Trends Developments And Needs Of The Higher Education Systems Of The Central And Eastern European Countries

This annual summary of educational policies and practices worldwide includes discussion of multi-skills and flexibility, school-work links, qualifications, and education for skills versus education for status.

This book identifies neglected areas of research and indicates how research results can be integrated in secondary school curricula. It compares research findings and encourages cooperation in a field of particular interest.

In the context of political and economic transformation processes in Central and Eastern Europe a profound reform of the system of higher education and science has become necessary. The difficult legal and economic problems of an institutional-organisational reform of higher education and science are described in four comparative articles and seven case studies covering nine transformation countries. Im Rahmen des politischen und wirtschaftlichen Transformationsprozesses in den Übergangsstaaten Mittel- und Osteuropas ist auch eine tiefgreifende Reform des Hochschul- und Wissenschaftssystems notwendig geworden. In vier vergleichenden Überblicksartikeln und sieben Fallstudien für neun Staaten werden die schwierigen rechtlichen und wirtschaftlichen Probleme einer organisatorischen und inhaltlichen Umgestaltung dieser Systeme seit 1989/90 dargestellt.

This volume represents a clear attempt to learn something from the events in Eastern European countries. It does not start with simplistic or old assumptions based on convenient Western communication models, but instead takes a new approach. If chaos theory could fundamentally change how physicists looked at order in the universe, then it may be of value for communication scholars to attempt to understand the diversity of chaos or order in the human universe, rather than attempt to force existing models on it for their own explanatory purposes. This book is not merely based on the study of select groups of university students or on laboratory settings created in the minds of social scientists. It seeks to understand some of the "real world," including the historical backgrounds and the theoretical assumptions brought to studies of intercultural conflicts. Using personal and professional insights developed during firsthand contacts with existing situations, chapter authors illustrate some of the realities by using the complexity of changes in Eastern European states during the final decade of the 20th century. From education to business, from the role of women to the role of mass media, from the impact of political systems to the impact of history, communication between those who are culturally diverse, though they may have been arbitrarily forced to live under the same "political roof," is the theme of these scholarly studies. The editor's reason for developing this volume of original essays is his belief that diversity rather than assumed similarity or even sameness -- based on the use of inadequate terminology -- is necessary for learning from contemporary human experiences. He further believes that diversity and the significant roles of cultural values as well as of history need to become key concepts in the model with which to begin when it comes to the study of various aspects of intercultural communication. It is therefore vital that scholars who represent various points of view and backgrounds contribute to that process. After all, understanding what is happening in the world is centrally anchored in or related to effective and successful "intercultural" communication between scholars who have different academic and personal backgrounds.

Concerns about the quality of teaching and learning in higher education have given rise to teacher development programs and centers around the world. This book investigates the challenges and complexities of creating instructional development programs for present and future academics. Using case studies from a variety of countries including Estonia, Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom, it examines issues that are important for higher education researchers as well as higher education managers. The book includes international responses to the need to improve teaching in higher education. It demonstrates many different ways success may be understood, and investigates what factors may influence the results of instructional development. Contributors use these factors to explain program success through theoretical frameworks. This book also provides input for higher-education managers by pointing out how the local context and both institutional and national policy-making may help or hinder the effective preparation of professors for their teaching responsibilities.