The shift to learning outcomes: policies and practices in Europe

Citation

(2009), "The shift to learning outcomes: policies and practices in Europe", Education + Training, Vol. 51 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2009.00451cab.002

The shift to learning outcomes: policies and practices in Europe

Article Type: Research news From: Education + Training, Volume 51, Issue 3

CEDEFOP have published the results of a study addressing the shift from learning based on inputs towards learning based on outcomes. This study demonstrates that European governments and stakeholders have become increasingly convinced that learning based uniquely on input will not respond adequately to future challenges for individuals, society or the economy. The trend is to rely, increasingly, on the identification of learning outcomes. This trend is recognised as critical in many different contexts across education and training systems.

According to the research the environment in which learning outcomes approaches are now occupying an increasingly prominent position “is the shift in European education and training systems towards lifelong learning frameworks. This gives learning outcomes a pivotal position in the redefinition of qualifications and the curriculum in VET, general and higher education.” The report’s Executive Summary notes:

In key respects, learning outcomes form part of an innovative approach to teaching and learning, which some commentators have identified as an integral part of a new learning paradigm. There is a growing and dynamic role for learning outcomes in education and training reform, always in conjunction with other factors. They are a tool that provides a guiding focus. Whether at the level of policy development or implementation, most European countries are planning or making a marked shift in this direction.

The report suggests that “Learning Outcomes” are best understood as a collection of useful processes and tools that can be applied in diverse ways in different policy, teaching and learning settings. It follows that there is no single correct or apt way of approaching them. The term can have a range of connotations and denotations, precisely because it is used in different contexts. The evidence contained in the report strongly suggests the need to be sensitive to the particular context in which learning outcomes are brought into use. Notably, learning outcomes are also required to perform multiple functions in national education and training systems in Europe, in recognition of prior learning, the awarding of credit, quality, learning plans, key competences for life, credibility for employers, etc., as well as modernising the governance of education and training as systems are reformed to encompass lifelong learning.

The report concludes that across Europe, the post-compulsory phase of general education is the phase of the education system that has been least influenced by reforming ideas about learning outcomes. If they begin to have a formative impact on university curricula and pedagogies, this may in due course have a consequential effect on the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in upper secondary general education.

The full report is available at: www.cedefop.europa.eu/etv/Upload/Information_resources/Bookshop/525/3054_en.pdf