partner to European institutions and governments within European Higher Education Area [EHEA]. Yet neither ESU nor NUSes have gained much scholarly attention. The aim of the proposed paper is to shed light on this important actor through an investigation of ESU’s and NUSes’ participation in the Bologna Process *BP+ towards establishment of the European Higher Education Area [EHEA]. The paper explores the ‘Europeanisation’ mechanisms in the context of ESU’s and NUSes participation in the BP. It examines specifically how ESU and its member NUSes participate in and influence policy making within the BP and how they themselves are affected by this participation. Thus, it is concerned with meso-level analysis of Europeanisation mechanisms in a specific context of higher education policy making within the BP and with analysis of students unions as political actors. The central thesis of this paper is that the two-way Europeanisation mechanisms are clearly present in the case of ESU’s and NUSes’ involvement in the BP. While some Europeanisation can be identified prior to the BP, this is marginal compared to the intensity of institutional and policy changes and changes in relational structures that happened after 1999 and continued to intensify in the course of the Process. The degree of these changes varies, however, between the both levels of student union system. Institutional adaptation is significantly stronger in ESU than in NUSes. Policy adaptation too is stronger in ESU. In fact, ESU policy agenda is almost ‘hijacked’ by the issues related to the BP. Again, this is less visible in NUSes where other issues of national concern – especially those related to welfare, such as introduction of tuition fees, feature as prominently. In many national systems, the ‚new governance‛ agenda on financing of higher education - especially the question of introducing tuition fees - was in fact launched as a ‚Bologna issue‛, thereby governments and HEIs misinterpreting Bologna recommendations. The most significant change induced by the BP for student unions in Europe was in terms of their relational structures, i.e. their involvement in the HE policy making. The BP legitimised student unions as ‚full members of the academic community‛ and recommended that these be involved in HE governance at all levels. ESU was effectively granted a monopoly of student representation in Europe. The NUSes also drew leverage from this recognition of ESU in the BP. 2 The overwhelming majority of NUSes report having been involved in Bologna-related policy making at the national level. The change in involvement was especially visible in the countries were more statist traditions of state-society relations and in those with relatively weak administrations. The latter were particularly interested in including student representatives in the early phases of the BP because these tended to have information and expertise resources on the BP issues gained through the ESU. ‘Upward Europeanisation’ in the sense of uploading of student preferences into the BP has been conducted almost exclusively through ESU, rather than by individual NUSes. In other words, there has been no individual policy preferences of NUSes uploaded to the BP. All NUSes policy preferences are formulated into common ESU positions following internal policy making procedures. These common positions are then launched in the BP. ESU managed to upload their most salient issues – the social dimension in the BP and student participation in HE governance – onto the Bologna agenda and had inserted them into the official documents. For the first time, however, NUSes effectively lobbied their respective government on ESU positions. Finally, an unexpected – and certainly unintentional – effect of the BP on the student unions in Europe has been in terms of strengthening the ‚European student movement‛. Before the BP, NUSes involvement in ESU was relatively weak and varied. NUSes did not promote their membership in ESU nationally and have not lobbied their governments on ESU issues. The BP has created circumstances highly conducive to cooperation and empowerment of ESU to represent them on the European level

L’Evolution du métier d’enseignant de langue de spécialité – une perspective internationale

A travers l’Europe, les professeurs de langues vivantes doivent affronter les mêmes défis : parmi ceux-ci, nous passerons en revue (1) le contexte britannique : l’apprentissage des langues vivantes dans les universités (étudiants spécialistes et non-spécialistes, cours pour adultes) et dans le secondaire, les échanges et le séjour à l’étranger ; (2) le contexte international : le processus de Bologne (interculturalité et employabilité), la markétisation de l’enseignement supérieur, les droits d’inscription, l’anglicisation des programmes ; (3) le contexte technologique : les TIC dans la société et dans l’apprentissage des langues