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Вестник Университета № 19, 2014 г.
УДК 378.1
Jolanta Rodzos POLISH QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK
FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
Abstract: The article gives a characterization of the Polish qualifications framework, its structure and levels, describes the main assumptions and intentions of the Polish qualifications framework. The article describes how the introduction of qualifications frameworks influenced the process of education and professional qualifications in the country and also reveals the consequences of implementing NQF.
Keywords: National Qualifications Framework, Polish Qualifications Framework, higher education, professional qualifications, levels of Qualifications Framework, learning outcomes.
ПОЛЬСКАЯ РАМКА КВАЛИФИКАЦИЙ ДЛЯ ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ
Аннотация. В статье дается характеристика Польской рамки квалификаций, ее структура и уровни, описаны основные цели и намерения внедрения Национальной квалификационной рамки в Польше. В статье характеризуется влияние внедрения квалификационных рамок на процесс образования и профессиональные квалификации, а также раскрываются последствия реализации проекта Национальной квалификационной рамки в стране.
Ключевые слова: Национальная квалификационная рамка, Польская квалификационная рамка, высшее образование, профессиональные квалификации, уровни квалификационной рамки, результаты обучения.
Introduction
In Poland, as in other states which participate in the Bologna Process, the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), which is strictly connected to its European counterparts, is a fundamental organising element of education. Work on preparing the framework was commenced already in 2006 with a team of experts developing a model of qualifications for lifelong learning. Education was divided into three sectors: comprehensive, vocational, and higher education (Chmielecka 2013). Work on the NQF for higher education started in 2009, and in 2011 a sweeping reform was carried out whereby the developed system was implemented. The following academic year marked the beginning of education in line with the National Qualifications Framework.
Structure of qualifications for higher education
The Polish Qualifications Framework is fully compatible with its European counterpart. It comprises 8 levels of which the last three refer to higher education. Level 6 qualifications correspond to undergraduate studies, Level 7 qualifications refer to graduate studies, and Level 8 qualifications pertain to post-graduate studies. In order to obtain relevant qualifications specified for each level, certain aims must be achieved along with collecting the required ECTS credits. It has been assumed that in order to obtain first and second degree qualifications jointly, 300 credits must be awarded to the student, i.e. 180-210 ECTS credits to complete undergraduate studies and 90 - 120 ECTS credits to complete graduate studies. To complete post-graduate studies 45-60 ECTS credits are required. It is worth pointing out that some study programmes in Poland including medicine, law, psychology, painting, film directing, and architecture are carried as 5 year uniform graduate study courses. For their
© Jolanta Rodzos, 2014
completion 300 ECTS credits are required, and to complete a single semester students must obtain at least 30 ECTS credits (Act of 27 July 2005).
Following the completion of a post-graduate or third degree study course, students obtain the Ph.D. degree. Graduate studies end with a master's degree (M.A, M.Sc. or M.Eng.) while undergraduate studies offer the degree of a bachelor or engineer (B.A, M.Sc or B.Eng.). A relevant diploma is issued by the university where a study programme was offered. It follows that there is no universal state diploma of higher education. Each school of higher education, in line with the generally accepted standards, issues its own diploma and, consequently, takes full responsibility for the quality of qualifications of its graduates.
NQF assumptions for higher education
The primary purpose of work on the NQF was to create a system which would ensure the comparability of the Polish education system to the ones existing in other countries, and consequently increase the mobility and competitiveness of Polish students internationally. The point was to translate the qualifications gained in Polish schools of higher education to a relevant level of qualifications in another state in a relatively simple manner. However, the main idea was accompanied by broader intentions and assumptions. One of them referred to the increase in the autonomy of Polish higher schools in terms of teaching and adjusting their offer to the current needs of society, and the fast changing economy, among other things. The whole reform was conducted in such a way as to enable these schools to decide about the offered study courses, teaching contents and the choice of academic staff. The following decisions were taken:
1. The previous list of existing study courses along with their defined education standards was withdrawn. Before 2012 in Poland there were 118 approved study courses, currently these limitations are no longer in force. Taking into consideration social expectations, with a particular focus on labour market needs, schools of higher education independently decide about their list of study courses, including their names as well as specialisations and teaching contents offered as part of them. It is the free market which determines the usefulness of a given offer. The study courses with low enrolment in the subsequent two years are automatically discontinued.
2. There are two study profiles available: academic and practical. The academic profile study is research-based, whereas the practical one is oriented towards the needs of the labour market. Every study course may be run in academic and practical version, even within one institution of higher education or a faculty. The differences should be visible in the contents and the methods of teaching as well as in the choice of academic staff. Classes based on the practical profile should be conducted, at least to some extent, by persons with a proven professional experience gained outside the school. There is a possibility of adding such persons to a team to ensure the minimum academic staff complement. In addition, students are obliged to complete an internship in a workplace with the profile of activity corresponding to a student's study course. At least half of the regular classes should have a practical approach to develop skills of applying acquired knowledge to practice.
3. Eight areas of education were distinguished to serve as a benchmark for each study course (The resolution of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of 2 November 2011). Each faculty has the right to run study courses in such areas in which it is entitled to confer a postdoctoral degree. Faculties without that right have to obtain a consent from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Polish Accreditation Committee before they can introduce their academic offer. There is a possibility for a university to offer interdisciplinary study courses, the content of which relates to more than one field of study. Such courses are predominantly created in cooperation with various faculties within one higher school or even in agreement with other schools of higher education. The selected areas
Вестник Униeерситета № 19, 2014 г.
of education are: humanities, exact, social and natural sciences, technical sciences, medicine, health and physical education, agricultural, forestry and veterinary sciences, and arts.
The first two of the above-mentioned solutions enable schools of higher education considerably to create a suitable offer of education and react promptly to all changes occurring in the social and economic sphere. They also make it possible to take full advantage of internal academic staff potential due to the fact that education offer is arbitrarily created. Regrettably, the third factor has a restrictive function. It concerns mostly interdisciplinary study courses such as tourism or spatial development. Assigning a faculty to one area in accordance with its right to confer postdoctoral degree limits the scope of contents which can be offered within one study course run by this faculty. If, for instance, a course in tourism is offered by a unit which is entitled to confer postdoctoral degree in natural sciences, such a study course should be nature-oriented, regardless of the qualifications possessed by the staff members that run the classes. This cannot be changed even by employing specialists in physical culture, social or economic issues. The only possibility of expanding the scope of contents for a given study course is to run this course in cooperation with other faculties assigned to different areas of education.
Learning outcomes
The most essential element of the qualification framework are learning outcomes. They constitute the core of the whole system of education and are the basic element of each programme of studies around which its further structure is constructed. Their use has affected the whole philosophy of teaching, especially in terms of university teaching which used to be focused on transmitting knowledge derived from conducted research. Research studies were always inherent in the activity of Polish universities, hence the connection between teaching and learning was so close. Slightly different rules applied to technical universities and vocational schools of higher education. Their offer tended to be more utilitarian and took into account labour market needs. Universities, on the other hand, in accordance with their longstanding tradition, regarded the access to academic record and general intellectual development of young people as part of their mission. The necessity to view education differently, as the process of preparing young people for effective functioning in the labour market, has aroused a lot of controversies.
Learning outcomes in the Polish Qualification Framework are described in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences. Their structure was based on Dublin descriptors placing a strong emphasis on the need to find practical application of acquired knowledge. It must be pointed out that in Poland the idea of planning student's progress record in these three categories is not new. The organisation of the education process based on previously planned progress record in the three categories of knowledge, skills and competences has been widely used in primary and secondary schools since the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century.
The structure of the learning outcomes in the Polish system of higher education is very transparent. The highest degree comprises the outcomes for particular levels of education, of a very general nature. They do not refer to any specific contents but generally define the character of competences possessed by graduates of the first, second and third-cycle of studies. Slightly more detailed outcomes concern the areas of education. They define the scope of students' competences for all study courses within one area. As part of each of the 8 areas 4 sets of outcomes have been defined: for first and second-cycle of studies, separately for academic and practical profile. They have not been defined for postdoctoral studies, though, giving universities freedom to plan students' progress record.
Additionally, there is a list of outcomes for engineering studies. The reform conducted in 2012 allows for organizing engineering studies as part of different study courses. An academic department decides if a study will have an engineering character. If it happens so, the course programme should also include the engineering outcomes along with the learning
outcomes related to a specific area. For example, a study course in Physics planned as an engineering course must ensure the realization of outcomes from the area of exact sciences (since Physics is classified in this area) and the engineering field. Therefore, first-cycle engineering studies are planned for seven, not six, semesters as it is the case with regular studies without an engineering programme. In Poland the sets of area-related and engineering outcomes have been planned by teams comprising the employees of various higher education institutions, nominated by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
The next level of learning outcomes are study course-related outcomes. They are formulated at the level of units organizing studies in a given study course, most frequently by faculty teams. They are aimed at providing the area-related outcomes with more details for a given level of education (first or second-cycle of studies) and profile (academic or practical). They refer to specific teaching contents. When designing study course-related outcomes, all outcomes from a given area should be taken into consideration. If any of them is overlooked, the authors of a programme of studies should reasonably justify its omission.
In the case of interdisciplinary studies organized jointly by two or more departments, there is no need to realize all the outcomes from a given area to which a study course is ascribed to. It is allowed to select only some outcomes from particular areas in order to create a consistent set intended for specific aims. However, it is necessary to make a reference to each of the three categories of learning outcomes, i.e. knowledge, skills and social competences.
When formulating learning outcomes a certain rule was applied stipulating that area-related outcomes indicate the scope of competencies that a specialist in a given field should obtain and the course-related outcomes inform about the qualities possessed by a specialist in a given field of study who undertakes and completes studies at a particular higher school and its faculty. The lists of learning outcomes for the same study course but conducted at various schools of higher education may differ due to diverse staff resources and presented ideas for a graduate profile. If a given department runs the same study course in both profiles (academic and practical) the list of outcomes for each of these profiles is prepared in form of 2 separate lists. It means that a programme of studies for these two profiles must differ too.
In the case of faculties which are entitled to confer postdoctoral degree, an authority approving a list of study-related learning outcomes is an academic senate. Faculties without this right must submit proposed learning outcomes for approval of the Polish Accreditation Committee and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
Teams appointed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education developed model learning outcomes for about 40 study courses. However, it is not obligatory to use them. They are sometimes adopted by faculties which are not entitled to confer postdoctoral degree. Nevertheless, they are also under no obligation in this respect. They are allowed to prepare their own lists and submit them for approval by the Polish Accreditation Committee. Model learning outcomes serve only as a reference point.
At the lowest level there are module and subject-related learning outcomes. They describe progress planned for each of the modules or subjects (depending on whether it is a module-based programme of studies or if it consists of separate subjects). They are prepared by persons conducting relevant classes. Learning outcomes for a given module / subject must relate to previously adopted study course-related outcomes. There is one governing principle that demands all learning outcomes be realized within the whole programme of studies. Hence, there is a need to assign each module or subject-related outcome to a relevant course-related outcome and to verify if each of the planned course-related outcomes is realized by a particular module or a subject.
NQF and professional qualifications
In Poland there is a variety of professions, the practice of which requires the possession of special qualifications regulated by separate provisions, unrelated to regulations pertaining to higher education. Even though the Act of 13 June 2013 on changing laws regulating the practice of certain professions limited their number significantly, the requirements concerning fulfilling certain standards are still in force, for example, if we want to become an expert on fire protection, a cartographic editor or a sport instructor, to name but a few. Schools of higher education in their pursuit to prepare graduates for a specific profession may include into their programmes of studies subjects or even whole courses recommended by professional standards. They can create a list of learning outcomes in such a way so as to provide for all, or only a part of the requirements stipulated in the regulations defining the prerequisites for obtaining qualifications to practice a given profession. As it has been mentioned before, learning outcomes for each of the areas are defined in a general way, without referring to specific contents but rather describing a type and a scope of competences of a graduate. This feature of area-related outcomes in connection with a full autonomy of a higher school in terms of developing its own programme of studies, including course-related learning outcomes, allows for adding a preparation for various professions to an educational process. However, if a given profession requires external examinations to award qualifications, a student or a graduate takes them outside the programme of studies. Such a solution is very beneficial as it provides students with a preparation for a given profession but it does not impose any obligation on either of the parties.
There are 8 professions (a doctor, a veterinary, a dentist, a pharmacist, a nurse, a midwife, an architect and a teacher) for which the educational standards have been set out by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. They define a compulsory list of subjects, the minimum number of hours for each subject, the duration of studies, and the results to be obtained. Schools of higher education organizing the above-mentioned study courses are obliged to follow all the prescribed requirements.
Consequences of implementing NQF
The introduction of the qualification framework has changed the face of Polish higher education. Undoubtedly, the most significant factor of all the changes is the organization of education in accordance with a student's planned progress and the assumption that this progress should relate to the needs of modern society, including the needs of the labour market. This principle has influenced the situation and the role of higher schools, especially universities. They now need to expend the effort to make their educational offer more practical and to adjust it to the existing social and economic reality without abandoning their long-time mission of general education and sharing their academic record with society. It is a challenging task, not only for objective reasons, but also due to some mental resistance encountered. For three years, since the introduction of the reform in Poland, there has been a heated discussion on the validity of work reorientation at schools of higher education, especially universities. The basic questions focus on the issue whether education oriented to the needs of the labour market is feasible at all, since this market is unstable and it changes so dynamically. Another question is whether resigning from general education for the sake of narrowed competencies does not happen to the detriment of our society. Regardless of these doubts, the process of changes is advanced. Schools clearly shifted their attention to students, their individual educational results as well as their usefulness in modern society.
Work reorientation of higher schools does not constitute the only visible consequence of implementing the NQF in the Polish system of higher education. Equal importance is attached to the increase in the autonomy of schools in terms of developing an educational offer and assigning them responsibility for the quality of students' education. Schools can decide independently about their own development path but they also have an obligation to
ensure that their work is valuable and meets social expectations. It means that they need to develop mechanisms assuring quality in education.
Education Quality Assurance
As practice shows, creating a good system of education quality assurance is a very arduous task. Firstly, it is a new task demanding the development of appropriate mechanisms, sometimes by trial and error method. Secondly, one universal model cannot be applied to all categories of higher schools as their size, organizational structure, profile of activity and tradition vary. Thirdly, education is an immeasurable product which is difficult to assess. How to measure education quality provided by schools of higher education? On the basis of students' satisfaction or their employability? In addition, work results also comprise education results at lower levels and individual capabilities of students as well as their social background. Fourthly, examining education quality is a complementary task in relation to already existing numerous responsibilities. This presents a significant burden for didactic and administrative staff and generates costs (Tadeusiewicz, Lig^za 2014).
In Poland every school of higher education offering degree programmes is obliged to develop an internal system of education quality assurance (Resolution of the Ministry of Science and Higher education of 5 October 2011). Its role consists in constant monitoring of educational process, assessing the effectiveness of implemented solutions and eliminating those which prove to be ineffective or harmful. Schools need to be assured that their offer is appropriate and teaching methods produce positive results. Monitoring should concern all the elements which are included in the process of education, along with a student's service. In particular, great importance is attached to the monitoring of the following elements:
- Education programmes - their structure, contents, adjustment to the needs of modern society, consistence with the planned learning outcomes
- Verification of learning outcomes - an extent to which they are achieved by students
- Professional career of graduates - their employability and the usefulness of the acquired education
- Competencies of didactic staff - substantial and methodological qualifications, attitudes
- Quality of conducted classes - substantial and methodological level, suitability to projected goals
- Cooperation with external environment - its scope and effectiveness
- Participation of students in the scholarly life of a faculty - their participation in taking decision in all matters related to education
Each school develops their own individual system, adequate to its organizational structure, profile, staff and financial resources. Various solutions are acceptable. Their existence and effectiveness serve as a prerequisite for obtaining an approval from the Polish Accreditation Committee to offer educational programmes.
Recapitulation
The implementation of the qualification framework was one of the most significant moments in the whole post-war history of higher education. It resulted in the in-depth reform of education at a higher level. Although, it has been three years since the introduction of the reform, the process of transformation has still been in progress. Schools of higher education have been approaching these changes in different ways. The most important beneficiaries appear to be these schools which from the very beginning took advantage of the reform and treated it as an opportunity not an obligation. They made an objective analysis of their educational offer and decided to modernize it, make it more appealing and adjust it to the expectations of the labour market regardless of the social and financial costs. They established
a cooperation with business environment and external institutions. Sometimes such decisions required radical changes, including discontinuing current study courses or specializations, employing new staff outside the research branch or working together with other schools of higher education. At present, in the times of declining birth rate, they can still boast a great number of students, including the foreign ones, which seems to validate the decisions taken. Even if they encountered some problems with the acceptance of these changes by their staff, nowadays this no longer matters as they use current success to bring further changes.
On the other hand, a group of higher schools or faculties which assumed a passive attitude towards the reform, contenting themselves with including a list of learning outcomes to their previous teaching programmes, may feel at risk. Students when confronted with a wide array of study courses corresponding to the challenges of modern economy do not show interest in outdated offers. Low enrolment poses a danger to the functioning of schools and faculties. Therefore, in spite of the previous resistance, these schools are currently attempting to make up for the backlog and undertake actions aimed at modernizing and improving the quality. The key to success is to properly understand what the National Qualification Framework stands for and to use it to their own potential. Good condition of a school of higher education is obviously not the main aim of the educational reform but a level of interest generated by an academic offer constitutes one of the indicators of its value.
Reference
1. Chmielecka E., 2013. Proces Bolonski i krajowe ramy kwalifikacji dla szkolnictwa wyzszego. Studia BAS, [Bologna Process and the National Qualification Frameworks for Higher Education] No. 3 (35), pp. 107-134.
2. Tadeusiewicz R., Lig^za R., 2014. Wady i zalety wprowadzenia Krajowych Ram Kwalifikacji, [Pros and cons of implementing the National Qualification Frameworks] Nauka, No. 1, pp. 43-57.
3. Rozporz^dzenie Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyzszego z dnia 5 pazdziernika 2011 roku w sprawie warunkow prowadzenia studiow na okreslonym kierunku i poziomie ksztalcenia. [Regulation by the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 5 October 2011 on the requirements for conducting studies in a specific field at a given level of education].
4. Rozporz^dzenie Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyzszego z dnia 2 listopada 2011 roku w sprawie Krajowych Ram Kwalifikacji dla Szkolnictwa Wyzszego. [Regulation by the Minister of Science and Higher Education of 2 November 2011 on the National Qualification Frameworks for Higher Education].
5. Ustawa z dnia 27 lipca 2005 r. Prawo o szkolnictwie wyzszym. [Act of 27 June 2005 on Higher Education].
