Page 48 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 48
organise peer learning activities and thus provide member states with sup-
port in developing and implementing their own policies to improve attain-
ment levels and students’ attitudes to maths, science and technology. The
TWG commenced its work in November 2010 and organised five meetings and
four PLAs. Specific priority areas of the group include: (a) provision of learning
support for low achievers, (b) identifying low achievers, (c) research into the
impact of enquiry-based science education on low achievers, (d) a quality im-
provement system for low achieving schools, (e) management of transitions
from one level to another for low achievers, (f ) the use of ICT in maths, sci-
ence and technology. The TWG ended its activities in the first half of 2013 and
prepared a report, wherein various approaches and initiatives were highlight-
ed for dealing with low achievement at the level of national educational poli-
cies and practices. The approaches are based on best practice examples from
participating countries and study findings from this field. Slovenia has likewise
appointed its TWG representative – an official, who liaises with national ex-
perts from the relevant field. The representative agrees with participants of
other TWGs (see Štremfel, 2013: 310–314) about participation in the group be-
48 ing an invaluable professional experience. At the same time the representative
points out that the newly acquired ideas are difficult to apply within a nation-
al context, the reason being the inadequately perfected institutional structure
of transferring knowledge and ideas from the European into the national edu-
cational space. Consequently, new ideas are mainly implemented in new pro-
jects, and much less so in the policy-making process at a national level.
Regular progress reports about member states, and their achieving the
I & U 2020objectives, draws attention both within the national policy process
and at a European level. For national actors these progress reports represent a
special task with timetables for submitting reports, which then provide feed-
back on following European guidelines and achieving European objectives.
Two kinds of reports are distinguished, i.e. annual quantitative reports com-
paring countries’ performance based on statistical data, and three-year qual-
itative reports (upon completion of each European Semester), wherein coun-
tries provide a description of their national measures and endeavours in a
certain field, based on a report structure previously prepared by the Europe-
an Commission. Periodic monitoring and assessment data foster comparisons
teaching centred solely on knowledge to a wider competence-oriented approach that devotes
more attention to acquiring competencies and skills. A lot of attention was devoted to cross-cur-
ricular competencies, such as social and civic competencies, entrepreneurship, learning to learn,
digital and cultural competencies. As part of its mutual learning activities, the cluster focused on
the presence of key competencies in the curricula of member states, as well as actual and desired
changes in the didactic material that enables development of key competencies. Special attention
was also devoted to identifying the key competencies and effective policies that improve reading,
maths and science literacy as part of compulsory education. While the ‘Key Competencies’ cluster
within I & U 2020 is no longer active, the mandate of the ‘Maths, Science and Technology’ cluster
has, in transition from I & U 2010 to I & U 2020, been taken over by the TWG with the same name.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
port in developing and implementing their own policies to improve attain-
ment levels and students’ attitudes to maths, science and technology. The
TWG commenced its work in November 2010 and organised five meetings and
four PLAs. Specific priority areas of the group include: (a) provision of learning
support for low achievers, (b) identifying low achievers, (c) research into the
impact of enquiry-based science education on low achievers, (d) a quality im-
provement system for low achieving schools, (e) management of transitions
from one level to another for low achievers, (f ) the use of ICT in maths, sci-
ence and technology. The TWG ended its activities in the first half of 2013 and
prepared a report, wherein various approaches and initiatives were highlight-
ed for dealing with low achievement at the level of national educational poli-
cies and practices. The approaches are based on best practice examples from
participating countries and study findings from this field. Slovenia has likewise
appointed its TWG representative – an official, who liaises with national ex-
perts from the relevant field. The representative agrees with participants of
other TWGs (see Štremfel, 2013: 310–314) about participation in the group be-
48 ing an invaluable professional experience. At the same time the representative
points out that the newly acquired ideas are difficult to apply within a nation-
al context, the reason being the inadequately perfected institutional structure
of transferring knowledge and ideas from the European into the national edu-
cational space. Consequently, new ideas are mainly implemented in new pro-
jects, and much less so in the policy-making process at a national level.
Regular progress reports about member states, and their achieving the
I & U 2020objectives, draws attention both within the national policy process
and at a European level. For national actors these progress reports represent a
special task with timetables for submitting reports, which then provide feed-
back on following European guidelines and achieving European objectives.
Two kinds of reports are distinguished, i.e. annual quantitative reports com-
paring countries’ performance based on statistical data, and three-year qual-
itative reports (upon completion of each European Semester), wherein coun-
tries provide a description of their national measures and endeavours in a
certain field, based on a report structure previously prepared by the Europe-
an Commission. Periodic monitoring and assessment data foster comparisons
teaching centred solely on knowledge to a wider competence-oriented approach that devotes
more attention to acquiring competencies and skills. A lot of attention was devoted to cross-cur-
ricular competencies, such as social and civic competencies, entrepreneurship, learning to learn,
digital and cultural competencies. As part of its mutual learning activities, the cluster focused on
the presence of key competencies in the curricula of member states, as well as actual and desired
changes in the didactic material that enables development of key competencies. Special attention
was also devoted to identifying the key competencies and effective policies that improve reading,
maths and science literacy as part of compulsory education. While the ‘Key Competencies’ cluster
within I & U 2020 is no longer active, the mandate of the ‘Maths, Science and Technology’ cluster
has, in transition from I & U 2010 to I & U 2020, been taken over by the TWG with the same name.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
