Brussels, 25/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - Europe needs more qualified teachers to replace the earlier generation who are now retiring. This is one of the conclusions of a new report on the Eurydice network, published on 25 June.
The study, entitled The Teaching Profession in Europe: practices, perceptions and policies, looks at the teaching profession in European countries and examines the challenges arising today - is a teaching career always seen as attractive these days? Do teachers have sufficient training? Is cross-border mobility viewed favourably by teachers?
“Well-qualified teachers need all our support in raising the next generations of creative and responsible Europeans. Together with member states, we are working to equip teachers with the skills and expertise needed to respond to the diverse challenges of today's classrooms,” said Education Commissioner Tibor Navracsics. In the wider Europe (the 28 EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Repbulic of Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey) there are more than two million lower secondary teachers, who feel that they are not given enough on-the-job training and the training that they are offered is not adapted to the realities of the classroom and current needs, such as guiding pupils, children with special needs and multicultural classes.
The report makes the following comments: 1) women are over-represented in teaching; 2) there is a danger of a shortage of teachers in the near future with many teachers due to retire over the next few years; 3) in nearly two-thirds of European countries, new teachers have access to a structured management at the beginning of their career; 4) practically all new teachers are managed during their first years of teaching; 5) teachers express a need for further professional training in teaching methods rather than the subject matter they are teaching; 6) the training and professional development courses on offer do not meet the needs expressed by teachers; 7) paying better attention to the professional training needs expressed by teachers would make it possible to provide suitable training courses; 8) fewer than a third of teachers have been abroad related to their job; 9) the Erasmus + programme is the main financing framework for teacher cross-border mobility; 10) several factors have to be taken into account when assessing the attraction of a teaching career. (Isabelle Lamberty)