The History Of European Cooperation In Education And Training

This publication examines the development of European co-operation in education and vocational training policy, focusing on five key time phases: the post-war period from 1948 to 68; the founding years of the European Community during 1969 to 1984; the years 1985 to 1992 which saw the development of major programmes such as Erasmus and the progress towards enshrining education policy in the Maastricht Treaty; the emergence of the knowledge-based society and lifelong learning during 1993 to 1999; and the period 2000 to 2005 where education and training has been placed at the centre of the EU's economic and social strategy for 2010.

Published in 1998, Education and training in the European Union is a policy area aiming to enable young people to experience the ‘reality of Europe’ through various forms of cooperation, including training periods in firms in other member states, university courses in the Community countries and exchanges. This book examines why the Community decided to take actions in the field of education and training, what the extent of this involvement is, and how the future may affect EU decisions on education and training. It argues that the logic of the EU involvement in education and training derives from both economic and political considerations; that the extent of this involvement has not so far been very significant but is growing; and that the pace of political integration will ultimately condition the Community’s competence in the field of education and training.

In the past seventy years, education and training have evolved from side issues of political cooperation to political priorities of the EU. For three decades within this period, they were promoted implicitly to enable the mobility of workers in the internal market. Later on, a European dimension of education and training has developed through mobility and cooperation programs and through the lifelong learning discourse. Today, a European policy space of education and training is unfolding, which the EU is coordinating by the means of soft governance arrangements.

This report covers almost two decades of European Community cooperation in education. Significant historical points are brought out, but the main focus is on what this cooperation means today, after so many years of activity and hard work. The report traces the efforts of the Member States of the European Community to gain a better understanding of the education systems in other Member nations. Initial and continuing training programs remain a major focus of Member efforts since economic growth and development depends on a knowledgeable work force. Reference is also made to Community actions in the field of youth policy and to Tempus, the program for higher education cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The report is divided into four sections: (1) "From the Initial Commitment to Today's Initiatives"; (2) "Developments and Areas of Action Since 1976"; (3) "Actors and Partners in Cooperation"; and (4) "Constructing the Future on the Foundation of Past Achievements and Wide-Ranging Consultations." The volume concludes with a list of 352 references, including the main legislative texts and documents which have formed the basis of the European Community's education, training, and youth actions and programs since 1976. (EH)

In early 1995 a series of seminars was held under the aegis of the Oxford Centre for Comparative Studies in Education, based in the Department of Educational Studies of the University of Oxford, on aspects of education and the European Union. The papers given at those seminars are collected together in this volume. They range from an overview of the legal position following the Maastricht Treaty, through an examination of what is meant by the 'European dimension' in education and a study of the curriculum in countries of the European Union, to analyses of faculty mobility and a case study of the Europeanisation of education in science and engineering.

This book tells the story of the European Movement’s mission to create—through education—a European spirit in order to secure the success of European integration. This book draws links between the crisis of solidarity experienced by the European Union today and the difficulties faced throughout European integration to develop a fully-fledged EU education policy. It makes the case that education has not been a stable mechanism for fostering spirit due to its national attachment to identity and nation-building. Without education, it has been difficult to foster the spirit needed to establish a strong citizen-wide sense of European solidarity to overcome the crises the EU faces today. Exploring the connection between education and solidarity through the notion of spirit, the book presents an interdisciplinary study that avoids the compartmentalisation of education studies, philosophy and political science to bring ideas together that shed fresh light on contemporary debates currently under the spotlight.