Pedagogical Issues from Humboldt to Bologna: The Case of Norway and Germany

Are the central pedagogical concepts and practices of the Humboldtian university, with Bildung as the overarching goal, only part of an elitist history of the university in the past or may they still be of relevance for the 21st century? What processes are involved in fostering Bildung then and now? This article investigates such questions, with a special focus on seminar pedagogy. A brief account is given of the major pedagogical consequences of the Bologna-related Quality Reform in Norway and the problems of Bologna adaptation in Germany. Although both countries used the Bologna Process to solve internal problems in higher education, pedagogical improvements were more visible in Norway, but Bildung as a concept has been nearly absent from the debate until 2009. In Germany, however, Humboldtian ideals are still a reference point and ongoing large-scale pedagogical experiments have aimed at modernising these in the face of mass education. This may prove a source of innovation for post Bologna re-reform.