High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education: Improving the quality of teaching and learning in Europe's higher education institutions

Europe has a long, strong and proud tradition of what we now call ‘higher’ education. It has deep roots beginning in the sixth century monastic schools, later developing into the medieval European University beginning in Bologna in 1088 and evolving into the modern higher education system of the present day. The biggest change over time has been access, for, until the 20th century, university education catered for tiny elites. The 19th century university saw the model cater for a system in which…

Europe has a long, strong and proud tradition of what we now call ‘higher’ education. It has deep roots beginning in the sixth century monastic schools, later developing into the medieval European University beginning in Bologna in 1088 and evolving into the modern higher education system of the present day. The biggest change over time has been access, for, until the 20th century, university education catered for tiny elites. The 19th century university saw the model cater for a system in which perhaps 2 % of the population entered university. The European Union (EU) has as its stated ambition the goal of 40 % of all young people having graduated from higher education by 2020. Already today, in some European countries, over 50 % of young people progress to and through higher education, from a diversity of cultural, social and economic backgrounds. However, the ambition to greatly increase the numbers who enter and complete higher education only makes sense if it is accompanied by a visible determination to ensure that the teaching and learning experienced in higher education is the best it can possibly be. Given the pressure to use scarce resources effectively when many higher education institutions face significant underfunding, and in the light of a continuously diversifying higher education landscape, with the evolution of applied science institutions, research universities, Bachelor of Arts colleges, and higher education institutions actively involved in lifelong learning, this imperative becomes ever more urgent. Our focus, therefore, is on the quality of teaching and learning for those who enter or who hope to enter higher education in the future. While widening and enhancing access to educational opportunity across the EU is essential, it is also crucial that European students have access to the best possible higher education learning environment. High quality teaching is the lynchpin of that. There are many inspirational exemplars of sustained and proven excellence in teaching. Regrettably they are not yet the norm and we find worrying systemic weaknesses in the sector that are maintaining experiential disparities are just plain wasteful and should no longer be regarded as acceptable. The essential challenge for the higher education sector, generally speaking, is to comprehensively professionalise its teaching cohort as teachers.