Governing in the shadow of Bologna: return of the state in higher education quality assurance policy

Europeanization in VET Policy as a Process of Reshaping the Educational Space

“…It has been argued that Estonia, like many other new member states and postsocialist countries, has been more receptive to EU education policy goals and tools (Raudsepp, 2010), and tends to accept EU norms and policy goals less critically, without lengthy discussion (Toots and Kalev, 2015;Toots and Loogma, 2015) than older members, who already have a well-established institutional setup/structure for their VET governance. In the case of transition countries, which have undergone systemic regime change, at least two factors can contribute to this kind of conformist orientation.…”

“…The process of Europeanization in Estonian VET policy has emerged from random interventions from foreign aid packages and horizontal learning from best practices of other countries, after Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then, it has developed via the Copenhagen process, into a multilevel VET governance system, where EU and domestic policies are interwoven (Toots and Kalev, 2015). EU policy goals, principles, guidelines and instruments/tools, such as creating a common VET space through the implementation of EQF, developing common quality standards, recognition of prior learning among others, have played a crucial role in reforming VET, and thereby, remaking the VET space.…”

“…In this paper, however, Europeanization is understood as the process of how member states adopt EU rules and implement EU policy. (Toots and Kalev, 2015). In other words, the process whereby domestic policy actors utilize objectives and principles adopted at the European level in national policy making (ibid).…”

“…The EU has become an important actor in the sphere of educational governance and an important arena for policy learning and transfer (e.g. Bulmer et al, 2007;Toots and Kalev, 2015). For Estonian VET, the EU strategy toward a uniform, transparent vocational educational space, set by the Copenhagen Declaration, provided the impetus for the intense Europeanization of Estonian VET policy.…”

Hayek and the Red Tape: The Politics of Evaluation and Quality Assurance Reform – From Shortcut Governing to Policy Rerouting

“…This EQA framework produced a more thorough implementation and enforcement of international and national rules and policies as well as a common set of learning outcomes that became a cohesive and obligatory reference for planning, teaching, and examination in HEIs. In this sense, it appears to have implied less autonomy, rather than the opposite (see also Toots and Kalev 2016).…”