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In higher education, departments are under increasing pressure to improve study success. Research in this field focusing on higher music education is scarce. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the predictive capability of the first year for study success of students at an academy of music in subsequent years. Data on study progression of 327 students were examined and courses with low pass rates were identified. In order to determine to what extent the first-year curriculum is selective, feasible and representative for the curriculum of subsequent years, group interviews and a survey were carried out. A clear relationship was found between study progress in year 1 and subsequent years. These results provide more insight into the predictive capability of the first year and have led to recommendations in how to improve study success in an academy of music.

The attention being devoted to teacher educators as professionals and their professional development is unquestionably increasing. Whilst much of that attention is being directed at teacher educators in different countries, international comparisons have been quite rare to date. The research question addressed in this study was: ‘Do experienced teacher educators from different countries differ in their concerns, professional development activities and developmental goals?’ Interviews were conducted with 25 participants from 10 different countries, all of whom were experienced teacher educators. Teacher educators’ concerns varied in the course of their careers. During their induction their primary focus tended to be on survival, whereas later on in their careers their concerns became linked to their own professional identity and their students as individuals. Participants from all the participating countries were involved in a range of developmental activities. A large majority was involved in research-rel...

This study examines how the contemporary European policy debate addresses the further development of the quality of teacher educators. A classification framework based on the literature on professionalism was used to compare European and Member State policy actions and measures on the quality of teacher educators through an analysis of seven European policy documents and a questionnaire completed by key policy-makers in 16 European countries. The findings show that European Union policy documents pay limited attention to the quality of teacher educators. However, the professionalism of teacher educators receives more policy attention at the level of individual Member States. Most of these policies are part of general policies for higher education teachers, while the initiative lies with governments and teacher education institutes. The role of the professionals themselves in developing policies to strengthen their professionalism seems very limited. © 2011 Copyright International Professional Development Association (IPDA).

Nowadays much attention is paid to the concept of competence in labour organizations and in higher education. This paper investigates different approaches to investigate competencies for educational purposes. After a discussion of various approaches, the authors present a case study that was conducted to compose a competency profile for the Faculty of Economics, Business and Public Administration of the Open University of the Netherlands. In this case study, several approaches were combined. The design and the results of the case study are described. The paper concludes with a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of the applied approach.