While the European Parliament is increasingly involved in EU governance, its role in policy developments in domains of strategic importance for the EU has not been the focus of many studies. In this article, we analyse a new digital dataset containing more than 10,000 speeches delivered in the European Parliament plenary between 1999 and 2014 and…

In the last few decades, in the wake of three major crises in political faith and the overall instability that followed the end of the Cultural Revolution, the post-Mao Chinese government has sought to improve the lives of its citizens and to restore political legitimacy through rapid economic growth that has focused almost exclusively on GDP.…

Beginning in the year 2000, higher education policies all over Europe were transformed by the launching and evolution of the Bologna Process, otherwise known as the process of creating a European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Initially, this process was flexible and informal, which makes the rapidity and scope of the changes it brought about…

The conceptual relationship of science policy and educational policy is examined and charted, and various models of this relationship are categorized. Policy goals are considered: national prestige, economic modernization, stabilization of economic development, socioecology, education consumer-hedonism, and external scientific development. (MSE)

Recent changes in the placement of teacher education within the structure of higher education in European countries, a result of reform movements, will have as its largest impact changes in the profession of teaching. The more qualified the teachers, the more they will behave like independent professionals. (MSE)

A discussion of environmental education in elementary, secondary, and higher education in Spain chronicles its history since 1970, the roles of public and private agencies in educational change, research initiatives, the effects of 1990 educational reforms, trends in facilities available for environmental education, program evaluation, and…

Greece was late to incorporate environmental education into its education system. Experience has been largely with experimental programs and some teacher education. A 1990 law mandates integration of environmental education into the curricula, and cooperation between governmental and nongovernmental agencies has begun. The complex and traditional…

The recent Savary Law is regressive and political in a time when the French university system is already overburdened by economic crisis, declining enrollments, recent government mandates favoring research over higher education, poor manpower and curriculum planning, and inappropriate facilities. (MSE)

Ireland's higher education system has recently experienced significant growth and organizational change, accompanied by decreased institutional autonomy. However, a trend favoring investment in technological education has prompted concern among traditional institutions, which may persist as long as two authorities rather than one control the…

The public agencies and individuals influencing British educational policy and some weaknesses of this system are examined with reference to educational technology. Characteristics of the government agency established to recommend policy for use of educational technology are outlined, and some perspectives are given on future development.…

A review of the state of computer use in education includes elementary and secondary education, teacher training, the computer and publishing industries' responses, higher education, home computer use, state and federal policies and programs, current federal projects and trends, and computer use in education as part of a larger social context.…

Explores quality-assurance mechanisms for higher education and their use as a government policy instrument. Outlines several national or system-level approaches adopted worldwide; reviews an Australian quality-assurance program conducted from 1993 to 1995 and its successor program; and comments on ways in which the government used quality…

Discusses changes implemented in Italian higher education during the last 10 years to bring it into line with other European systems. Main changes included the introduction of short-cycle courses, changes in the mechanism related to public financing of universities, greater pedagogical self-regulation, and establishment of a system of periodical…

Examines the "evaluative state" that is, public management-based evaluation systems--in the context of experiences in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and suggests that further research is needed to examine problems in the evaluative state itself, in how market competition impacts upon it, and how academic oligarchies influence the…

This article proposes that in France, following recent rapid expansion in access to education, new interest has developed in the relationship between higher education and employment. The impact of this concern on the structures of higher education and the flow of graduates is examined, and the situation of graduates in the labor market, currently…