General information
Code: EU/E+/JMModules
Period: 1.9.2015 - 31.8.2018
Project leader at FDV: prof.dr. Tomaž Deželan
Abstract
The proposed project aims to develop a course focusing on European Union as a contemporary administrative system for the students listening to this course primarily out of two reasons. Firstly, students for whom the course is developed only marginally cover the European Union within their core curriculum as their curriculum is designed as standard public administration curriculum for political scientists. As a result, they only have the opportunity to listen to the Introduction to the European Union in the second year of their first cycle Bologna programme. Secondly, as the main transitional path of these students is public sector - primarily state administration - Deželan and Fink Hafner (2012) identified increasing lack of knowledge, skills and competence in terms of performing their work at their workplace when the work assignments deal with the European Union, more particularly EU policies. As a result, we propose a renewal of standard contemporary administrative systems course, which promises to give much needed knowledge about the processes of the EU as an administrative system, which is currently not on offer on any of the Slovene universities, thus creating an opportunity also for students of other programmes and universities to listen to this course as well as professionals dealing with EU issues that already completed their studies (also former students), but facing a need for additional in-depth knowledge to overcome their skill mismatches.
The course will be taught by the best academics in the field with vast research and teaching experience in European studies, public administration, multi-level governance, organizational management, European public policy making and EUropean processes and policies in general. The course will also be on offer as an open educational resource as all teaching materials and lectures will be available on a freely accessible Moodle blended learning educational platform. As a result, all interested individuals will have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the field and participate in an online community together with students and teachers.
We will try to prepare high quality teaching programme of the course Contemporary Administrative Systems. This will be done by introduction of the newest literature and research results into the content of the course, guest lectures by academics coming from different disciplinary backgrounds, multidisciplinary approach to the content of the courses, guest lectures by public policy makers and civil society representatives and by introduction of new pedagogical approaches – flipped classroom approach – but also others (primarily during seminars) such as: small group discussions, panel discussions, Buzz-Groups, Group Assignments, Case Studies, Skill Practices and Quizzes. In the frame of the project we will try to exit the form of ex-cathedra lectures by “flipping the classroom” and introduce the following into the teaching programme: (1) new content such as resent research results, (2) quest lecturers from different disciplines and different professional environments (in advance recorded lectures and debate with the lecturer in the classroom); and (3) new pedagogical approaches that will base on practical assignments and develop confidence and group working skills of students. A constant evaluation of the teaching project by participating students and implementation of these cognitions in the teaching programme will ensure excellence in teaching. In addition, the open educational platform (Moodle) will allow also former students to get to grips with these topics as well as share their work-related experience.
The research on political scientist’s profession reveals that many of our student are employed in public administration, civil society organisation and EU institutions. Since Slovenian full membership in EU employees in these areas of work increasingly need knowledge on European union as well as understanding of European union processes. In order to make our students competent to work in this environments there is a necessity of introduction of EU angle in the obligatory courses of our study programme. The content of the course will thus be renovated in a way to introduce EU dimension integrally -- focusing on the aspects of the European Union as an administrative system -- and as such the course will provide a novelty in the Slovene political science curriculum.
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