In the past decade, The EU has become a key player in teacher policy related issues. The quality of teachers has a fundamental influence on the quality of learning in schools. Many European countries still face the challenges of teacher shortages, low prestige or not improving work conditions of the teaching professions.
Original Description:
Original Title
Review and Analysis of the EU Teacher-related Policies and Activities
In the past decade, The EU has become a key player in teacher policy related issues. The quality of teachers has a fundamental influence on the quality of learning in schools. Many European countries still face the challenges of teacher shortages, low prestige or not improving work conditions of the teaching professions.
In the past decade, The EU has become a key player in teacher policy related issues. The quality of teachers has a fundamental influence on the quality of learning in schools. Many European countries still face the challenges of teacher shortages, low prestige or not improving work conditions of the teaching professions.
Csilla Stger Introduction According to Ppin, it took the Union 30 years (19762006) to design a coherent framework of cooperation for the elds of education and training (Ppin, 2007). This shaped educational policy, and, within that, teacher policy in Europe. More- over, in the past decade, the EU has become a key player in teacher policy related issues: it sets priorities, raises awareness and has expectations of its own in a policy area that has always been known as national. The EU, from being the community of its Member States, has become the creator of common ground, of shared knowledge and values, as well as an inuential guiding force providing develop- mental aims. In the last decade it has become clear that schools need to be more effective to meet the labour market needs of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, and that the quality of teachers has a fundamental inuence on the quality of learning in schools. Many European countries still face the challenges of teacher shortages, low prestige or not improving work conditions of the teaching professions, result- ing in low attractiveness and retention of the best professionals. Hence, teacher policies became a high priority in Europe. This article gives an overview of teacher policy related European activities and analyses the context of teacher policy, its major European concepts and the methodology used for its development. The description of European institutions and decision making mechanisms is not the aim of this article, knowledge about these is presumed (http://europa.eu/about-eu/institutions-bodies/index_en.htm). Taking Stock of European Activities in Teacher Policies Setting the Goals and the Framework for European Cooperation In March 2000, the prime ministers of European Member States decided on the Lisbon Strategy: to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. Based on this, the Council of the EU set three major goals for the education and training systems in order to contribute to the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy. These are: (1) improving the quality of education and training systems, with special emphasis on improving the quality of training for teachers and trainers, (2) making access to learning easier, (3) opening education and training to the world, in other words strengthening links to the world of work, enhancing mobility of students, teachers and trainers and encour- aging people to study foreign languages (Council of the European Union, 2001). Concerning teacher policy, key areas of development were identied to con- tribute to the improvement of the quality of education and training systems (Council of the European Union, 2002a). They included: identifying the skills (competences) teachers should acquire, the notion of lifelong learning for teachers, attracting sufcient teachers, especially for maths and sciences, and promoting bs_bs_banner European Journal of Education, Vol. , No. , 2014 DOI: 10.1111/ejed.12089 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd innovative teaching, including the use of efcient methods. To succeed in reaching these goals, a common action was needed in the EU. Since education and a number of strategy-related other issues fall under national level competence, a common framework for coordinating national actions and sharing best practices was needed. Hence, the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) was launched (Eurofound, 2010). Recognising the strengths and weaknesses of the Lisbon Strategy, the EU2020 Strategy was developed in 2010, aiming at jobs and smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (European Council, 2010).The educational and training strategy for the decade (ET2020) declared four strategic objectives (1) realising lifelong learning and mobility, (2) improving the quality and efciency of education, (3) promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship and (4) enhancing crea- tivity and innovation at all levels of education (Council of the European Union, 2009a). Presidencies Supporting Actions on Teacher Policies The presidency priorities provide opportunities for raising awareness of national high level decision makers of particular challenges and also of good, efcient existing policy practices. As shown inTable I, seven countries chose teacher policy related priorities during their presidencies in the last decade. In most cases, presidencies targeted the improvement in quality of teacher educa- tion. The Irish Presidency was an exception, raising awareness on the need for supporting teacher educators and the current Greek presidency (the rst half of 2014) gives priority to the issue of quality in teacher education during the whole continuum in order to have a Council Conclusion on the theme accepted during the presidency period. TABLE I. Presidencies and their teacher policy related objectives (20052014) Member State of Presidency Teacher policy related objectives of presidencies Luxembourg no related objectives United Kingdom no related objectives Austria no related objectives Finland improvement of teacher education Germany the qualication (Trio programme) and cross-border mobility of teachers Portugal improvement of teacher education (Trio programme) Slovenia improvement of teacher education (Trio programme) France quality of science education Czech Republic no related objectives Sweden no related objectives Spain website not working Belgium no related objectives Hungary no related objectives Poland no related objectives Denmark no related objectives Cyprus no related objectives Ireland the support of teacher educators Lithuania no related objectives Greece improvement of teacher education throughout the continuum 2 European Journal of Education 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Council Conclusions As early as 2002, the Council Resolution on lifelong learning invited Member States to improve the education and training of teachers in order to equip them with the skills for the knowledge society (Council of the European Union, 2002b). Later, three major, specically teacher policy related Council Conclusions were adopted, which became guideline documents in this policy area: (1) the Council Conclusions on Improving the Quality of Teacher Education, in 2007, (2) the Council Conclusions on preparing young people for the 21 st century: an agenda for European cooperation on schools, in 2008 and (3) the Council conclusions on the professional development of teachers and school leaders, in 2009. The rst Council Conclusion highlights the need to take measures to improve teacher education at national level. It requested Member States to take steps in raising the level of qualications and the degree of practical experience required for employment as a teacher (Council of the European Union, 2007; C 300/8), and in providing an adequately resourced, coordinated, coherent and quality assured continuum of professional development for teachers during their whole career. The second Council Conclusion invited Member States, with the support of the Commission, to focus their cooperation on enhancing the attractiveness of the teaching profession, on enabling novice teachers to receive structured support, on reviewing the supply, quality and take-up of continuous professional development, on reviewing teacher recruitment, placement, retention and mobility policies and on improving the recruitment and training of school leaders (Council of the European Union, 2008). In the third, the Council of the European Union drew attention to the fact that knowledge, skills and commitment of teachers, as well as the quality of school leadership, are the most important factors in achieving high quality edu- cational outcomes (Council of the European Union, 2009b, p. 5) and therefore invited Member States to take steps to attract and retain the best candidates, to make appropriate provision for early career support (induction), to provide regular reviews of teachers continuous professional development needs, and to review the responsibilities of school leaders in order to reduce the administrative burden. Producing Milestone Documents Some documents of the European Commission also communicate the essence of ndings from member state level information, from peer learning and from exten- sive networking of experts, and draw conclusions, decide on future directions of activities, and on priorities. Documents with a milestone character include: (1) European Common Principles of Teacher Competences and Qualications of 2005 and (2) Commission Communication on Rethinking Education of 2012. Based on the 2004 interim report on the Education and Training 2010 pro- gramme (Council of the European Union, 2004), common European references and principles were developed by the Commission on competences and qualica- tions of teachers and trainers (European Commission, 2005). The European Common Principles of Teacher Competences and Qualications provided a common point of reference for peer learning within the OMC and thus laid the foundation of European cooperation on teacher policies. Csilla Stger 3 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Rethinking Education (European Commission, 2012a) draws attention to present challenges in education and identies policy level approaches that con- tribute to overcoming these. It is a summary of main ideas which are described more in detail in the many background documents, one of which is targeted at teacher policy issues. The Staff Working Document Supporting theTeaching Professions for Better Learn- ing Outcomes is a comprehensive analysis of the current situation of teachers, school leaders and teacher educators, the so-called teaching professions in Europe The Commission calls for the establishment of highly efcient and effective mecha- nisms to attract, recruit, educate, retain and support throughout their careers teachers, school leaders and teacher educators and highlights numerous priorities for action at the national level (European Commission, 2012b). OMC Targeting Teacher Policies Working Groups In 2005, the European Commission created a working group for peer learning in accordance with the OMC principles. Interested Member States could delegate national experts to the working group to create a platform for the exchange of policy ideas and of national practices on an equal basis. The rst such group was called Teachers and Trainers Cluster. In 2010, it was transformed into the Thematic Working Group on the Professional Development of Teachers, keeping most of its members and its working methods. The main reason for creating the Thematic Working Group was to set more specic thematic goals in peer learning and to create a three-year time frame to increase the output orientation and efciency of the work. From February 2014, the work continued in the Technical Working Group on Schools. The results of peer learning are published on the European Commission websites (http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/expert-groups _en.htm and www.ksll.net/MutualLearning2020/clusterDeatails.cfm?id=19) in the form of reports and also, depending on the subject, of guidelines for policy makers. These guidelines are: on induction (systemic support for beginning teachers) (European Commission, 2010b), on the support for teacher competence development (European Commission, 2013a) and on supporting teacher educators (European Commission, 2013b). Other working groups also dealt with connected issues, but did not focus on teachers. They work in the elds of early school leaving, early childhood education and care, ICT and maths, science and technology. Some of their reports also contain elements connected to teacher policies. European Networks Policy networks created and nancially supported by EU projects and spin off networks, already running independent of the EU, are also considered as impor- tant social partners in European teacher policy dialogue.These networks of experts are highly valued for knowledge sharing and gathering in Europe and also for inuencing national policy making. For example, the European Network on Teacher Education Policies (ENTEP) (http://entep.unibuc.eu) is a network of ministerial representatives, with a mixture 4 European Journal of Education 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd of ministerial civil servants and higher education experts. TEPE is a network of academics building on the work and community of previously achieved European collaborations. While the goals of ENTEP are more complex peer learning in teacher related policies, TEPE aims at developing research in and on teacher education, supporting mobility and the European dimension of teacher education and enhancing quality by changing assessment culture in teacher education (http:// tepe.wordpress.com). The activities of these networks show that there is a bottom-up need for cooperation and peer learning on teacher related policies. The European Policy Network on School Leadership (EPNoSL) is another example. It aims at improving school leadership within Member States by estab- lishing a community of practice where a wide network of national experts, policy makers, researchers and institutions share ideas, practices and learning. The network is funded by an LLP project. Knowledge Creation Eurydice has many publications dealing with different aspects of teacher policies in Europe. The Key Data series includes comparative statistical data and analyses aiming at giving an overall picture of educational policies in Europe. The publi- cations Key Data on Education 2009 and 2012 had a chapter on teachers, while the Key Data onTeachers and School Leaders in Europe 2013 was the rst of the series to exclusively target teacher policy issues (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2009, 2012, 2013a). The Facts and Figures Series of Eurydice are online publica- tions that contain comparative statistical data and analyses on certain aspects of national educational systems. A good example of the series is the publication Teachers and School Heads Salaries and Allowances in Europe 2012/13 (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2013b). Eurydice also produced a series of thematic reports titled The teaching profession in Europe between 20022004 (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2002a, 2002b, 2003, 2004). These were the rst reports to offer a detailed comparison of initial teacher education programmes, of supply and demand, of working condi- tions and of the most important challenges faced by lower secondary teachers. These thematic reports and the following reviews provided substantial data for education policy makers and for researchers worldwide. There are also many specially commissioned research papers and literature reviews in teacher policy related issues. One of the most important commissioned study was on teacher education for inclusion carried out by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education from 20092012 with the cooperation of experts from 26 countries. Its aim was to draw the prole of the inclusive teacher (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2012). The two important literature reviews in the eld of teacher policy must also be mentioned. The rst is about teachers core competences and the other is about the quality of teachers professional development. Both were commissioned to be used as input documents by the relevant peer learning activities (Caena, 2011a & 2011b). The Lifelong Learning Programme The Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) provided support for teacher mobility and for teacher education cooperation in various ways. The Comenius Programme offered support for taking teacher professional development courses abroad for about 10,000 teachers a year and supported 1,200 student teachers mobility in Csilla Stger 5 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd taking a job as a teacher assistant outside their country. Every year, the Grundtvig Programme supported the mobility of 1300 adult education teachers and 1400 Learning Partnerships, while the Leonardo Programme offered opportunities for about 15,000 vocational education teachers and trainers to take part in inter- national exchanges (Holdsworth, 2010). The eTwinning Platform (www .etwinning.net) also serves networks and projects of international school coopera- tion and teacher professional development through collaborative learning. From 2014, all these programmes were integrated into the Erasmus+ Programme, which offers opportunities for teacher mobility, partnerships and supports policy reforms (European Commission, 2014). European Funds in Support The 7 th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) supports research in educational science in the socio-economic sciences and the humanities. Although there is a clear need, it has not been widely used to support research or innovation related to teacher policy. In contrast, the ESF has been widely used to nance teacher policy related activities. According to a report produced for the European Commission on interventions of ESF in the area of education and lifelong learning, the following activities were of highest priority in teacher policies: between 20002006: the upgrading of teacher education systems by improving initial teacher education programmes and strengthening continuous profes- sional development especially in ICT and languages, between 20072013: competence development of teaching staff and teacher educators with special emphasis on intercultural and linguistic competences, the use of ICT and innovative teaching practices (McAnaney et al., 2010). Examples of teacher policy related ESF use are the Estonian induction system supported by an e-portfolio (Estonian Research Council, 2005) or the creation of regional teacher education centres in Hungary in order to provide a collaborative network of teacher education institutions and schools promoting the half year in school practice, to enhance research on teacher education, and to provide mentor training (Etvs Lornd Tudomnyegyetem, 2011). Analysis of EU Documents and Activities Related to Teacher Policy The European Context of Teacher Policies The birth and growth of European teacher policies were the consequences of strategic economic and employment imperatives. The Lisbon Strategy and the EU2020 strategy aim at economic growth in Europe through more and better jobs, sustainable technologies, knowledge-based societies and stronger social cohesion. These strategic goals reach for a higher level of global competitiveness through a well educated, adaptive and innovative labour force (European Commission, 2010a). The education strategies were drawn from the overall strategies in quite similar ways. To achieve the Lisbon Strategy, the educational priorities included: (1) improving the quality of the education systems, (2) providing wider access and (3) strengthening the links to the world of work (Council of the European Union, 2002a). The ET2020 priorities build on these: the rst priority is reinforced in improving the quality and the efciency of education, the second is reformulated 6 European Journal of Education 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd as promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship, the third is rened by enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship at all levels of education and training and a fourth priority is regular monitoring of achieved progress (Council of the European Union, 2009a). The Rethinking Education Communication of the European Commission which interpreted the ET2020 priorities raised awareness of the importance and urgency of educational reforms in increasing skills development, especially transversal skills, such as adaptability, entrepreneurship, innovativeness, and active citizenship, also for delivering the right skills for employment, promoting work-based learning and partnerships between public and private institutions in order to achieve higher levels of pupil attainments (European Commission, 2012a). In other words, edu- cational goals again were set to combat youth unemployment and ensure a well- qualied, adaptive and innovative work force. Amongst education policy issues, teacher policies have gained importance through research that showed that teachers were the primary factor in the levels of pupil attainment amongst those that education policies can inuence. Thus, the importance of the quality and effectiveness of the work of teachers were recog- nised, while agreeing on quality criteria (competences), installing systemic meas- ures for their acquisition and support in their development gained priority in Europe and in Member States. This hierarchy and the logical relation between overall, educational and teacher policy priorities are presented in Figure 1 which shows that teacher policies exist in a pragmatic employment-based context, with the greatest emphasis on pupils, their efcient learning and reached learning outcomes. Fundamental European Teacher Policy Concepts In such a policy context and through the OMC work some fundamental teacher policy concepts were developed, shared, accepted and sometimes implemented. FIGURE 1. The structure and priorities of teacher policy context Csilla Stger 7 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd These include: (1) the denition and use of teacher competences, (2) the creation of a continuum of teacher professional development and (3) the support of teacher educators. Teacher Competences Dening teacher competences and creating a competence-based framework to target and assess individual teacher professional development have become fun- damental concepts of European teacher policies. They began with the revision of the role of teachers. Teachers were not only expected to support the learning of subject matter, but also to develop transversal skills and thus help students to become valuable, effective and adaptive members of the labour market and active citizens. This shift became clear in the Common European Principles for Teacher Competences and Qualications (European Commission, 2005). In such a changing environment, the expectations and roles of teachers need to be dened in order to ensure systemic, high quality teaching at all schools. There must be a general agreement on teacher competences: what they should know (knowledge), should be able to do (skills) and should share as professional values (attitudes) in order to be effective in their work. With a lack of consensus and of adopted teacher competences or standards, the quality of teaching and the status of the profession can be hindered (European Commission, 2013a). The following set of core competences for effective teaching in the 21 st century was submitted to Member States for reection (European Commission, 2012b) (Table II). A framework of competence levels can then be designed to set clear criteria for certain stages in the teaching career, thus creating a tool for self-reection, a target for initial teacher education, induction and continuous professional development programmes and activities, and motivation for teachers personal development (European Commission, 2012a). Between 2006 and 2013, many European documents dealt with the issue of teacher competences, not only describing what they were and why they were needed, but also sharing policy practice on how competence frameworks can be used as development tools for an educational system.The constant emphasis in the European level policy discussions doubtlessly inuenced national debates and policy making, strengthening the awareness of the need to create a clear set of competences, while already existing national teacher competence proles or stan- dards inuenced the European discussions and concept. The Continuum of Teacher Professional Development The other fundamental concept of European teacher policies is the continuum, i.e. a harmonised overarching unity of initial teacher education (ITE), induction and continuous professional development (CPD). The continuum means that teachers are expected to develop continuously. At a systemic level, it is created by building induction on the professional outcomes of ITE in a bridging manner so that it prepares teachers for a career-long professional learning. It also requires that each phase gives feedback to the previous phase to develop quality. The relation of the phases is shown in Figure 2. The continuum of professional development is achieved by having shared professional values and expectations of teachers throughout the phases, by regu- lations of the phases, agreeing on basic principles, and by grounding work in all 8 European Journal of Education 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd phases on self-reection. Self-reection, being the basis of initial teacher educa- tion and of induction, results in a professional culture where teachers constantly question their performance in class and search for better, more effective ways of individualised support for students throughout their career. Without TABLE II. Competences required for effective teaching in the 21 st century Knowledge and understanding Subject matter knowledge Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), implying deep knowledge about content and structure of subject matter: knowledge of tasks, learning contexts and objectives knowledge of students prior knowledge and recurrent, subject specic learning difculties strategic knowledge of instructional methods and curricular materials Pedagogical knowledge (knowledge of teaching and learning processes) Curricular knowledge (knowledge of subject curricula e.g. the planned and guided learning of subject-specic contents) Educational sciences foundations (intercultural, historical, philosophical, psychological, sociological knowledge) Contextual, institutional, organizational aspects of educational policies Issues of inclusion and diversity Effective use of technologies in learning Developmental psychology Group processes and dynamics, learning theories, motivational issues Evaluation and assessment processes and methods Skills Planning, managing and coordinating teaching Using teaching materials and technologies Managing students and groups Monitoring, adapting and assessing teaching/learning objectives and processes Collecting, analysing, interpreting evidence and data (school learning outcomes, external assessments results) for professional decisions and teaching/learning improvement Using, developing and creating research knowledge to inform practices Collaborating with colleagues, parents and social services Negotiation skills (social and political interactions with multiple educational stakeholders, actors and contexts) Reective, metacognitive, interpersonal skills for learning individually and in professional communities Adapting to educational contexts characterised by multi-level dynamics with cross-inuences (from the macro level of government policies to the meso level of school contexts, and the micro level of classroom and student dynamics) Dispositions: beliefs, attitudes, values, commitment Epistemological awareness (issues concerning features and historical development of subject area and its status, as related to other subject areas) Dispositions to change, exibility, ongoing learning and professional improvement, including study and research Commitment to promoting the learning of all students Dispositions to promote students democratic attitudes and practices, as European citizens (including appreciation of diversity and multiculturality) Critical attitudes to ones own teaching (examining, discussing, questioning practices) Dispositions to team-working, collaboration and networking Sense of self-efcacy Source: European Commission, 2012b, L 25/65. Csilla Stger 9 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd self-reection, teachers are the object of development, whereas with self-reection they are the subject and generator of their development. Implicitly, the concept of the continuum also implies a strong learning orien- tation, a distinct shift from the traditional teacher and teaching based approaches. The centre of attention is the effective and individualised support to student learning, which is only achieved by constant and efcient teacher learning. Thus, schools become learning communities not only for students, but also for teachers whose effectiveness is measured not in hours and other inputs, but in learning outcomes and in competence levels. The concept of the continuum has been promoted by the European Commis- sion in documents and European professional dialogues. The 2009 Council Con- clusions concentrated on raising awareness on the importance of creating the continuum and invited Member States to take further steps towards it. This concept was a result of a two-way process, just like the concept of competences. On the one hand, the EU raised awareness of this concept by enhancing efciency and effectiveness at a system level regardless of country characteristics and also set it as a common goal, while on the other, Member States shared their practices and policies and thus inuenced European conceptualisation. Supporting Teacher Educators According to the denition adopted at the peer learning activity on teacher educators in 2010 in Reykjavk, teacher educators are all those who actively facilitate the (formal) learning of student teachers and teachers (European Commission, 2010c; 3). This broad denition incorporates not only higher edu- cation academic staff providing ITE, but also all professionals who support teacher learning during the continuum: school mentors, during the practicum of ITE and induction, and all those who provide CPD for teachers. This group is thus highly heterogeneous in terms of qualication, work experience, competence prole, work setting and institutional constraints. At the same time, the quality of teacher educators inuences the level of competences of teachers and their effective professional development. They repro- duce the teaching body, thus the educational system; they play a key role in introducing innovation and change into schools and are also important for under- taking research on teacher education (European Commission, 2013b). Even though this group has a great inuence on teachers and thus on the quality of education, a supportive policy is rare. The teacher educator profession is, in most Member States, still in its early stages of development (European Commission, 2013b; 7). Teacher educators belong to a variety of institutional contexts and there is not much research and data on them. However, the Com- mission working document, Supporting Teacher Educators for Better Learning Out- comes, gathered the results of peer learning, offered policy advice and country examples of good practices. Connuous professional development ITE Inducon FIGURE 2. Phases of the continuum and their relation (Source: M. Snoek at Tallinn PLA on induction) 10 European Journal of Education 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd The European Commission, in raising the issue of support to teacher educa- tors, went one step ahead of Member States. While with most issues, including the concept of dening competences and elaborating a continuum of teacher profes- sional development, there was effective member state policy practice that was shared and reected, the concept of support for teacher educators arose in the European context in collaborating experts dialogue.This is a signicant European contribution to Member State policy, a proof of the value of peer learning and thus of European cooperation in teacher policies. The Methodology of Peer Learning The methodology of peer learning activities (PLAs) that the European Commis- sion has developed as a tool of the OMC is worth analysing. Teacher policy-related PLAs are four-day working sessions held in one of the Member States where a specic area of teacher policies is discussed in detail. The host country is expected to present its policy practice with self-reection on effective aspects and challenges, with local stakeholder voices and site visits. The other Member States are repre- sented by two persons, one at the policy making level and the other from a relevant stakeholder group at the operational level. Country pairs are also expected to give a presentation on their country policy and receive feedback from peers as critical friends. The discussions aim at (1) getting to know and comparing in depth the existing effective policy practices and challenges of Member States, (2) developing a common understanding of success factors and (3) identifying key policy level conclusions (Snoek, Uzerli & Schratz, 2008). Such in-depth learning took place on a wide variety of themes. Table II shows the themes of the PLAs of the Cluster of Teachers andTrainers and theWorking Group on the Professional Development of Teachers. They show the aspects of teacher policies in which Member States were most interested in the last 8 years and give a good insight into the broadness and complexity of teacher-related policy issues (Table III). The themes show that Member States were not primarily interested in the comparison of the forms of the provision in the three phasese. It seems they were interested in specic aspects of the phases of the continuum. ITE was considered from the perspective of the practicum and diversity issues, while induction was looked at as an example, as a phase in a complex way. Amongst the phases, CPD attracted the most attention: ve different aspects of school development and teacher CPD were studied because Member States realised the importance of short- and medium-term improvement that is achievable through CPD policy development. These aspects include development of learning communities and school leadership, partnerships with companies and a balanced provision in terms of the needs of the system, the school and the individual teacher. The highest number of PLAs was about aspects of teacher policy related to the whole contin- uum: recruitment and selection, description and effective competence frameworks, assessment of competences, good school and higher education relations, and support of teacher educators. The benets of these PLAs were not only shared policy examples and country examples, but also resulted in a common understanding of terms, of complex concepts, of systemic relations and also of dening a higher level of abstraction and common European recommendations. The PLA seems to be an ideal method of sharing and learning, yet the challenge of the dissemination of its results is a difcult one. Two delegates of a country, even if representing two stakeholder Csilla Stger 11 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd groups, often had difculties in nding the right methods to reach all relevant stakeholders in their home country in order to disseminate results. The challenge lies not only in nding the right channels and methods of communication to a very extensive group, but also in sharing a very intensive, personal learning process. Sometimes the outcomes of the PLAs are beyond understanding to many who do not have a similar learning process. Conclusion: The Visible Europeanisation of Teacher Policy As has been shown, teacher policy issues are high on the European agenda. Based on the shared understanding of Member States and through its formal legislative procedures, the EU decides on common action, it adopts recommendations and provides working documents of best practices and guidelines for policy-making. With these documents and funding schemes, the EU also provides a framework for the implementation of national policy developments. Also, there are many forms of European level data gatherings, commissioned research, analysis, and formal and informal expert networks that communicate on issues regarding teacher policies. The existing national level data are now available at European level, models and schemes of comparisons have arisen. It means that we know a great deal more about teacher policies at a higher level of abstraction, creating knowledge of what works and how. This has made the EU an inuential player in teacher policy debates and reforms. At the same time, the EU is the community of its Member States. Its decisions and priorities and their implementation are inuenced by country views TABLE III. Dates, Locations and Themes of Peer Learning Activities on Teacher Policies Year Host country Theme 2005 Ireland Continuous professional development for teachers and trainers 2006 The Netherlands Schools as learning communities for their teachers 2007 Austria Partnership between schools for vocational education and training and companies 2007 Norway Preparing teachers to teach effectively in cultural diverse settings 2007 Denmark Relationships between teacher education institutions and schools 2008 Estonia Inductionsystemic support to beginning teachers 2009 Lithuania Practical classroom training in initial teacher education 2009 Brussels Assessment of Key Competences Joint seminar with other Clusters 2010 Iceland Teacher educators 2010 Cyprus School leadership for learning 2011 Ireland Policy approaches to dening and describing teachers competences 2011 Poland Policy approaches supporting the acquisition and continuous development of teacher competences 2012 Brussels Peer Learning Conference, Education: 2 Policy Support for Teacher Educators 2012 The Netherlands Policies to select the best for teaching 2013 Austria Teacher CPD policies: balancing needs and provision at the level of individual teachers, schools and of education systems Source: Personal notes of the author as a member of the group. 12 European Journal of Education 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and actions. In other words, what we see looking at teacher policy activities in Europe today is the two-way interaction process of Europeanisation that is also visible in other elds of education policy (Halsz, 2012). Being part of the Euro- pean Community inuences the teacher policies of each Member State and at the same time, through complex mechanisms of interaction, those of the Community. Csilla Stger, Educational Authority, Department for Higher Education, 1055 Budapest, Szalay u. 1014, Hungary, steger.csilla@oh.gov.hu REFERENCES CAENA, F. (2011a) Literature Review Teachers Core Competences: requirements and development. European Commission Thematic Working Group Professional Development of Teachers (Brussels, European Commission). (http://ec .europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/doc/teacher-competences _en.pdf) CAENA, F. (2011b) Literature Review Quality in Teachers Continuing Professional Development. 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