Presentation

The ‘Tuning’ working group

Objectives

The main objective of the Polifonia ‘Tuning’ Working Group was to take the existing AEC descriptions of learning outcomes for the 1st and 2nd study cycles (English Français Deutsch) to a next level of development and implementation by studying the implications of using such learning outcomes in relation to other issues. These included the relation between competences and learning outcomes, the use of credit points, (competence-based) teaching and learning, assessment procedures, curriculum design, modular systems, credit-based structures, internal and external quality assurance mechanisms and more. In addition, the group’s aim was to ensure that the existing learning outcomes met the requirements of the ‘Tuning’ methodology. Finally, the group monitored and gave advice on various ‘Bologna’ developments, such as European approaches to external quality assurance and accreditation, and the establishment of a European Qualifications Framework (EQF), including the use of the so-called ‘Dublin Descriptors’ for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd study cycles.

Outcomes

  • A review of the existing AEC Learning Outcomes document according to the ‘Tuning’ template containing a comparison of the learning outcomes with the ‘Dublin Descriptors and a connection to credit points
  • A Handbook for the Implementation and the Use of Credit Points in Higher Music Education
  • A Handbook on Curriculum Design and Development in Higher Music Education
  • A Handbook for Internal Quality Assurance in Higher Music Education
  • A Response to the EU consultation on the development of a European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
  • The creation of a pool of ‘Tuning/ ECTS Counsellors

Members

  • Jeremy Cox (Chair – Royal College of Music, London)
  • Hannu Apajalahti (Sibelius Academy, Helsinki)
  • Evert Bisschop Boele (Hanzehogeschool Groningen)
  • Cristina Brito da Cruz (Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa)
  • Bruno Carioti (Conservatorio Statale di Musica L’Aquila)
  • Grzegorz Kurzynski (K. Lipinski Academy of Music Wroclaw)
  • Jörg Linowitzki (Musikhochschule Lübeck)
  • Jacques Moreau (CNSMD de Lyon)
To consult documents and materials related to this working group, including various handbooks, please go to the project materials section.

The ‘Tuning’ methodology

The project “Tuning educational structures in Europe” started in 2000, by a group of universities who wished to address the issues posed by the Bologna declaration collectively, coordinated by the University of Deusto (ES) and the University of Groningen (NL).

A methodology was designed to understand curricula and to make them comparable, through 4 lines of approach:

  • generic competences
  • subject-specific competences
  • the role of ECTS as an accumulation system
  • the role of learning, teaching, assessment and performance in relation to quality assurance and evaluation.
Altogether, the four lines of approach allow universities to ‘tune’ their curricula, without losing their autonomy and their capacity to innovate. In its second phase the project worked on the consolidation of its findings together with a series of stakeholders (professional associations, employers, quality assurance agencies etc.), and transferred its methodology to the Socrates-Erasmus Thematic Networks. Being such a Thematic Network, the Polifonia project will also involve Tuning activities.