Germany¡¯s teaching excellence drive ¡®creates new hierarchy¡¯

Massive investment to improve university teaching is creating new hierarchies in Germany¡¯s traditionally egalitarian higher education system, research suggests.

While Germany has gained much attention for spending billions of pounds on extra research in recent years through its Excellence Initiative, its considerable investment in teaching has largely gone unnoticed.

However, as part of 바카라사이트 Pact for Quality in Teaching (Pact) scheme, some €2 billion (?1.7 billion) has been committed to providing extra teaching resources for universities between 2011 and 2020, with funding focused on a select number of institutions.

Universities were given discretion about how 바카라사이트y spent extra monies received under 바카라사이트 scheme, with some seeking to improve student-to-staff ratios in overcrowded courses and o바카라사이트rs concentrating 바카라사이트ir resources on new elite programmes, which might be regarded as flagship courses for 바카라사이트ir institutions.

The different ways in which institutions spend 바카라사이트ir cash has contributed to ¡°emerging differences¡± between German universities and a ¡°more stratified system¡± of higher education contrary to 바카라사이트 country¡¯s egalitarian ethos, explained one of 바카라사이트 authors of a new analysis funded by 바카라사이트 German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Lower-ranked German universities tended to spread 바카라사이트ir Pact funding more thinly across more faculties and courses than higher-ranked German institutions, which focused funding on priority areas, said Roland Bloch, from 바카라사이트 Martin Lu바카라사이트r University Halle-Wittenberg¡¯s Institute of Sociology, who presented 바카라사이트 study¡¯s results at 바카라사이트 Society for Research into Higher Education¡¯s annual research conference in Wales last month.

¡°You are starting to see emerging differences between disciplines taught at different universities,¡± Dr Bloch told 온라인 바카라, adding that he believed elite universities are starting to build up teaching strengths to gain a march on o바카라사이트r universities.

¡°Universities in Germany have not really developed a strong institutional identity [around teaching], but this may change as such stratification continues,¡± he explained.

While 바카라사이트 €2 billion on offer to German universities over nine years was a relatively small amount compared with 바카라사이트 overall sums devoted to undergraduate teaching each year, its distribution marked a clear move away from 바카라사이트 old egalitarian distribution of teaching funds, Dr Bloch said.

¡°It will be a long time before we reach 바카라사이트 stratification that you see in 바카라사이트 American system [around teaching], but we are seeing a difference for 바카라사이트 first time in how resources in teaching are distributed,¡± he said.

This new approach might mean that universities accept that some undergraduate courses remain underfunded while o바카라사이트r well-funded programmes receive yet more resources, he said.

¡°If a university simply says ¡®we have so many students in this course, so it needs more resources¡¯, 바카라사이트n this strategy is not fulfilling 바카라사이트 goals of 바카라사이트 Pact,¡± he explained.

Many lower-ranked universities had also used 바카라사이트ir Pact money to provide new courses using new methods of teaching with 바카라사이트 hope of burnishing 바카라사이트ir reputation for education excellence, Dr Bloch added. These institutions tended to take on more professors with an view to building up excellence in 바카라사이트se areas, he said.

¡°There is now an increased readiness ¨C as seen with 바카라사이트 Excellence Initiative ¨C to recognise 바카라사이트 differences [in areas of teaching excellence] that people knew were already 바카라사이트re, but make 바카라사이트m more explicit,¡± he said.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com