doktorska disertacija
Maruša Komotar (Author), Pavel Zgaga (Mentor)

Abstract

V doktorski disertaciji obravnavam internacionalizacijo in zagotavljanje kakovosti, ki veljata za trenda, ki v 21. stoletju po vsem svetu usmerjata visokošolski razvoj. Čeprav ne gre za povsem sodobna fenomena, se je v Evropi njun razvoj okrepil v zadnjih dveh desetletjih preteklega stoletja, ko se je visokošolsko izobraževanje ponekod že soočalo s korenito transformacijo. Z bolonjskim procesom sta oba trenda postala osrednjega pomena za nadaljnji razvoj evropskega visokošolskega prostora (EVP), saj so se države podpisnice Bolonjske deklaracije (1999) zavezale k spodbujanju mobilnosti kot temeljne dejavnosti internacionalizacije ter razvoju zunanjih in notranjih sistemov zagotavljanja kakovosti v skladu s prevladujočimi smernicami na mednarodni ravni. S tem se je obenem povečala tudi potreba po spremljanju razvoja visokega šolstva v različnih državah članicah bolonjskega procesa, npr. v Sloveniji in na Nizozemskem, ki sta le redko v središču zanimanja primerjalnih raziskovalcev visokega šolstva. Po eni strani naj bi namreč z mednarodnimi zavezami skladen razvoj med različnimi visokošolskimi sistemi krepil harmonizacijo, po drugi strani pa naj bi bil nastajajoči evropski prostor visokošolskega izobraževanja bolj retorika kot stvarnost. Večjo pozornost se je zato začelo namenjati tudi preučevanju različnih dihotomij, med katerimi prav gotovo izstopa tista o zbliževanju in raznolikosti. Čeprav se je v zadnjem desetletju in pol na evropskih tleh okrepil tudi razvoj pobud v okviru zagotavljanja kakovosti internacionalizacije ter internacionalizacije zagotavljanja kakovosti, se večina potekajočih razprav še vedno osredinja na ločeno obravnavo obeh naslovnih konceptov. V pričujočem delu zato zapolnjujem nastalo praznino z osrednjim raziskovalnim vprašanjem, ki se glasi: Kako (lahko) danes, ko se EVP gradi že več kot poldrugo desetletje, razumemo povezavo med internacionalizacijo in zagotavljanjem kakovosti visokega šolstva v Evropi nasploh in v dveh izpostavljenih državah posebej? Tako je namreč moč premostiti različne konceptualne, razvojne, metodološke, teoretske in primerjalne vrzeli, ki se kljub aktualnosti izbrane teme raziskave še vedno pojavljajo v večini obstoječih visokošolskih razprav. V prvem, konceptualnem delu raziskave, ki predstavlja izhodišče za ustrezno razumevanje nadaljnjih poglavij, iščem prevladujoča razumevanja, kaj oba naslovna koncepta pravzaprav pomenita. V drugem delu analiziram razvoj internacionalizacije in sistemov zagotavljanja kakovosti pred bolonjskim procesom in po vključitvi vanj, preučujem pa tudi različne pobude, namenjene zagotavljanju kakovosti v internacionalizaciji ter internacionalizaciji v zagotavljanju kakovosti. Tako razširjam naslovno temo in obenem ponazarjam razloge, zakaj vključujem izbrana koncepta znotraj ene in ne dveh ločenih študij. V tretjem delu predstavljam teoretsko in metodološko zasnovo raziskave, v okviru katere najprej združujem teoretske postavke institucionalnega izomorfizma kot ene izmed bolj uveljavljenih različic sociološkega institucionalizma ter hevristike glonakalnega agenta, kar omogoča podrobnejšo preučitev vprašanja, ali oziroma zakaj se v procesih internacionalizacije in zagotavljanja kakovosti visokega šolstva krepi trend zbliževanja in/ali ohranja raznolikost. Teoretsko razpravo dopolnjujem z vprašanjem metodologije primerjalnih študij, kjer izpostavljam potrebo po uporabi večdimenzionalnega metodološkega okvirja, s katerim je moč preseči omejenost na nacionalno razsežnost kot osnovno enoto analize. V četrtem, primerjalnem delu raziskave pa umeščam ugotovitve predhodnih poglavij v kontekst Slovenije in Nizozemske in tako prispevam manjkajoče odgovore na vprašanja o podobnostih in razlikah, značilnih za preučevanje naslovnih področij znotraj specifičnih visokošolskih kontekstov. V petem, zaključnem delu raziskave pa odgovarjam na glavna raziskovalna vprašanja in s tem na osrednji raziskovalni problem, reflektiram pa tudi glavne prispevke pričujoče raziskave in predlagam nekatere možnosti za prihodnjo obravnavo naslovnih področij raziskave. Osrednji del raziskave temelji na analizi dokumentarnih virov (tj. teoretska literatura; institucionalni, nacionalni in nadnacionalni strateški dokumenti; nacionalne in mednarodne študije), ki jo dopolnjujem z analizo pridobljenih statističnih podatkov, v primerjalnem delu raziskave pa tudi z izsledki polstrukturiranih intervjujev. Z izborom Slovenije in Nizozemske zapolnjujem raziskovalno praznino, nastalo na področju primerjalnih študij visokega šolstva, ki se še vedno prednostno posvečajo obravnavi zahodnih visokošolskih kontekstov. S priznavanjem medsebojne odvisnosti med naslovnima konceptoma v raziskavi povečujem tudi njuno konceptualno razumljivost, s tem pa odpiram nove možnosti za njuno obravnavo. S kritično izpostavitvijo omejitev teoretskih in metodoloških zasnov, ki jemljejo nacionalno razsežnost kot osnovno enoto analize, pa ponujam tudi enega izmed alternativnih pogledov na raziskovanje visokega šolstva. Na podlagi sprejetih ugotovitev raziskave utemeljujem, da je treba internacionalizacijo in zagotavljanje kakovosti razumeti kot dinamična procesa, ki s priznavanjem specifičnih nacionalnih, institucionalnih, disciplinarnih in individualnih okolij, v katera je vpet njun razvoj, prispevata k izboljšanju kakovosti visokega šolstva. Čeprav je bolonjski proces med različnimi visokošolskimi sistemi iz območja EVP okrepil primerljivost, združljivost in s tem njihovo medsebojno konvergenco, je treba nacionalne in institucionalne odzive na nadnacionalno zastavljene zaveze po razvoju obeh naslovnih konceptov obenem razumeti kot plod precej raznolikih sprememb, ki jih s svojim delovanjem sprožajo prevladujoči nacionalni (politični) organi. Z obravnavo razvoja internacionalizacije in sistemov zagotavljanja kakovosti v slovenskem in nizozemskem visokošolskem prostoru se je namreč potrdilo, da se ta razlikuje od primera do primera, saj je odvisen od specifičnih interesov in stališč številnih akterjev, ki ustvarjajo prostor evropskega visokošolskega izobraževanja, v katerem zbliževanje evropskih sistemov visokega šolstva ni (več) edini cilj bolonjskega procesa.

Keywords

internacionalizacija;zagotavljanje kakovosti;bolonjski proces;zbliževanje;raznolikost;institucionalni izomorfizem;hevristika glonakalnega agenta;Slovenija;Nizozemska;visoko šolstvo;

Data

Language: Slovenian
Year of publishing:
Typology: 2.08 - Doctoral Dissertation
Organization: UL PEF - Faculty of Education
Publisher: [M. Hauptman Komotar]
UDC: 378(043.2)
COBISS: 12071753 Link will open in a new window
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Downloads: 183
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Other data

Secondary language: English
Secondary title: Internationalisation and quality assurance in higher education in Slovenia and the Netherlands
Secondary abstract: Doctoral dissertation deals with internationalisation and quality assurance which are considered as trends that guide the development of higher education in the 21st century all over the world. Although they are not entirely contemporary phenomena, their development was intensified in Europe over the last two decades of the past century, when higher education was facing a profound transformation. With the Bologna Process, they have become two key areas of development of European Higher Education Area (EHEA), since signatory countries of the Bologna Declaration (1999) committed themselves to promote mobility as a core activity of internationalisation and develop external and internal quality assurance systems in accordance with the prevailing guidelines which were accepted at international level. At the same time, the need to monitor higher education development in various Bologna Process member countries has also intensified, for example, in Slovenia and the Netherlands which are rarely in the focus of interest of comparative researchers of higher education. While on the one hand, the development of higher education systems in accordance with supranational commitments is supposed to strengthen harmonisation, on the other hand, the emerging EHEA is seen more as rhetoric than a reality. As a result, more attention is given to the study of various dichotomies, among which the convergence and diversity dichotomy undoubtedly stands out from the crowd. Although during the last decade and a half, the development of initiatives in the field of quality assurance of internationalisation and internationalisation of quality assurance also intensified in Europe, most of the ongoing discussions still separately examine both selected areas of research. Therefore, I fill in the created void with the central research question, worded as: today, when EHEA is being built for more than a decade and a half, how (can) we understand the link between internationalisation and quality assurance of higher education in Europe in general and in two selected countries separately. In this way, it is possible to bridge various conceptual, developmental, methodological, theoretical and comparative gaps that despite the actuality of the selected topic of research still appear in most of the current academic debates. In the first, conceptual part of research which serves as a starting point for reasonable understanding of further chapters, I look at the prevailing meanings of internationalisation and quality assurance in higher education and I demonstrate what both concepts actually mean. In the second part, I focus not only on the analysis of development of internationalisation and quality assurance systems before and after the Bologna Process but also on various initiatives in the field of quality assurance of internationalisation and internationalisation of quality assurance. In this way, I expand the main topic of research and provide reasons, why to include the selected concepts within one and not two separate studies. In the third part, I present the theoretical and methodological design of the study, in which I combine the concept of institutional isomorphism – one of the well-known versions of sociological institutionalism, and the glonacal agency heuristic. This allows me to examine in more detail, why in the processes of internationalisation and quality assurance in higher education, the trend of convergence is strengthening and/or diversity is preserving. Theoretical debate is followed by discussion on the methodology of comparative studies in which I emphasise the need to introduce a multidimensional methodological framework which can exceed the limits of using national dimension as the basic unit of analysis. In the fourth, comparative part of research, I place the findings of the previous chapters in the context of Slovenia and the Netherlands and thereby, I provide the missing answers to the questions about similarities and differences, distinctive for the study of main fields of research within specific higher education contexts. In the final or the fifth part of research, I answer the main research questions and thus the main research problem, while after that, I also reflect on the main contributions of research and propose some future possibilities for examining the main fields of research. The central part of the research is based on the analysis of documentary sources (i. e., theoretical literature; institutional, national and international strategic documents; international studies) and is complemented with the analysis of existing statistical data and in the comparative part of research, also with the findings of semi-structured interviews. By selecting Slovenia and the Netherlands, I fill in the research gap, typical for comparative studies in the field of higher education, which continue to focus on higher education contexts from Western (European) countries. By recognising the interdependence among the two core concepts, I also strengthen their conceptual understanding and I open up new possibilities for their interpretation. Moreover, I also offer an alternative view on research of higher education by critically exposing the limits of theoretical and methodological designs that consider the national dimension as the key unit of analysis. Based on the findings of research, I argue that internationalisation and quality assurance should be considered as dynamic processes, which can improve the quality of higher education by recognising specific national, institutional, disciplinary and individual environments in which their development is embedded. Although the Bologna Process has enhanced comparability and compatibility and hence the mutual convergence of various higher education systems in all EHEA countries, at the same time, national and institutional responses to supranational commitments on their development should also be seen as a result of many varied changes, brought by the dominant national (political) authorities. By analysing internationalisation and quality assurance systems in Slovenian and Dutch higher education, I could confirm that their development differs from case to case, as it depends on specific interests and attitudes of various authorities that create the space of European higher education, in which the convergence of European higher education systems is not (anymore) the only goal of the Bologna Process.
Secondary keywords: higher education;visokošolsko izobraževanje;
File type: application/pdf
Type (COBISS): Doctoral dissertation
Thesis comment: Univ. v Ljubljani, Pedagoška fak.
Pages: XVIII, 317 str.
ID: 10950714