Brussels, 16/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 16 May, the European Union member states promised to reform their teaching systems to make them more modern and effective, in order to give students the necessary wherewithal to manage their social and professional lives successfully. There is no doubt about the importance of teaching and the quality of teaching for teachers and a good teacher is often cited as being directly responsible for students' achievements.
Education ministers held a debate on Thursday on ensuring a higher quality of teaching in order to promote greater learning skills. Androulla Vassiliou said it will not be possible to reduce the number of school drop outs or improve the skills necessary unless teachers and educational staff are helped to be able to do the best work possible.
The teaching and instruction profession has greatly developed and has become increasingly complex. New technologies are now a part of the instruments needed for teaching. Young people must be trained for the jobs of the future, some of which do not yet exist. They must be motivated in an unfavourable socio-economic world. The teaching profession is in crisis, moreover, with replacement staff lacking so that teachers who retire are not replaced. Recruitment policies and the selection of teachers are rarely systematic in member states, of which there are few that have standards that provide the necessary skills that teachers must have, commented Commissioner Vassiliou.
How should the value of the teaching profession be enhanced and how can people be given the desire to teach? What training should teachers have to undergo in order to upgrade their skills compared to the quality objectives aimed at by reforms underway? In order to give impetus to the debate, the Irish Presidency of the EU Council had invited two experts. Pasi Sahlberg, Director General of the Finnish centre for mobility and international cooperation, presented the Finnish model, which is particularly successful. For example, an average of ten candidates apply for the post of university professor in his country, when there are candidates lacking in the other member states. According to Sahlberg, politicians do not give enough attention to teacher training. Furthermore, it is not necessary to focus solely on the quality of teacher but also on the conditions in which teachers administer their know-how. The time has come, the expert said, to undertake robust reform. Christine Blower, who is chairperson of the European education trade union committee, believe teachers need a political framework to shoulder them and allow them to do their best, a framework allowing them to reconcile professional and private life. In their presentations, member states spoke of enhanced ambitions for the teaching profession and of the need to move away from the Anglo-Saxon model that gives almost unique importance to mathematics and sciences. Malta suggested that other quality criteria should be developed in order to mark a difference, such as innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. Hungary spoke of human qualities that teachers must have in order to capture the pupils' attention, which is essential if knowledge is to be passed on successfully. France underlined the huge number of responsibilities that teachers today have to shoulder, without their training having been developed to keep in pace. In addition to this, teachers' salaries are not attractive. Sweden, for its part, has adopted a decree granting a 10% premium to teachers considered to be the most successful. This is disputable, the minister admits, but it is a solution to attract the best applicants to the profession. Italy welcomed the “Erasmus for All” programme which, by encouraging social and geographic mobility of teachers, they are able to exchange their ideas and give each other mutual stimulation. By way of conclusion, Christine Blower calls for better dialogue between politicians and the teaching profession. Sahlberg invites member states to tap into the wealth of their schools and teachers. It is desirable to have greater freedom and autonomy granted to the teaching body as a whole and to directors so that they can give that much extra. That is a bold approach, he admitted. (IL/transl.jl)