What the Bologna Process says about Teaching and Learning Development in Practice

The Bologna Process is itself a complex mix of diverse processes occurring within overlapping spheres, at different levels, and in diverse geosocio- political contexts. Indeed the very term ‘Bologna Process’ is subject to differing interpretations, whether largely referring to the internal national processes occurring within participating states (Hackl 2001), or more commonly to the ‘formal’ process of biennial ministerial meetings and their surrounding documents, meetings and undertakings, initiated with the agreement of the Bologna Declaration in June 1999. For the purposes of the present chapter, an even wider definition of the term will be employed. As will be argued, the Process itself cannot be restricted merely to the official documents, meetings and undertakings. Rather, it must also include other areas, including inter alia: national processes; university-level agreements — including the input of Rectors Conferences; the input of the various student organisations; and crucially the underlying purposes of the agreements and the trends in higher education that led to the various agreements and now inform their implementation.