Thematic Cluster meeting "Erasmus contribution to the Bologna priority action lines"

1
Thematic Cluster meeting"Erasmus contribution to
the Bologna priority action lines"

• Workshop 1
• Employability via competences and
• curricular innovation in Erasmus
• centralised projects

Presentation Paul Fenton Funeral Services Master
Business Administration 2007-2009
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Workshop 1Employability via competences and
curricular innovation in Erasmus centralised
projects

• Approach
• 1. Terminology Cluster
• 2. Address Questions (How to Identify and Share
  Experiences) in 3 Main Areas
• Anticipating Skills and Competences
• Curriculum Development as a Response
• Dialogue between HEIs and Employers as an
  Underlying Success Factor
• 3. Food for Thought

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Terminology

• Cluster
• Cluster a number of like things growing
  together a number of similar things collected
  together a rounded mass a clot or clutter a
  body of people collected together a crowd
  group.
• Examples cluster of apples, 1400 of bees, 1609
  of blood, 1548 of churches of feelings, 1855
  of grapes, 1486 of jewels, 1712 of memories,
  1884 of nuts, 1483 of stars, 1854 of
  Galaxies.

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Address Questions in 3 Main Areas
Overview
The MBA is sponsored by the University of
Barcelona (Spain) and the EFFS. Funeral Services
of Barcelona, S.A.(Spain) Bundesverband Deutscher
Bestatter e.V. (Germany) French Confederation for
Funeral Services Professionals (France) Italian
National Federation of Funeral Directors
(Italy) The British Institute of Embalmers
(United Kingdom)
Open to university graduates and funeral service
professionals alike, the MBA in the Management of
Funeral Services is an 800 hour European course
comprised of 6 modules, blending on-line
education and training with face-to-face and
practical sessions in 5 countries, including a
virtual Business Game. Its content has been
developed with the support of the Erasmus
Lifelong Learning Programme of the European
Union. The six modules include Strategy and
Economics in Funeral Services Firms Commercial
Distribution, Marketing and Communication Human
Resource Management and Management Skills
Specific Characteristics of the Funeral Sector
Business Game and Dissertation.
http//www.fusemba.com
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Address Questions in 3 Main Areas
Overview How is FUSEMBA Partnership Tackling 3
Issues?
Diversified know-how and knowledge among the
partnership specialization approach.
Harmonize criteria for quality and customer
service partnership is raising awareness among
national associations and European stakeholders
about European-wide marketplace issues and
opportunities. Added value of partnering with
larger bodies (the EFFS and National Associations
and Committee of Cemeteries and Cremation Working
Committee, Committee of International
Transportation ) enables partnership to forge
solid relations with social partners. For the
university, IL3-UB the MBA can be linked to
other HEI offers in health, pharmacy, and culture
and society.
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Address Questions in 3 Main Areas
Overview Contributions to Policy, Impact Across
3 Issues
Lisbon Key Competences contributing to the
partners and participants entrepreneurial
know-how and skills base so that they can manage
the liberalisation of the sector, new
developments in legislation and adapt to
cultural, societal changes. Operational and
Specific Objectives improve the quality and to
increase the volume of cooperation between higher
education and Institutions and enterprises
blended learning solutions for employers and
employees enterprise-academic cooperation (5
countries) integration of academic-sector
specific know-how and knowledge Lifelong
Learning Programmes 2007 priorities transfer
innovations from vocational education training
(VET) to the academic domain of higher education
(HE) and vice-versa vocational training
solutions based on higher education standards
(on-line methodological and resource development.
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Address Questions in 3 Main Areas
But To Go Deeper

• During Discussion on Issues
• To Yes/No questions answers that justify why
  and why not .
• To How questions answers that specify steps,
  actors involved
• To Can you give questions answers that specify
  how you give
• 
  examples, evidence
• To Success factors/pitfalls questions answers
  that specify the good,
• 
  bad and the ugly

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Address Questions in 3 Main Areas
QUESTION Anticipating Skills and Competences ANSWERS/ RESULT (S) AND EVIDENCE / TYPE EXPERIENCE / COMMENTS
A. Is the assessment of future skills needs integrated in your project's work plan? If so, how? How will you take into account the different situation of Member States? Is the composition of your consortium organised to reflect this? ANSWER Yes. Assessment carried out through the European-wide association (EFFS). The 4 core partners, plus silent partner in UK, take into account the future skills needs for the sector in Europe. How Dialogue with EFFS Education and Training Committee (27 countries) RESULT/EVIDENCE MBA Course Design TYPE European Co-operation transnational sharing of practice Experiences good practice and individual/collective skills and knowledge Methods knowledge, methodologies... Bringing closer together HEI and vocational education can meet skills needs in sectors excluded from post-graduate offers.
From Valorisation typology of
results Products reports, studies modules,
handbooks, curricula, qualifications, online
education and training, events Methods
knowledge, cooperation processes, methodologies,
managerial lessons, exchange of
ideas Experiences management of transnational
partnerships, personal experience good practice
individual skills and knowledge Policy Lessons
overall experience applied more widely at
systems level European Co-operation European
partnerships transnational sharing of practices
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Address Questions in 3 Main Areas
QUESTION Curriculum Development as a Response ANSWERS/ RESULT (S) AND EVIDENCE / TYPE EXPERIENCE / COMMENTS
B. Involving employers in designing curricula and curriculum innovation based on learning outcomes is generally identified as a relevant response to the skills mismatch, either a current or a prospective one. Does your project envisage including this sort of collaboration? What are the success factors and possible pitfalls? ANSWER Yes. The partnership itself has recommended the curricula based on European-wide sectors current and forecasted skills needs. Success factors include continued EFFS support expanded national sponsorship to subsidize students who work (for travel and time) ongoing improvement of MBA RESULT/EVIDENCE MBA Course Content (on-line and face-to-face) TYPE Products Modules on-line education and training events (face-to-face sessions) Methods- knowledge, methodologies... European Co-operation - transnational sharing of practice The writing of learning outcomes is still a new phenomenon for content experts at university level. EFFS national associations need a modernized reward system (both from private and public sector) Possible Pitfalls Need of international university or vocational educational recognition
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Address Questions in 3 Main Areas
QUESTION Dialogue between HEIs and Employers as an Underlying Success Factor ANSWERS/ RESULT (S) AND EVIDENCE / TYPE EXPERIENCE / COMMENTS
C. It seems to be logical that such a dialogue needs to take on board the views of students to ensure that their concerns and needs are captured. What is the experience gained within your project? ANSWER Project is proposing that each student submit short answers, for virtual publication, on questions based on personal and professional issues. RESULT/EVIDENCE Stories from the Field web publication TYPE Experiences personal experiences Students can be motivated by social networking and virtual visibility. Word-of-mouth promotion to peers can be achieved. Companies (and local/regional industry) can get promotion, too.
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Food for Thought
The problematic situation the Supply
The effect of following academically prestigious
programs is related to both functions they
produce better graduates, but they also serve as
a signal to future employers, thus helping to
have a smooth transition and enter elite
positions. Vocational oriented programs are good
in developing professional expertise and are very
strong in providing a good basis to enter the
labour market and develop the career
(specifically in the mass specialist positions).

• .two main orientations in higher
  education, i.e. the more vocational orientation
  or the more academic orientation.
• . each have their own distinct value in
  preparing graduates for the labour market.
• .. the stronger study programs in higher
  education are in either one of these
  orientations, the more successful they are.

From The Flexible Professional in the
Knowledge Society General Results of the REFLEX
Project
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Food for Thought
The problematic situation the Demand

• Subjective indicators of success, ten
  work-related values that distinguished three
  types of work orientations career and status
  orientation professional/innovative orientation
  social orientation
• 1 Work autonomy
• 2 Job security
• 3 Learn new things
• 4 High earnings
• 5 New challenges
• 6 Good career prospects
• 7 Leisure activities
• 8 Social status
• 9 Useful for society
• 10 Combine work with family

Market Demands
Professional expertise Functional flexibility
Innovation and knowledge management
Mobilisation of human resources International
orientation
From The Flexible Professional in the Knowledge
Society General Results of the REFLEX Project
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Food for Thought

• Good Fit vs Mismatch Outcomes
• Employed with relevant work (no mismatch).
• Horizontally mismatched, that is working in a job
  matching ones own level but not ones own field
  of education.
• Vertically mismatched, that is working in a job
  matching ones own field but not ones own level
  of education.
• Both vertically and horizontally mismatched (taxi
  driver with a doctorate in Middle Ages studies)
• Unemployed

From The Flexible Professional in the Knowledge
Society General Results of the REFLEX Project
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Food for Thought

• those educated in Computing, Engineering, Health
  and welfare and Education have the best match
• but Humanities, Social science (except Law
  and Business and management) and Services least
  favourable
• Being graduated from an academically
  prestigious study programme reduces the risk of
  being vertically mismatched or both vertically
  and horizontally mismatched, whereas a vocational
  oriented study mainly reduces the risk of being
  horizontally or both horizontally and vertically
  mismatched.

NOTE Spain is at the bottom of good fit ranking
somethings not working right
in parallel, its where
Bologna Process is most polemical
From The Flexible Professional in the Knowledge
Society General Results of the REFLEX Project
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Food for Thought
What Not Right with this Picture?

• When asked if professional associations and
  employers are involved in the design of
  curricula, 29 responded that there is close
  involvement.
• ..The Trends V questionnaire also asks
  institutions about their expectations for student
  choices after the first cycle degree. Here, only
  22 report that most will enter the labour
  market.

Trends V Universities shaping the European
Higher Education Area AN EUA REPORT
http//www.eua.be/fileadmin/user_upload/files/Pub
lications/Final_Trends_Report__May_10.pdf
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Food for Thought

• Key issue
• Although the momentum of reform has clearly
  been gaining pace as the Bologna process
  advances, the greatest challenge is to
  communicate far more broadly the nature of these
  structural and curricular reforms. Without
  attention to this societal dialogue - involving
  institutions, public authorities, employers and
  citizen - the impact of the reforms risks being
  diminished, and qualifications misunderstood.

Trends V Universities shaping the European
Higher Education Area AN EUA REPORT
http//www.eua.be/fileadmin/user_upload/files/Pub
lications/Final_Trends_Report__May_10.pdf
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Food for Thought

• Key Words communicate, impact

Communication Challenges Context/Culture Timing U
ser-friendliness and usefulness of
information Information Overload
IMPACT?
Value of Input X Identifying and
Reaching Proper Targets X
Receptiveness of Targets
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Food for Thought

• Regards Employability and your projects work and
  results on subject specific and generic
  transferable skills and competences and
  curricular innovation
• Based on workshops three issues
• 1. Anticipating Skills and Competencies
• 2. Curriculum Development as a Response
• 3. Dialogue between HEIs and Employers as an
  Underlying Success Factor

How can/does your project contribute to these
discussions via its
actions and results?
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For More Information

• Thank you
• Paul Fenton
• FUSEMBA
• http//www.fusemba.com
• pfenton_at_terra.es