Europa: Lehrer und Ausbilder für den Wandel

Teachers and trainers for change

The professional development of teachers and trainers can be an essential driving force for high-quality and inclusive education and training in Europe, a new comprehensive, country-by-country Cedefop report asserts.

The thematic perspectives series of reports published by Cedefop's ReferNet network, VET teachers and trainers in a changing world, covers 29 countries (EU Member States, Norway and Iceland), illustrate the importance of the professional development of teachers and trainers, who are at the frontline of vocational education and training (VET) delivery.

The European Year of Youth 2022 focuses on young people’s voices for co-designing a peaceful, greener, digital and more inclusive continent. Thus, it is essential that teachers have the opportunity to reskill and upskill towards future-oriented competences, which they can then pass on to students.

The thematic perspective reports address information gaps and provide systematic national approaches to, and opportunities for, initial and continuing professional development of VET teachers and trainers, both at school and work-based settings.

In addition, the country reports provide:

• national definitions of key terms such as teachers, in-company trainers and mentors;
• a clear map of teaching professionals working in initial VET (IVET), including apprenticeship schemes;
• an analysis of how their professional development is organised and supported.

They also highlight policy and practice developments from 2015 to date, focusing particularly on digital and green skills, as well as on skills promoting inclusion in IVET.

Furthermore, experts drawing up the series discuss the persisting challenges VET teachers and trainers face to perform their complex role, and how policy priorities are shaped in each country to address such challenges.

This new evidence is designed to help policy-makers, social partners, scholars and VET practitioners design policies to foster VET teaching and training staff's access to quality lifelong learning.

ReferNet is a network of institutions created by Cedefop in 2002 bringing together national VET actors and aiming to provide information on national VET systems and policies in the EU Member States, Iceland and Norway.