12.12.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 302/6

HAVING REGARD to:

and RECALLING IN PARTICULAR:

1.

The knowledge, skills and commitment of teachers (15), as well as the quality of school leadership, are the most important factors in achieving high quality educational outcomes. Good teaching and the ability to inspire all pupils to achieve their very best can have a lasting positive impact on young people’s futures. For this reason, it is essential not only to ensure that those recruited to teaching and school leadership posts are of the highest calibre and well-suited to the tasks they have to fulfil, but also to provide the highest standard of initial education and continuing professional development for teaching staff at all levels. This in turn will contribute to enhancing both the status and attractiveness of the profession.

2.

Teacher education programmes, which are key factors both in preparing teachers and school leaders to carry out their responsibilities and in ensuring teachers’ and school leaders’ continuing professional development, need to be of high quality, relevant to needs and based on a well-balanced combination of solid academic research and extensive practical experience. It is essential that initial teacher education, early career support (‘induction’ (16)) and continuous professional education are treated as a coherent whole.

3.

A new teacher’s first post after the completion of initial teacher education is a particularly important time in terms of his/her motivation, performance and professional development. Newly qualified teachers can have difficulty in adjusting to real school situations and applying what they have learned during initial teacher education. Indeed, a substantial number of them ultimately abandon their teaching careers, at a high cost both to themselves and to society. There is considerable national and international research evidence to show, however, that structured programmes of support for all new teachers can reduce this phenomenon. These may also be beneficial for teachers re-entering the profession.

4.

No course of initial teacher education, however excellent, can equip teachers with all the competences they will require during their careers. Demands on the teaching profession are evolving rapidly, imposing the need for new approaches. To be fully effective in teaching, and capable of adjusting to the evolving needs of learners in a world of rapid social, cultural, economic and technological change, teachers themselves need to reflect on their own learning requirements in the context of their particular school environment, and to take greater responsibility for their own lifelong learning as a means of updating and developing their own knowledge and skills. However, there is evidence that some teachers still have too few opportunities to participate in continuous professional development programmes, while a significant number of those who do have such opportunities feel that these programmes are not always sufficiently relevant to their individual needs and the challenges they face.

5.

Effective school leadership is a major factor in shaping the overall teaching and learning environment, raising aspirations and providing support for pupils, parents and staff, and thus in fostering higher achievement levels. It is therefore of key importance to ensure that school leaders have, or are able to develop, the capacities and qualities needed to assume the increasing number of tasks with which they are confronted. Equally important is ensuring that school leaders are not overburdened with administrative tasks and concentrate on essential matters, such as the quality of learning, the curriculum, pedagogical issues and staff performance, motivation and development.

6.

Teaching staff at all levels, including school leaders, could draw greater benefit from increased learning mobility and networking, given the important role these have played in enhancing the quality of education and training systems and institutions, as well as in making such systems and institutions more open, more outward-looking, more accessible and more efficient,

1.

While Europe’s education systems differ in many respects, they share a common need to attract and retain teaching staff and school leaders of the highest calibre in order to ensure high quality educational outcomes. Great care and attention should therefore be devoted to defining the required profile of prospective teachers and school leaders, to selecting them and preparing them to fulfil their tasks.

2.

Teacher education programmes should be of high quality, evidence-based and relevant to needs. Those responsible for training teachers — and indeed for training teacher educators — should themselves have attained a high academic standard and possess solid practical experience of teaching, as well as the competences which good teaching requires. Efforts should also be made to ensure that teacher education institutions cooperate effectively, on the one hand with those conducting pedagogical research in other higher education institutions, and on the other with school leaders.

3.

In view of the increasing demands placed upon them and the growing complexity of their roles, teachers need access to effective personal and professional support throughout their careers, and particularly during the time they first enter the profession.

4.

In a rapidly changing world, and in keeping with the concept of lifelong learning, the education and development of teachers should be a coherent continuum spanning initial teacher education (with a strong practical component), induction and continuing professional development. In particular, efforts should be made to ensure that:

5.

Given the considerable impact which school leaders have on the overall learning environment, including staff motivation, morale and performance, teaching practices and the attitudes and aspirations of pupils and parents alike, there is a need to ensure that school leaders have sufficient opportunities to develop and maintain effective leadership skills. And since the challenges involved in leading learning communities are similar throughout Europe, school leaders could also benefit from collaborative learning with their counterparts in other Member States, notably by sharing experience and examples of good practice, and through cross-border opportunities for professional development,

1.

Take further steps to ensure that the teaching profession attracts and retains candidates of the highest calibre, and that teachers receive sufficient preparation and support to enable them to carry out their responsibilities effectively.

2.

Make appropriate provision for all new teachers to participate in a programme of induction offering both professional and personal support during their first years in a teaching post.

3.

Provide for regular reviews of teachers’ individual professional development needs as defined on the basis of self- and/or external evaluation, and make available sufficient opportunities for continuous professional development aimed at meeting those needs and in turn ensuring a positive impact on pupils’ learning outcomes.

4.

Actively promote the opportunities offered by exchange and mobility schemes at both national and international level, and support participation in such schemes, with a view to substantially increasing the numbers of teachers and school leaders who take advantage of these.

5.

Review the responsibilities of — and the provision of support for — school leaders, notably with a view to lightening their administrative workload so that they focus their attention on shaping the overall teaching and learning environment and on fostering higher achievement levels.

6.

Ensure that high quality provision exists to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required by both prospective and practising teachers, as well as to develop — for instance, by means of special programmes — the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to provide effective school leadership,

1.

Enhance and support European policy cooperation in the areas of initial teacher education, continuous professional development and school leadership, notably by establishing platforms and peer-learning activities for the exchange of knowledge, experience and expertise among policymakers and teaching professionals.

2.

Present practical information for policymakers on developing structured induction programmes for all new teachers, together with examples of measures that can be taken to implement or improve such programmes.

3.

Promote and support greater participation by teachers, school leaders and teacher educators in transnational mobility schemes, partnerships and projects established under Community programmes, in particular the Lifelong Learning Programme.

4.

Prepare a study of the existing arrangements in Member States for selecting, recruiting and training teacher educators.

5.

Provide a compendium of teacher competences in the Member States, accompanied by peer-learning activities in this field.

6.

Support the further development of an evidence base on the teaching and school leadership professions, including through cooperation with international organisations.

7.

Inform the Council, using existing reporting mechanisms and at the earliest suitable opportunity, about measures taken by the Member States and in the context of European cooperation as a follow-up to the Council conclusions of November 2007 on improving the quality of teacher education and those of November 2008 on an agenda for European cooperation on schools with regard to the professional development of teachers and school leaders.