ERIC ED351044: L'enseignement collegial: des priorities pour un renouveau de la formation. Rapport sur l'etat et les besoins de l'enseignement collegial. (College Education: Priorities for Renewal. Report on the Status and the Needs of College Education).

445 Pages·1992·8.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
JC 920 283
ED 351 044
L'enseignement collegial: des priorities pour un
TITLE
renouveau de la formation. Rapport sur l'etat et les
besoins de l'enseignement collegial. (College
Education: Priorities for Renewal. Report on the
Status and the Needs of College Education).
INSTITUTION Conseil des Colleges, Quebec (Quebec).
REPORT NO
ISBN-2-550-26274-3; ISBN-2-550-26292-1
PUB DATE
92
445p.; A 35-page summary of highlights in English is
NOTE
included.
PUB TYPE
Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.)
Non-Classroom Use (055)
Guides
(120)
LANGUAGE
French
EDRS PRICE
MFO1 /PC18 Plus Postage.
*College Planning; *College Role; Continuing
DESCRIPTORS
Education; *Educational Improvement; *Educational
Quality; Foreign Countries; Higher Education;
Institutional Mission; *Lifelong Learning; School
Community Relationship; *Statewide Planning;
Vocational Education
*Conseil des Colleges PQ
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
Projections are provided in this report on the
characteristics of Quebec society in the year 2000, direction that
must be given to Quebec's community colleges' mission, and how
college education should be organized and managed. First, a summary
report, corresponding to the full-length report, is presented. Part
1, Quebec Society: Foreseeable Growth and Educational Needs, focuses
on the Conseil des colleges' efforts to plan within the context of
recent and projected changes in Quebec's society, reviewing
population, economic, cultural, political, and scientific and
technological trends. Part 2, An Up-To-Date Definition of College
Education, defines a quality college education, looks at college
studies as a link to lifelong learning, and explores the relationship
between colleges and their environment, emphasizing the services they
offer the local and regional community, and their contribution to
regional development. Part 3 reviews the steps involved in fulfilling
the following priorities: (1) provide a broad-based, solid general
education for all students; (2) revamp and adapt pre-university
education to meet current and future needs;
(3) improve technical
education, increase recruitment, and make programs more flexible;
(4)
develop continuing education as a means of making college education
accessible to adults; (5) develop and implement a true strategy for
educational success; and (6) intensify evaluation practices and
broaden their application. Finally, part 4 reviews five measures
essential to the renewal and development of college education.
Following the 35-page, English-language s.,rnmary of highlights, the
full 413-page report is presented in French. (JMC)
L'ENSEIGNEMENT COLLEGIAL:
DES PRIORITES
41111110
POUR UN RENOUVEAU
Conseil
DE LA FORMATION
des colleges
COLLEGE EDUCATION:
PRIORITIES FOR RENEWAL
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS
Office of Educational Research and improvement
MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
This document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organization
originating it
M. Poulin
)(Minor changes have been made to improve
rePrOduCtOn quality
Points of view or opinions stated in this docir
ment do not necessarily represent official
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
OERI position or policy
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
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COLLEGE EDUCATION:
'PRIORITIES FOR RENEWAL
I
EDUCATION:
RENEWAL
COLLEGE
FOR
PRIORITIES
I
HIGHLIGHTS
Needs
and
State
the
on
Report
Education
College
of
1992
4
I
This brochure is condensed from
the report published by the Conseil des colleges
in May 1992.
The general index
of the report appears in French
at the end of this brochure.
The full-length version of this report, published in French only,
is available at bookstores and agents of :
Les Publications du Quebec
C.P. 1005
Quebec (Quebec)
G1K 7B5
Sales and information : [phone]
.
or 1-800-463-2100 (toll-free)
Fax : [phone]
© Gouvernement du Quebec
Legal Deposit : Second quarter 1992
National Library of Canada
..1
Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
ISBN : 2-550-26292-1
5
INTRODUCTION
The Conseil des colleges' report entitled L'enseignementcollegial:des priorites pour
un renouveau de la formation is a prospective document which seeks essentially to
answer three major questions :
What will the main characte ,Istics of Quebec society be at the beginning of the
year 2000 and what are the challenges and stakes which college education will
be facing in the foreseeable future ?
What direction must be given to colleges' missions, specifically with regard to
education, in order to prepare students to play a productive role in the society of
the year 2000 ?
How should co:!age education be organized and managed to ensure that young
people and adults receive such education and that it contributes positively to the
development of Quebec society?
These proposals are being made within a perspective of continuity
a key focus of
the Conseil since the outset of its work. Its proposals are based on the assumption
that colleges are here to stay and that all efforts must be made to improve their
performance so that their response to the needs and expectations of students and
society can constantly be enhanced.
Thus, the search for quality in education constitutes the cornerstone of the proposals
the Conseil is submitting for discussion to those players and partners involved in
college education.
However, the targeted evolution of college education will only be possible if
resporsibility for it is fully assumed by those living the college experience and
working within it, and only to the extent that these people become aware of their
environment, listen attentively to needs and accept necessary changes.
To contribute to the choice of orientations to follow and actions to take, the Conseil
has published the results of its reflections in a report of more than 400 pages which
is divided into four parts and which is summarized in this document.
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Part One
QUEBEC SOCIETY : FORESEEABLE GROWTH
AND EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
From the first, the Conseil focuses on college education within a context of recent and
foreseeable changes in Quebec's population, economy, science, technology, society,
culture and politics.
Using this approach, the Conseil has taken the following global outlook as the basis
for its report : college education is of particular interest not in and by itself, but rather
as a tool which contributes to the development of Quebec society.
While analyzing the various facets of society, the Conseil identifies the educational
needs which follow and the major challenges these needs constitute in terms of
college education. There are four major categories of educational needs for the
future.
Competency. Growth on all fronts is a challenge which must be met by the whole
education and human resources training network ; it calls for a general increase in
qualifications requiring sound initial education based on broad and solid foundations.
All phenomena observed in the education community seem to indicate that broader-
based, comprehensive training is preferable to more specialized education.
Industrial development marked by technological innovation has created a greater
need for technicians, technologists and scientists in many fields. These people will
need education which goes beyond the narrow confines of the skills and knowledge
closely related to their specialties. Indeed, the rapid and largely unpredictable
changes occurring in the labour market make any highly specialized training
extremely risky ; therefore, it is best to bcnk on Ix. ad-based initial training. However,
to complement this type of training, it appears obvious that people will have to return
to school regularly for more specialized studies. The educational system must
therefore adapt initial schooling in consequence and develop a true sy tern of
continuing education equipped with upgrading and retraining mechanisms.
And more and more, companies and organizations are seeking competency
recognized by a diploma.
7
Ability to adapt. The ever-growing number of socio-political, cultural, economic and
technological phenomena has given rise to a vital need for everyone, whether
individual, worker or citizen, to develop the ability to constantly adapt to change.
Once in the work force, employees will be faced with upheavals caused by new
technology, and their effects on the organization of work. They must become
increasingly proficient at finding, understanding, organizing and using the masses
of information available in their specific fields. They must also develop skills,
attitudes and qualities which will allow them to make original personal contributions
and to collaborate productively with people doing related work. Indeed, the apparent
need for people to change jobs and even fields in the course of their working life, and
the retraining or upgrading such a move entails, will require individuals to display a
great capacity for change. According to the Conseil, a broad-based, solid college
education is the best way of equipping people with this ability to adapt.
The ability to make choices based on values and analysis. The Quebec of the
future will be characterized by more complex socio-economic, political and cultural
relationships. As a result, difficult choices based on issues such as the demands of
competitiveness, the desire for a higher standard of living and the risk of exclusion
will have to be made. Because the educational system provides access to a more
advanced degree of knowledge and understanding and helps people adjust to the
intricacies of the competitive ideology, it must also help them sort their way through
the system so that they can better understand the collective choices they are faced
with and direct their actions and the actions of those around them.
The educational system is responsible for promoting adherence to certain values to
which Quebec society as a whole is strongly attached, specifically : democracy,
justine, equality, sharing, tolerance, respect for the environment and support of the
French language. The educational system must also transmit elements of heritage
so as to allow students to set down roots in a given culture.
In this changing society, individuals are constantly faced with choices about different
issues affecting all aspects of their lives. The education system offers people the
opportunity to develop individual and collective values enabling them to create a
coherent "moral framework" designed to guide them in their personal, professional
and social lives. At the same time, the system must develop their analytical faculties
and encourage them to question and remain objective about the order of things so
that they can make intelligent choices and contribute to the progress of society.
Openness to diversity. Accepting and even promoting the expansion of cultural
horizons has become a requirement of the modern world, and the education
community is the ideal place to ensure that this occurs. More specifically, it has two
challenges to meet.
The first is to prepare people to live and work in a society which opens many windows
onto the world. People must be taught to open their eyes to certain realities in the
world around them and to find their niche using points of reference common to all
cultures.
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4
The other challenge is to properly welcome members of cultural communities and to
contribute to their integration into Quebec society. To this end, we must seek rallying
points likely to bridge social and cultural differences and ensure the societal harmony
values of
necessary to build a collective future while respecting the fundamental
Quebec society.
9
5/4
Part Two
AN UP-TO-DATE DEFINITION
OF COLLEGE EDUCATION
To formulate this up-to-date definition of college education, the Conseil has divided
its findings into three chapters devoted respectively to the quality of education,
lifelong education and service to the community.
Quality College Education
Despite the unceasing efforts of the past 25 years and the undeniable success of
college education in numerous fields, the many partners and observers who
participate actively in college education continue to express doubts about its quality.
Whether there is a reason for these doubts or not, they nonetheless point to a malaise
and dissatisfaction which demand our attention because of their current and
potential impact on the development of college education and its ability to meet the
challenges posed by the evolution of QuObec society.
The Conseil has identified and analyzed the five main attributes of a quality college
education.
First, such education must be pertinent, i.e. :
it must allow students to acquire skills closely related to socio-economic needs
and likely to facilitate their integration into the labour market ;
it must allow students to become aware of socio-political realities, to attain
a
certain cultural level and to adcpt the basic values required to live in society ;
it must take the heterogenous nature of the student population into consideration.
Second, a quality education must be broad-based and open, i.e. :
it must be characterized by its openness and by the scope and diversity of the tools
it allows people to acquire so that fley can live and grow within a complex society ;
it must situate human knowledge and experience within a time frame which gives
students a link to the heritage of the past, a grasp of the present and a vision of
the future ;
j0