Updated Quality Policy Plan of Teaching and Learning
Working on Academy-wide strategic divisions, ECA wants to give direction to 4 central dimensions in its education:
- the academic and applied practice learning in itself,
- student-centered education,
- the quality of study programs, and
- the quality development of these programs.
Shaping education and learning. Working on the ECA’s educational vision, which aims for applied research-driven and labor market and society-oriented education that stimulates personal development, the Academy focuses on future-oriented, innovative and powerful education and learning and appropriate use of educational technologies. We stimulate collaboration between students, teachers and labor market, and we try to adjust to policy slowly and step-by-step accordingly. Our Study Department together with study program’s directors work within Study Department Lab which is networking with European Comission networking organization EZA ("European Center for Workers’ Questions"), LBAS ("Latvian Free Trade Unions Association"), employers, and we are looking for our students’ perspectives in the labor market through future-oriented education while not forgetting classical European Judeo-Orthodox Christian anthropological foundations applied for global society needs, and Going Digital.
Student-centered education. Guiding not only native students but also incoming students in all their diversity creates positive study experience and personal development story for each student. We organize career counseling days inviting experts from LBAS ("Latvian Free Trade Unions Association") and employers for creating strong students’ counselling framework, tailored to the student, including those from disadvantaged groups or with a disability.
Quality of study programs. The important task for ECA is to help students to form their own worldview and to stimulate their social commitment to European social cohesion, solidarity and understanding of multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity; we stress that it leads to sustainability. As an applied research-intensive Academy, we invite students to pursue their own research interests and to develop skills regarding entrepreneurship and innovation. As applied research Academy we want to expand the Lifelong Learning in all its aspects starting from Micro Credentialing Framework in all its aspects.
Quality development of study programs. ECA strengthens joy, appreciates innovative thinking, reduction of stereotypes and routine in academic work and teaching. We do not allow bureaucratization taking over which is very common in professional education in Latvia. Our quality culture goes against routine in understanding of profession, and in our quality assurance it embodies culture of objectives for European society in the situation of globalization and risks. Our system LOGOS will be more expanded in future. Working regularly for quality culture system asks for excellent leadership also from the students. Therefore, the student’s representation associations (e.g., “Eleusa” - Association of Iconographers, and Association of Christian Professional Education) together with program directors as key figures, and expertise from the Academic Quality Unit goes hand-in-hand in our everyday work.
Preconditions for our quality culture are set out in the “Strategic Development Plan and Its Quality 2023-2027”. Realization of this plans depend on our “Shared Ownership” of both students’, teachers and staff members and goes through administrative infrastructural and financial aspects.