Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

equirements. In the faculties of Arts and Social Sciences employability is associatedwith a generalist formation (made of a set of transferable competences andknowledge) useful for an enlarged and diversified number of activities and cannot becompared with a professional specialization. This can only be obtained with a secondcycle program, at least with some depth of specialisation. The general and openfeatures of the first cycle, as we see it, should not prevent some specific orientationsfor those students that already might have a specific professional activity in mind.Since the 1970s the transformation of the Geography program at the University ofLisbon represents an effort to give the students a more solid professional preparation,specifically in the field of planning. This has been done through the reinforcementof the methodological component, the increase in the specialization possibilities anda better articulation with current professional practice. The concern with methodologicalquestions can be seen in the introduction of courses on statistics, quantitativemethods, analytical tools, graphic presentations, cartography, GIS techniques andalso epistemology courses.In Lisbon, the actual model of curriculum offers five specializations and it has forthe very first time some obligatory specific courses along with optional ones. Thesecan either reinforce the specialization or oppose it, if the student prefers a moregeneralist formation. Thus, the program contains a common part for all students with104 ECTS, distributed by Human Geography (36 ECTS), Physical Geography (36ECTS), Methods (32 ECTS) and then the specializations. For instance, the studentsthat choose Urban Planning (Urbanism) have to do 91 credits in specific courses likeUrban Design, Physical and Social Environments, Urban Problems, Planning Tools,plus 45 credits in optional courses.The bridge with professional practice has been tested by means of training periods,nevertheless only for the students enrolled in education is the training a credited unit.For the rest of the students we use the 4 th year course to bring the students closer tosome activities by means of study visits or longer stays in appropriate departmentsand institutions and using this contact as case study for the assignment they haveto do to complete the course. This report can have either a more practical (problemsolving) or more theoretical orientation. The students enjoy this experience as wecan see in the evaluation report (Barata Salgueiro et al, 2003), so it deserves moredevelopment and expansion.Bologna also implies a different way to think about teaching and learning, almosta new paradigm which contains a different type of academic and training education,academic formation in a wider basis, focus on competence acquisition, and learningupon teaching. There is no doubt that the focus on these two last features will obligeus to think more deeply about the course structure and organization as well as theteaching methods in a completely different way than we use to. Competences will playa more central role in the way we think about teaching at the university (Cachinho,2005). Despite the great number of our colleagues interested in these questions thediscussion in geography departments is still in their infancy.There is a good convergence between learning outcomes and competences. In theTuning Project (Gonzalez and Wagenaar, 2003) learning outcomes are expressed in104