04 - Spain - General Objectives

The information on the general objectives of the different types of higher education, both university and non-university, is presented in the following subsections.

University tertiary education

The 2001 Ley Orgánica de Universidades, LOU (Act on Universities) aims to improve the quality of the university system, to promote students’ and teachers’ mobility as well as to respond to the new challenges derived both from distance learning higher education through the new information and communication technologies and from lifelong learning. It also aims to achieve a competitive integration within the new European Higher Education Area. This Act increases the powers of the Autonomous Communities concerning higher education as well as university autonomy and reinforces the practice of evaluation through the Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación, ANECA (National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation).

In addition, the 2007 Act modifying the Act on Universities grants more autonomy to universities, while it increases the demand to account for the performance of their functions.

The LOU establishes the following university functions:

• The setting up, development, transmission and critical review of science, technology and culture.
• The training both for the exercise of professional activities requiring the use of scientific knowledge and methods and for artistic creativity.
• The dissemination, appreciation and transfer of knowledge to promote culture, quality of life and economic development.

In October 2007, the Royal Decree establishing the organisation of official university studies was passed. In line with the principles of the 2007 Act modifying the Act on Universities, it establishes the new structure of official university education. According to this Royal Decree, university education will be structured into three cycles: Bachelor, Master and Doctorate. Bachelor studies aim at providing students with a general training, in one or several disciplines, designed to prepare them to work. Master studies are aimed at the acquisition of an advanced training, specialised or multidisciplinary, for an academic or professional specialisation or as an introduction to research work. The aim of Doctoral studies, in turn, is the advanced training in research techniques

Non-university tertiary education

The information on the general objectives of non-university studies can be found in the following subsections.

Advanced vocational training

Vocational training in the Spanish education system is organised in intermediate and advanced ciclos formativos the aims of which are to prepare students for a specific professional career as well as to contribute to their own development, the exercise of democratic citizenship and lifelong learning.

• Advanced vocational training studies aim at the acquisition of abilities enabling students to:Develop the general competence corresponding to the specific qualification(s) of the relevant studies.
• Understand the organisation and characteristics of the corresponding socio-productive sector, as well as the mechanisms for professional integration, know employment law and rights and duties in labour relations.
• Learn by themselves and work as a team, as well as be trained in conflict prevention and peaceful resolution in all areas of personal, family and social life.
• Work in good safety and health conditions, as well as prevent possible risks at work.
• Develop a professional identity that will motivate them for future learning and adaptations to the evolution of production processes and social change.
• Reinforce entrepreneurship to carry out professional activities and initiatives.
• Achieve the competences related to information and communication technologies, the languages of the European Union, teamwork, the prevention of labour risks, as well as any other envisaged in the guidelines of the European Union.
• Make lifelong learning a reality and use learning opportunities through different training paths to keep updated in the different fields: social, personal, cultural and work-related, according to their expectations, needs and interests.

Enseñanzas de régimen especial

The enseñanzas de régimen especial comprise three levels: elementary, intermediate and advanced. The advanced level of this type of provision is part of higher education.

The information on the general objectives of advanced enseñanzas de régimen especial can be found in the following subsections.

Artistic studies

The purpose of Artistic studies is to provide students with quality artistic education and to train qualified future professionals in the fields of Music, Dance, Dramatic Arts, Plastic Arts and Design.

The aim of advanced level Music and Dance studies, as the most specialised branch of these studies, is to provide students with a high-quality practical, theoretical and methodological training, which aims to guarantee the training of those professionals who intend to work in these fields as authors, performers, researchers or teachers.

Dramatic Arts studies aim to train professionals, pedagogues and researchers in the fields of stage performance, design, management and playwriting.

Plastic Arts and Design studies comprise studies relating to applied arts, artistic trades, design in its diverse forms and preservation and restoration of cultural assets. As regards advanced Plastic Arts and Design, these include artistic, scientific and technological knowledge aiming at providing quality education, the award of a professional certificate and a higher qualification in the different applied arts areas. This type of provision includes the following specialisations:

• Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Assets (with specialisations in Archaeology, Graphic Documents, Sculpture, Painting and Textiles). These studies aim at training professionals who undertake tasks involving preservation and restoration of works and assets which are part of the country’s artistic heritage.
• Advanced Design (with specialisations in Products, Graphics, Interior Design and Fashion Design) which aim to train and qualify design professionals in order to improve the creation, development, use and consumption of industrial products and services.
• Advanced Ceramic studies aim to achieve the full training of professionals in ceramics so that they may develop their artistic, technological, pedagogical and research skills adapted to industrial and artistic innovation as well as contributing to the improvement of quality in ceramic goods.
• Advanced Glass studies aim to train skilled professionals for the creation, development, use and consumption of glassware as well as the services derived from them.

The ciclos formativos of Plastic Arts and Design share a common objective, which is to provide students with a first class quality artistic training in order to enable them to appreciate the significance of plastic arts as an artistic means of cultural expression and the development of creative potential, being aware of the possibilities for professional development which this involves. In addition, these studies have some specific goals to provide students with the necessary training to achieve the following objectives:

• To plan and coordinate the carrying out of technical and artistic processes.
• To plan and to implement works involving technical rigour and expressive sensitivity through the development of student’s own artistic personality, skills and plastic knowledge.
• To obtain the required scientific, technical and practical knowledge to enable students to carry out their work through the technological processes linked to their professional activity.
• To develop students’ ability as regards research of artistic forms with a multidisciplinary approach.
• To understand the organisation and characteristics of their professional field and the mechanisms of basic professional integration; to be familiar with basic professional regulations and health and safety.

Sports studies

The Ley Orgánica de Educación, LOE (Act on Education) establishes that Sports studies aim to qualify students for a professional career in a specific sport or specialisation, as well as to facilitate their adaptation to employment and developments in the sports world and to active citizenship.

This type of provision must contribute to the acquisition of abilities enabling students to:

• Develop the general competence corresponding to the professional profile defined in the relevant qualification
• Guarantee professional training at an introductory level, management, basic training, technical improvement, training and management of teams and high performance sportsmen and women in the relevant type of sport within the sports system.
• Understand the characteristics and organisation of both the relevant sports type or specialisation and sports system, as well as know the rights and duties related to it.
• Acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to carry out their work under safe conditions, improving the quality and safety of the sports environment and looking after the environment and people's health, as well as to facilitate the integration and normalisation of disabled people participating in sport.
• Develop a professional identity and maturity that will motivate them for future learning (lifelong learning, continuing training) and adaptations to changes in the introductory level and improvement of the relevant type of sport and in high performance sport.
• Develop and transmit the importance of individual responsibility and effort both when practicing and teaching a sports type.
• Develop and transmit the ethical values related to fair play, respect towards others, healthy practice of sports as well as respect and care for one’s own body.
• Be qualified to conduct business activities and initiatives.

 

Instiitutions:

 

AGENCIA NACIONAL DE EVALUACIÓN DE LA CALIDAD Y ACREDITACIÓN (ANECA)
c/ Orense 11 28020 Madrid
Tel.:+34. 91.417.82.30
Fax:+34.91.556.86.42
E-mail: informacion@aneca.es
Website:  http://www.aneca.es/

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