National report on the implementation of the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci programmes in 2000–2006

Abstract

This report is the outcome of the final evaluation of the second phase of Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes in Finland. It fulfils the requirement, set by the Commission to all EU member states, to submit a national report on the implementation of the aforementioned programmes during the years 2000-2006. The major objectives of the report are to contribute to the further improvement of the EU’s educational development programmes by identifying the strengths and weaknesses that have become conspicuous through the Finnish participation in the Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes. The report also provides data for the final evaluation of these programmes, to be conducted by the Commission. As the educational policies of the EU are at present carried out through the Lifelong Learning Programme, and as the Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes do not exist anymore as such, the report focuses on highlighting the levels of success of the programmes’ implementation as they were, and refrains from making recommendations of the programme structure per se.

The evaluation was directed by the Finnish Ministry of Education, and the actual evaluation research was conducted at The Research Centre for Vocational Education of the University of Tampere. The steering group included representatives from the Ministry of Education and the Finnish National Agency for the Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes (Centre for International Mobility CIMO). The report complies with the Commission’s instructions for preparing the 2007 national reports on the implementation of the Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes (SOC/COM/32/2006-en, CL/18/2006-en), and concerns both the decentralised and centralised actions of the programmes.

The evaluation research involved the compilation of extensive amount of numerical data about the implementation of the programmes’ measures and actions. This data was provided mainly by CIMO, apart from statistics concerning centralised actions of Socrates programme that were provided by the European Commission DG for Education and Culture. Several research reports (by CIMO and the Universities of Helsinki and Jyväskylä), concentrating on the perceptions and impacts of international educational development in general and international mobility in particular, were utilised for acquiring deeper insight into the Finnish experience within Leonardo and Socrates programmes. An evaluation survey was carried out, comprising four separate questionnaires for different target groups; development projects/networks, Leonardo mobility projects, individual mobility grant beneficiaries in Socrates and experts and political actors on the national level. The results from the surveys provided both qualitative and quantitative data for the assessment of the programmes’ impacts and efficiency. Also, consultative discussions with the programme experts in the National Agency were used for gathering information about the programmes’ implementation.

The assessment of the efficiency and impact of such varied and fragmented actions, as the Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes are, is a challenging task. In the Finnish context, the quantitative goals have been generally successfully met, but some aspects that relate directly to the impact of the programmes’ activities need more attention in the future. Dissemination and valorisation of the projects’ results remain as one of the biggest challenges in the programmes’ implementation. Some redirection is still needed to render the goals of promoting equal opportunities and fighting social exclusion closer to the nucleus of the programmes’ activities. All potential actors are not equally reached in Finland; the geographically disadvantaged areas need more support for active participation in the programmes. The mobility from Finland is (still) orientated towards the already familiar, most often West European countries, and the language most often used during the period abroad remains to be English. The claim for promotion of truly versatile European language skills gains momentum as the European Union accepts new member states and establishes New Neighbourhood Policies with its imminent neighbours.

Both Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes have been essential in meeting the nationally defined goals for the internationalisation of the educational development in Finland. The programmes have benefited the society as a whole, as the programme funding has encouraged and enabled Finnish actors to establish sustainable long-term international and national contacts and procedures, that have come to distribute the gained benefits through time, space and people. International activity in most of the Finnish educational institutions has become one cornerstone of their general functioning. The personal and professional development obtained from participation in the programmes has in its own part taken the Finnish learning environment to a new level of multiculturalism, and the exchange of knowledge from nationalsectoral level to crossing both state and professional boundaries, in Europe and worldwide.