UNLV Theses/Dissertations/Professional Papers/Capstones 1-1-2009 Quality assurance policies in the European Higher Education Area: A comparative case study Joanna Maria Jezierska University of Nevada Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Higher Education and Teaching Commons Repository Citation Jezierska, Joanna Maria, "Quality assurance policies in the European Higher Education Area: A comparative case study" (2009). UNLV Theses/Dissertations/Professional Papers/Capstones. Paper 460. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Scholarship@UNLV. It has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses/ Dissertations/Professional Papers/Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. QUALITY ASSURANCE POLICIES IN THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION AREA: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY by Joanna Maria Jezierska Bachelor of Arts College of International Business and Foreign Languages Warsaw, Poland 1983 Master of Arts Pedagogical University ‘J. Kochanowski’ Kielce, Poland 1989 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Higher Education Leadership Department of Educational Leadership College of Education Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 2009 Copyright by Joanna Maria Jezierska 2010 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend that the dissertation prepared under our supervision by Joanna Maria Jezierska entitled Quality Assurance Policies in the European Higher Education Area: A Comparative Case Study be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Educational Leadership Bob Ackerman, Committee Member Gerald Kops, Committee Member Vicki Rosser, Committee Member LeAnn Putney, Graduate Faculty Representative Ronald Smith, Ph. D., Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate College December 2009 ABSTRACT Quality Assurance Policies in the European Higher Education Area: A Comparative Case Study by Joanna Maria Jezierska Dr. Robert Ackerman, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor of Educational Leadership University of Nevada, Las Vegas European tertiary education became an important topic of the main leaders of the world academia a decade ago, when 29 European countries voluntarily signed the Bologna Declaration of 1999. This intergovernmental European initiative of educational reform, known as the Bologna Process, defines a common framework for higher education systems, and encourages the development of quality assurance within and between institutions of higher education. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the implementation process of quality assurance policy, The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, in two European countries: the United Kingdom and Poland, including the quality assurance policy adaptation process on national level, modifications, and its impact on changes in national education systems and institutions in both countries. The institutional quality assurance policies of the University of Cambridge and Uniwersytet Jagieloński were evaluated and discussed here as well. iii This qualitative research followed a single comparative case study design with embedded multiple units of analysis guided by Fischer’s theoretical framework for policy evaluation. The researcher presented a detailed quality assurance policies’ analysis by utilizing event mapping, content analysis, and modified for this study, the Complementary Analysis Research Method Application (CARMA) as the data instruments. By examining and comparing the quality assurance policies, and their implementation processes, the researcher provided a broad perspective of different approaches to educational reform in European countries, their obstacles and successful initiatives. The study unfolded a picture of a regular, secure, and momentarily resistant approach in the UK, as one of the initiators of the reform, compared to Polish fast paced movement, as a participant, towards the European Higher Education Area. Despite diverse approach and progress made in each examined case, both countries still demonstrate a need for more proceedings and changes, especially on a national level. By evaluating the aforementioned policies in further detail, the quality assurance’s significance was emphasized as a link that connects all remaining objectives of the Bologna Process, and set the background to harmonize diverse education systems in institutions of higher education in Europe, and, what has been already explored, in other countries world-wide. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……. .............................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... viii LIST OF ACRONYMS ...................................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 Background ........................................................................................... 4 Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Europe ............................... 4 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................... 6 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................... 9 Research Questions ............................................................................. 11 Definitions of Terms …………………………………...……………11 Limitations .......................................................................................... 15 Significance of the Study .................................................................... 15 Summary ............................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER TWO SETTING THE CONTEXT ................................................................ 17 Forces that Brought Europe and the European Higher Education Together .............................................................................................. 17 European Integration ........................................................................... 17 The European Union ........................................................................... 19 Internationalization, Europeanization, and Globalization of Higher Education ............................................................................................ 22 Discussion on Educational Reforms in Higher Education in Europe . 23 Discussion on the Bologna Process .................................................... 24 The Bologna Process of 1999 ............................................................. 25 The Bologna Declaration’s Principles ................................................ 40 Accreditation and Quality Assurance Issues in the Bologna Process . 41 Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area .............. 44 Three Levels of Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education ............................................................................................................. 47 Accreditation Process on National Level in the European Higher Education Area .................................................................................... 51 Higher Education in the United Kingdom History ............................. 55 Steps in the Implementation of the Bologna Declaration’s Principles in England ............................................................................................... 68 University of Cambridge ..................................................................... 82 History................................................................................................. 82 University of Cambridge Today ......................................................... 83 v Higher Education in Poland History ................................................... 85 Current Tertiary Education System in Poland .................................... 88 Expansion ............................................................................................ 89 Steps in the Implementation of the Bologna Declaration’s Principles in Poland ............................................................................................... 100 Uniwersytet Jagieloński History ....................................................... 112 Current University ............................................................................ 114 CHAPTER THREE METHOD AND ANALYTIC PROCESS ..................................... 119 Part One - Method ............................................................................. 120 Theoretical Framework …………………………………………….120 Research Questions ………………………………………………...124 Research Design …………………………………………………....125 Case Study Method ……………………………………………..….128 Identification of Cases Selection of Institutions ............................... 129 Data Sources and Collection Procedures .......................................... 130 Data Analysis ...................................................................................