Lessons to be learned from Lifelong Learning LLL strategies in Europe:

Comparisons between different policy processes,governance structures and educational change agendas

Pekka KämäräinenKeynote presentation at the

Dissemination Conference of the PAPILL project

(Policies and Practices In Lifelong Learning)Istanbul, Turkey 5.11.2009

www.itb.uni-bremen.de

ContentsI Starting points: Basic questions and challenges1.1. The basic questions for comparative analyses1.2. The issue of complex policy processes (the case of Germany)1.3. The issue of dispersed governance structures (the case of Greece)

II Cross-country comparisons 2.1. Insights into LL policies in Germany2.2. Insights into LL policies in Greece 2.3. Reflective commentary

III From bilateral comparisons to European group picture3.1. Use of PAPILL mapping instrument (German contents)3.2. Use of PAPILL mapping instrument (Greek contents)3.3. Perspectives for further work with European group picture

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1.1. The basic questions for comparative analyses

Questions for comparative analyses on different policy processes, governance structures and change agendas:

• What lessons can we learn from countries with complex or streamlined policy processes?

• What lessons can we learn from countries with coordinated or dispersed policy implementation?

• What kind of change agendas can we bring forward to common European discussion?

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1.2. The issue of complex policy processes (the case of Germany)

The complexity of policy processes that overshadows the promotion of Lifelong learning policies in Germany

• Government power in education is mainly allocated to 16 Federal States (Länder): general, higher, adult education

• Cooperation between Länder on the basis of mutual agreements (Standing conference of Cultural Ministers)

• Government power in VET (vocational education and training) divided between Federal Government (Bund) and Länder

• The joint commission for educational planning (BLK) has been abolished in 2007 and the involvement of Bund has been reduced due to the Federalism reform (since 2005)

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1.3. The issue of dispersed governance structures (the case of Greece)

Dispersion of governance structures that overshadows the promotion of Lifelong learning policies in Greece:

• The basic divide between the responsibilities of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment

• The complementary structures for promoting adult education and continuing vocational training

• The essential role of European structural funds• The national and European interest to promote quality

management in education and training provisions

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2.1. Insights into LL policies in Germany

What kind of picture is provided by the PAPILL reports and examples from Germany:

• Country report covers a long history of educational reform attempts (1970s) and internal modernisation periods (1980s) up to German unification (1990s) and present-day policies

• Analyses of four Strategy documents give a picture of two developmental periods (2001-2005 and 2005-2009)

• Analyses of Pilot project cases and Exemplars for putting policy into practice portray a transition from disconnected educational initiatives to framework-driven pilot projects in different regional contexts

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2.2. Insights into LL policies in Greece

What kind of picture is provided by the PAPILL reports and examples from Greece:

• Country report focuses on the 2005 law on “Systematisation of lifelong learning”, on the shaping of new coordinating bodies and on the complementary measures

• Country report gives also a picture of the hitherto separate educational sub-systems and training provisions to be linked into ‘lifelong learning networks’

• Country report emphasises the effort to develop intagrative measures for quality assurance (quality registers)

• Pilot project cases illustrate diverse educational initiatives in different sub-systems and sub-structures

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2.3. Reflective commentary

What kind of materials and topics are provided for joint discussions and for mutual learning:

A. German contributions • Longer continuity of educational debates across different periods; • Fundamental difficulties with major structural reforms;

• Adjustment of change agendas into pilot projects and innovation

programmes in regional context.

B. Greek contributions• Recent grounding of reform initiatives and change agendas on the basis

of the law of the year 2005;• Difficulties in launching integrative innovations;• Major emphasis on shaping integrative frameworks for quality assurance

and quality development.

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3.1. The PAPILL mapping instrument as a tool for presenting the German developments

Use of the PAPILL mapping instrument to portray the following features of German lifelong learning strategies:

• Continuity and gradual transition between two periods of strategy work and the bridging innovation programmes (see DE-Mapping instrument Table 1)

• Coverage of life phases (target groups) and key measures (educational innovations) by early pilot projects (see Table 2)

• Coverage of diverse target groups and key measures in the Hamburg-Harburg umbrella project of the “Learning regions” programme (see Table 4)

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3.2. The PAPILL mapping instrument as a tool for presenting the Greek developments

Use of PAPILL mapping instrument to portray the following features of Greek Lifelong learning policies:

• Key measures proposed by the 2005 law and by the subsequent laws (Table 1)

• The adjustment of the ‘sectoral’ governance of education and training to lifelong learning policies (Table 2)

• The adjustment of quality assurance frameworks to common criteria (Table 3)

• The coverage of life phases and educational key measures by the given sample of pilot projects (Table 4)

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3.3. Perspectives for further work with European group picture

How to use the mapping instruments to get a wider European group picture on LL policies and practices:

• Trends and movements between different policy periods (Sisyphos at work? or Sisyphos making progress?)

• The role of national legislation & regulative measures vs. innovation programmes & local/regional initiatives as key instruments for promoting LL policies?

• The role of projects as internal educational piloting or as measures to promote interaction between learners and their social environment?

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Thank you for your attention!

Danke für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit!

Teşekkür ederim!

I am listening:

pkamar@uni-bremen.de