Vol. 16 No. 31 (2026): (Upcoming) Beyond measurement: discourses, politics and process of construction of Learning Outcomes in education
Monographic Section

From Brussels to the Classroom: : The Multi-Level Translation of Learning Outcomes in a Small-State Higher Education System

  • Dariush Rahiminia,
  • Gianluca Abela
Dariush Rahiminia
Università Niccolò Cusano

Published 2026-10-02

Keywords

  • learning outcomes,
  • qualifications frameworks,
  • small-state higher education,
  • policy translation,
  • malta

How to Cite

Rahiminia, D., & Abela, G. (2026). From Brussels to the Classroom: : The Multi-Level Translation of Learning Outcomes in a Small-State Higher Education System. Cambio. Rivista Sulle Trasformazioni Sociali, 16(31). Retrieved from https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/cambio/article/view/20131

Copyright (c) 2026 Dariush Rahiminia, Gianluca Abela

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Learning Outcomes (LOs) are a foundational instrument of European higher education policy. Since the Bologna Process and the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), they have been promoted as transparent, portable, and measurable statements of what learners know and can do. Yet this paper argues that LOs are not fixed technical objects transmitted unchanged through governance chains: they undergo successive and substantive transformation — translation, not implementation — as they travel from supranational EU policy through national qualifications frameworks, national quality assurance processes, and institutional programme design to classroom delivery. Drawing on a qualitative institutional case study of a small private Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Malta, the paper traces this chain across four levels: the EQF, the Malta Qualifications Framework (MQF), the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA) accreditation process, and institutional practice. Theoretical resources are drawn from Ball, Maguire and Braun's policy enactment framework, Bernstein's concept of recontextualization, and the comparative literature on small-state education systems. The paper introduces "compressed governance" to describe how the structural features of small states — concentrated institutions, overlapping roles, abbreviated governance chains — shape LO translation dynamics. Key findings include the MQF's amplification of EQF descriptors; the institutionally discretionary character of MFHEA accreditation; "LO bricolage" produced by dual accreditation requirements; and the partial evaporation of formal LO specifications in classroom practice. The paper argues these are structural features of multi-level LO governance particularly visible in small-state contexts, and calls for comparative education research to treat governance scale as a primary analytical variable.

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