sylviec

Sylvie Reusch
People‘s knowledge, skills and competences are at the heart of Europe‘s economic and social infrastructure. They are key drivers of competitiveness and growth.

Since the adoption of the Lisbon strategy in March 2000, education and training are in the centre of Europe‘s effort to reposition itself in the global economy and respond to it‘s major social challenges. European countries are increasingly referring to learning outcomes for the description of qualification in their education and training systems. Instead of focusing on input factors such as the duration, location and particular pedagogical method underpinning a qualification, attention is directed towards what a learner knows and is able to do at the end of a learning process.

The work on learning outcomes has attracted particular attention in the recent years. In 2005, the implementation of National qualifications frameworks (NQF‘s) have turned into key instruments for the reconstruction and reform of education in many European countries. The interest in learning outcomes widened from the domain of pedagogy to include other settings, notably governance of education and training systems. The National qualifications frameworks provide a new platform for dialogue - across traditional borderlines of subsystems, sectors and institutions.

As European cooperation and mutual learning develops, the agreed emphasis is on improving quality in education and training, facilitating internal and international mobility in the labour market and for learners. The emphasis of collaboration is based on the European qualifications framework for lifelong learning (EQF). Adopted in 2008 by the European Parliament and Council, the EQF is a meta-framework, that facilitates the translation and comparison of qualifications across Europe. Learning outcomes feature as a component of quality description, based on the already existing taxonomies of educational goals. The adoption of a learning outcomes approach and a unit structure approach, facilitates the discussion on how to improve current practices and how to remove barriers to education, training and learning - creating a concept for lifelong learning in Europe.