European Higher Education Policy Coordination Learning and Teaching and Fundamental Values in the Bologna Process

Abstract

This thesis explored higher education policy coordination at the European level in the context of the Bologna process and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Specifically, this study investigated policy coordination of the primary processes learning and teaching in higher education, and the extent to which policymaking pertaining to learning and teaching was linked to policymaking involving another crucial issue, i.e. the fundamental values in higher education. Whether and what kind of coordination across these two sets of policy issues exists had not been extensively researched thus far. By incorporating into the scholarly debate how policy coordination involving two sets of policy issuers, one being learning and teaching and the other being fundamental values, particularly academic freedom and institutional autonomy, interact with one another, helped address the current shortage of research in this area and could provide real world value to Europeanised policymaking. The research practices utilised in this study were qualitative approaches and embedded case study design of a single case. The central case was the Bologna process Working Group on Learning & Teaching. The embedded case was the interactions between policy actors in the Working Group on Learning & Teaching and another group in the Bologna process, the Working Group on Fundamental Values. In addition, a network perspective was adopted. The findings show the Bologna structures consist of two distinct areas, one being learning and teaching and the other being fundamental values in higher education. Several Bologna members had overlapping memberships and cross-over representatives between these two structures. Although this provided a condition for mediators to emerge, it did not necessarily happen. The findings further show that during the Bologna period 2018-2020 there was substantial discussion around academic freedom and institutional autonomy in the learning and teaching structure. In contrast, in the Bologna period 2021-2024 the discourse lacked reference to these sector values. The research provides a novel take on Europeanised policymaking, specifically concerning a process of reflection on fundamental values in higher education when formulating new policies pertaining to the very core of higher education, i.e. the primary processes learning and teaching.