EU report urges plan to educate the educators

University lecturers and professors need to go back to school to learn how to teach, a major report into improving higher education in the EU recommends.

Chaired by former president Mary McAleese, the document warns that research has taken precedence over teaching in third-level colleges and that this must be rebalanced.

In what she describes as “good, bold realism”, Mrs McAleese and her team make 16 recommendations that they see as essential to improve the quality of education students receive, and praised the steps taken in Ireland and Britain in this area.

Describing such activities as the exception rather than the norm across the EU, she said Europe has a diverse higher education landscape but that only a few governments and institutions take teaching and learning seriously and offer incentives to ensure its continuity.

“The balance between research and teaching has been regrettably and unnecessarily thrown out of kilter, with the result that teaching and learning have been overshadowed and even overlooked. It is time to rebalance this,” said Mrs McAleese.

“Improving the quality in teaching and learning is not magic nor does it need huge amounts of funding. What it needs is a change of culture, so that good teachers are given the same levels of recognition and reward as excellent researchers.”

The report recommends that all teaching staff in third-level institutions undergo certified teacher training by 2020.

Androulla Vassiliou, the EU education commissioner, said third-level institutes need to be modernised. Welcoming the push to educate the educators, she said: “I believe this simple message could bring about a quality revolution in higher education.”

All colleges need to adopt a strategy to improve the quality of teaching and learning and support it long-term. It does not have to cost a lot and the report recommends that the European Commission make funds available for this.

The group said it was particularly impressed with Ireland’s National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, which was established last year. It also praised similar efforts in Britain.

The high-level group will now focus on better ways to use new technologies in higher education.

A report on this is planned for next year.