Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Future of Education
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Linking Theory to Practice: How Is the European Dimension Reflected in The University Curriculum of Selected Countries on The Eastern Border of the EU?
Ramona Ţigănaşu, Gabriela Carmen Pascariu, Mihaela Clincu
ABSTRACT:
The performance of education systems has manifold consequences, shaping the evolutionary path of nations. This can be linked to articulated and up-to-date educational policies, appropriate infrastructure, institutional support, innovative and inclusive teaching-learning methods, and maybe the most prominent, to people and their passion in doing their job. Considering the challenges related to the future job requirements, the process of adopting interdisciplinary curriculum in European Studies enhances complex learning over simple adaptation. The research targets European Studies programmes, underlining the perceptions of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students from Romania and the Republic of Moldova (N=578) about the relevance of acquired skills for the labour market. The applied survey essentially suggests that in Romania there is a stronger demand for a broader coverage of skills that match the labour market, while in the Republic of Moldova, young people advocate for the inclusion in the curricula of more disciplines that address the European integration. It also emerged that European Studies are perceived as driver for the development of skills and job opportunities; however, they should connect theory with practice more intensively and endow with know-how tailored to global employment trends. Then, robust academic initiatives should be undertaken, as long as they produce scale effects in many aspects of life and society. Starting from the vulnerabilities identified in the two states on the eastern border of the EU, the paper proposes a range of policies to consolidate the European dimension in tertiary education by anticipating and preparing for the upcoming transformations, which would lead to a better insertion of graduates into the labour market.
keywords: academic cooperation, curriculum in European Studies, labour market dynamics, skills development, youth employability