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THE AUTONOMY OF HIGH SCHOOLS AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR LIFELONG EDUCATION IN POLAND:
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
E. Kula
M. P^nkowska
Changes in Poland's higher education system based on the requirements of the Bologna process and European qualifications framework.
The Bologna process, which began in 1999 with the signing of the Bologna Declaration, has led to the development of the European Higher Education Area, combining the organizational principles of higher education developed in collaboration with respect for diversity of programs, institutions and educational traditions in specific countries. As a result of this process Polish universities have introduced the following: training at three levels (licentiate, Master’s and PhD), ECTS scores as a tool that allows for the transference of students' achievements, a transparent system for the comparison of diplomas and degrees, and the idea of comprehensive lifelong education. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education issued a decree on educational standards with a list of more than 100 directions in higher education that reflects the educational content and contains the corresponding minimum number of hours and ECTS scores. This process provided the opportunity to transfer to a mobile method of obtaining education. However, a mere description of the learning process would be insufficient for assessing the level of the acquired knowledge of a migrating student. A much more reliable method is direct measurement of the immediate results of education. Hence, the idea to carry out verification of these outcomes in all high schools using the same methods wherever possible. This role is assigned to the European qualifications framework for education throughout life (lifelong education).
The European qualifications framework is a tool for influencing education and training, the labor market, industry and commerce, as well as citizens. The European qualifications framework for education throughout life promotes extended access to learning throughout life, as well as expanding the range of participation in this process. By establishing a common reference point, the European qualifications framework shows how learning outcomes can be combined as the derivatives of different contexts in different countries, for example, a formal study or work. It also shows how it can help reduce the barriers between establishments providing education and training, for instance, between higher education and professional education. The European qualifications framework can support those with extensive experience gained in the course of work or in other areas, making it easy to validate education outside the established norms. The emphasis on learning outcomes will facilitate the assessment of whether the learning outcomes obtained in these contexts are equivalent in terms of the content of formal qualifications1.
1 Куля Е., Пенковска М. Образование в высшей школе в Польше перед лицом вызовов непрерывного образования // Непрерывное образование как социальный факт. / тест.
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The autonomy of Polish high schools. A new law, The Right for Higher Education, that took force on October 1, 2011 in Poland implements the above ideas. It expands the autonomy of universities in the area of programs, due to which they gain the freedom to form entirely new areas of education determined by education programs. The essence of the change was the shift in focus from the educational process to its outcome. Therefore, the national framework of qualifications for higher education in Poland is related to the comparability of education outcomes (both on a national and an international scale), which serves as the basis for simple comparison and recognition of degrees and diplomas, as well as other certificates. In this regard we expect an increase in accessible education and an expansion of the opportunities for further education, as well as the distribution of lifelong education by recognizing achievements that take place outside formal education. The changes open great opportunities for higher education to develop new solutions in the area of lifelong education1.
The value of autonomy of higher education for lifelong education (comparative perspective). Forms of lifelong education in European universities are heterogeneous. Educational work can be centralized (within faculties) or decentralized (within departments or high schools). There are also centers of lifelong education as a form of interaction between high schools and the economy.
Globalization, the development of new information technologies, and the tendency toward closer cooperation within the EU caused the demand, but also created opportunities, for cooperation between European universities in the field of lifelong education. EUCEN network (European Universities Continuing Education Network) is a European network of universities and was established in to promote lifelong education methods. Currently EUCEN is the largest European multidisciplinary network operating in the area of lifelong education, bringing together 222 members from 43 different countries, including 163 universities from 33 European countries with full membership and also members of affiliated institutions and universities, outside of Europe, as well as international and national networks of lifelong education2.
The objectives pursued by EUCEN include the promotion, development and support of lifelong education policies at the university level in Europe, the establishment of the highest quality educational standards and tools to ensure a high level of education, encouraging the introduction of best practices and innovations in the field of lifelong education, the creation of conditions for exchange of experience and information, and cooperation between members and important European institutions. At the same time, it should be noted, that this organization can influence the development of European policy on lifelong education at the university level3.
Н.А. Лобанов, Е. Куля и М. Пэнковска; под науч. ред. Н.А. Лобанова, В.Н. Скворцова. - СПб., 2011, p. 333-348.
1 Autonomia programowa uczelni. Ramy kwalifikacji dla szkolnictwa wyzszego. - Warszawa. - 2011,
p. 10-11.
2 http://www.elearningeuropa.info/pl/users/eucen [27.03.2012].
3 EUCEN jest cztonkiem EUA (European University Association) oraz (na zasadzie wzajemnosci) innych krajowych i mi^dzynarodowych sieci i stowarzyszen edukacyjnych, m.in. European Distance Education Network (EDEN), International Council for Distance Education (ICDE). Istotn^ form^ dziatalnosci
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The most signinficant type of education throughout life is encompassed by the suggestions of American universities addressed to adults. They relate primarily to the development of a professional attitude and education as a hobby. Some of the proposals are characterized by assigning credit scores (credit courses), others are of a less formal nature (non-credit courses). Many universities also implement courses (continuing education credit) that are a mix of credit courses and noncredit courses, allowing a certificate to be obtained in the relevant field. Educational offers for adults were introduced in American universities at the end of the 19th century. Today they operate under the name of the “Advanced University” (university extension), representing a strong organizational structure combining many American high schools. Another form is independent programs (individual study). They are organizationally flexible and independent of formal rules. They allow working adults to participate in higher education. Another form is the Open University. It represents an extension of independent programs and provides education that corresponds to the needs of adults (flexible in terms of organization and curriculum) which is based on self-education to a great degree. Another specific form of training is the cyclic program, combining the mastery of theoretical knowledge in high school with professional experience, implemented, for instance, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North-Eastern University, and the University of Cincinnati. Additional Master's programs (graduate studies) are Master’s degree or doctorate programs with a view to professional development and improvement of existing qualifications to a higher level. Andragogue training is a form of training for specialists at the Master’s degree level with the aim of working with adult students. Another form of lifelong education is so-called “recurrent education”. This is further education with the aim of supplementing, updating or modifying existing qualifications. It is worth emphasizing that American universities are also one of the leading providers of distance learning. This form can also be implemented throughout life, especially for employees who are unable to attend college, the disabled, women with small children, etc.
Another form of lifelong education in US high schools includes remedial courses. They perform one of the functions of learning throughout life, and, namely, the compensatory function, providing an addition layer to formal education. It seems that the main basis for the development of higher education in Europe and the United States (as well as on other continents) is lifelong education. If, however, we take a closer look at the operation and the suggestion of American universities, we can say that they carry out lifelong education on a much wider degree than European universities. This can be said when taking into account the official documents that serve as the basis of implementation the Bologna Process principles1. One of the reasons for the poor dynamics of lifelong education in Polish high schools is their bureaucratic centralization, which is manifested by the fact
EUCEN projekty organizowane wspolnie z cztonkowskimi uniwersytetami. EUCEN koordynuje i prowadzi te projekty b^dz uczestniczy w nich jako partner. Szereg projektow jest realizowanych w ramach programu Sokrates - Grundtwig, ukierunkowanego na edukaj ludzi dorostych, ksztatcenie ustawiczneE. Marciszewska, A. Zbierzchowska, Ksztatcenie ustawiczne w europejskich uniwersytetach. E-mentor nr 4 (16)/2006.
1 Fr^ckowiak A. Ksztatcenie ustawiczne w szkolnictwie wyzszym w stanach Zjednoczonych // E-mentor, 2005, nr 3 (10).
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that the Ministry of Science and Higher Education acts as an employer with the right of ownership and control. Such a situation is impossible in the United States, where schools are also financed by public funds. This is immediately considered as a manifestation of socialist totalitarianism, as Andrzej Walicki says. The modernization of universities “from above” is as impossible for Oxford and Cambridge1.
Lifelong education in Poland is one of the major functions of universities arising from their mission to work for the benefit of education in the region. The traditional model of lifelong education at universities includes education in nonstationary ways in line with stationary directions of education, in some cases supplemented by graduate programs. Directions and profiles of non-stationary and postgraduate education should be aligned with these demands. However, the introduction of new directions of non-stationary education is not always a consequence of a good response to these demands. The reason is that the organizational structure of the overwhelming majority of Polish universities does not provide for research into the educational market.
Such studies as Education Market Intelligence (EMI) have become an important part of modern management systems in centers of lifelong education operating in European universities. However, the scattered structure of lifelong education in Polish high schools (management on the faculty level) does not allow for the carrying out of such actions. This situation results in the excessive rigidity of the lifelong education on offer. The consequences of this difference can be easily noticed while observing the evolution of lifelong education in Polish and foreign universities over the past 20 years. On the one hand, there was a rapid increase in participants involved in various forms of lifelong education, and, on the other, there are minor developments in this area of university education as limited by certain policies.
In order to describe the issue, it is worth mentioning the example of the University of Glamorgan in 2004. This is a small college in Wales (about 2,000 students trained according to the stationary forms of education), which attracted more than 20,000 students in various forms of lifelong education in eight years. Non-stationary training is implemented mostly in asynchronous mode. The funding for the development of the content of the curriculum for the needs of distance education, as well as for the organization and implementation of the learning process has been provided by the European Union. The ability to come up with an educational offer for a significant number of people appeared as part of an effective strategy based on sound knowledge of the educational market.
The gap caused by the lack of a systematic study of the Polish educational market is partly filled by the results of research conducted within the framework of projects financed by the European Social Fund. Research in this area is carried out
1 A. Walicki has emphasized that the low ranking of Poland's scientific institutions is the consequence of a non-relevant comparison made against, for instance, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences, which were ranked 1st and 3rd, with other universities in the country. The Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences are complexes combining numerous establishments and they cannot be compared with separate establishments with funding deficits as is the case with some Polish high schools. Cf.: Niebezpieczne nieporozumienia w sprawach nauki. http://www.pte.pl/pliki/2/12/46-49_07_Walicki.pdf
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to determine the number of individuals interested in training, as well as educational needs of the groups interested in training, the structure of the groups and the areas of expertise that are in demand. Thus, the educational market has been described. Furthermore, high schools determine the possibility of adapting lifelong education programs to the parameters mentioned, expressed in the form of a list of required staff, equipment and investments. Unfortunately, universities in organizational terms are usually not ready for this kind of activity. The structure of public high schools in Poland does not allow for the monitoring of the economic situation and especially the labor market. Almost everywhere in Europe the tendency toward establishing, within high schools, substructures for managing non-stationary forms of training have not generated significant interest in Poland. Therefore, all available sources of information on the educational needs of high schools are invaluable for high schools1.
Universities should respond more directly to the challenges and opportunities represented by lifelong education. This is a chance for universities which otherwise face the risk of declining numbers of applicants graduating from secondary school in connection with changes in the demographic situation in the coming years.
1 Wisniewski Z. Rola uczelni w ksztatceniu ustawicznym spoteczenstwie na przyktadzie potrzeb edukacyjnych osob powyzej 50 roku zycia // E-mentor, 2008, nr 4 (26).
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