Faculty of Education Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series — Professor Gábor Halász’s In-Depth Analysis of EU Education Governance

       On the afternoon of April 17, 2025, Professor Gábor Halász, Emeritus Professor of Education at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary and an expert in EU education policy, was invited to the Faculty of Education at Shenzhen University to deliver a lecture titled “The Role of the EU in Education Development.” The lecture was hosted by Professor Li Shuying, Dean of the Institute of Education at Shenzhen University’s Faculty of Education.

Drawing on over two decades of practical experience in policy formulation with international organizations such as the EU and OECD, Gábor Halász provided a comprehensive analysis of the EU’s evolving educational role, starting from the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, transitioning from “vocational training” to a “global education leader.” Through three landmark cases—the Bologna Process, Erasmus Program, and European Qualifications Framework—Halász vividly illustrated how the EU leverages innovative tools such as structural funds, policy networks, and soft legislation to promote deep collaboration among the education systems of its 27 member states. The lecture specifically analyzed the EU’s Higher Education Modernization Agenda’s impact on transforming teaching paradigms and the global curriculum reform wave triggered by the Key Competences Framework, offering new perspectives on recent initiatives like the “European Universities” project.

During the subsequent Q&A session, attendees engaged in lively discussions with Professor Halász on topics such as how the EU’s eight key competences influence curriculum design in member states and how to evaluate the effectiveness of EU education policies and funding implementation, creating an engaging and interactive atmosphere.

This event established a professional platform for educational dialogue, providing educators with a model for regional organizational collaboration and innovation, fully demonstrating the forward-looking vision of Shenzhen University’s Faculty of Education in international education policy research.