“Academics and students are ready to create a stimulating learning environment,” says EI Deputy General Secretary, Monique Fouilhoux, ”but are higher education institutions ready to provide the necessary support?”
Earlier in April 2009, European education ministers proclaimed in Leuven, Belgium, that “student-centred learning requires empowering individual learners, new approaches to teaching and learning, effective support and guidance structures”.
One and a half years later, students, higher education staff and the Flemish Education Minister Pascal Smet return to the city to check whether it has become a reality.
“There is still a wide gap between actual needs and the current funding level. But to make our proposals more feasible for both education and finance ministers, we have created a toolkit which also includes measures that do not cost money,” says Bert Vandenkendelaere, Chairperson of the European Students’ Union.
The student-centred learning toolkit will be officially launched at Leuven’s Museum ‘M’ on 14 October by EI and ESU. In addition to Smet, the Rector of the Catholic University of Leuven Mark Waer and Leuven’s Mayor Louis Tobback will also be present at the launch.
Aimed at staff, students and higher education institutions, the toolkit offers advice on the principles and definition of the concept as well as its practical implementation by academics and institutions. Co-written by a team of experts from both EI and ESU, the tool is the result of an initial desk study entitled Student-Learning Learning: An Insight into Theory and Practice and a survey among EI and ESU membership, followed by extensive research and a series of European and national activities combined with training on the advocacy of the concept of SCL .
The launch precedes a stakeholders’ forum, jointly organised by EI, ESU and the Flemish student union VVS. Both staff and student representatives from all over the European Higher Education Area will debate relations between the Bologna Process and SCL as well as staff-student partnerships in achieving SCL.
To download a copy of the toolkit, the research study and the survey analysis, please visit the website: www.t4scl.eu
You can also follow the conference discussions on Twitter with the hashtag #t4scl.