The Centre for Educational Research and Innovation continues to recognise the core importance of teachers and teaching. After an extensive synthesis of the OECD’s existing work on the teaching profession over the years, the need to explore professional roles and identity became obvious. The roles and responsibilities of teachers have seen significant changes over the past decade. Education, childhood, labour markets and society as a whole have experienced considerable changes, prompting the need to think about the effects of changes on the teaching profession. The New Professionalism and the Future of Teaching project researched how professionalism has evolved, including the importance of working with others to confront increasingly complex contexts, so called ‘connective professionalism’. Based on the evidence base and ideas for next practice, the project developed a methodology to help diverse stakeholders in education to construct a shared vision on what the teaching profession could look like in the future.
This study in Flanders is the first in a series of three education system studies conducted in 2023 and 2024. Various stakeholders, including teachers, school leaders, researchers, teacher educators, teacher unions, and professionals (potentially) supporting teachers and schools, including welfare, social and youth organisations, provided feedback on their ambitions for the future of teaching in Flanders. Choosing among a set of ambitions to better connect teachers with other professionals within the school community, other education providers (such as universities and teacher education colleges) and broader society, they shared their judgements of what would be high priority and also how big a change this would be from the current context. Would it be an ambition for transformation over a period of many years? Or would it be possible to build on existing mechanisms or initiatives? Or could this ambition be achieved by improvements over the short term?
Different perspectives were gathered in two main ways. First, via an online survey. As an example, all respondents rated as high priority that policymakers should play an important role in establishing and promoting key partnerships at the policy and Ministerial levels, and the majority (75%) judged this would require transformation. All respondents also rated as high priority that schools offer support to students who need help to become more independent in their own learning but judged that this could be achieved via building on current strengths in the system and some short-term improvements. Second, via two stakeholder workshops in Brussels and Ghent where a total of eight working groups collectively constructed scenarios for the future of teaching. Each working group comprised individuals with different roles and responsibilities in or around schools. They worked with the results of the survey and selected priority ambitions to support their vision on the future of teaching. These provided stimulus for their discussions, but their specific visions grew out of a mutual exchange of professional experiences from different perspectives within and surrounding teaching in Flanders.
Of course, this study in no way aims to be representative or comprehensive. It draws on the work of a group of willing professionals with a stake in Flemish education who offered to share their expertise. This initial effort to anticipate and increase deeper, structured thinking about medium- and long-term scenarios for teacher professionalism and empowerment offers input on how to strengthen the teaching profession in Flanders. Potential benefits for the system include long-term strategic thinking regarding the Flemish teacher workforce and finding solutions to issues that transcend the short-term.
While constructing their scenarios for the future of teaching, stakeholders reflected on three research questions set for this study by the Department of Education and Training in consultation with the OECD.
What is the core of being a teacher? The set of future scenarios envisage a core of teaching which focuses on a breadth of knowledge, including on the curriculum, child development and the school and student community. At the core of teaching is a passion for learning and a commitment to continuously update knowledge and expertise. Teachers forge a career path, with both opportunities to grow as teachers, as well as taking on other responsibilities. This is linked to a commitment to build on individual and collective professional strengths. Teachers collaborate within a school team and identify how their professional expertise contributes to the school’s objectives.
What do we expect from the teacher as professional? As professionals, teachers are expected to have a self-reflective attitude and take professional development seriously. Teachers are expected to view parents and families as important partners, to consider children’s full development context and exhibit positive attitudes towards diversity. Teachers are expected to work with and contribute to a shared evidence base and co-create excellent learning resources. Teachers are expected to work as part of a multidisciplinary team and build interprofessional and communication skills for working effectively with others.
And how can other professionals support the teacher in this? In many ways! First, teachers are supported by working with other colleagues within their schools and here the role of school leaders and school boards is crucial to build this collaborative school culture. Employers should take consistent and meaningful measures to make the day-to-day work of teachers, as well as teacher careers attractive, healthy and diverse. Considering the diversity of the teacher workforce and that not all teachers want to have the same careers. There are also calls for a high quality and consistent offer of professional development and support for teachers and for the research community to help with extending the evidence base for teaching in collaboration with teachers. Other professionals can provide specialised expertise, such as social/psychological expertise to extend teachers’ knowledge of children’s broader development needs. But also provide opportunities for teachers and students to help make learning more relevant and engaging. To support all these efforts, policy makers can ensure a clear continuum of learning and shared expectations to strengthen coherence across developmental stages and schools and set the framework conditions for a high-quality and consistent offer of continuous professional development for teachers.
The OECD identified eleven key elements that feature across a set of six preferred future scenarios for the future of teaching in Flanders. Arguably, all would be important to the future of teaching and many are common to several of the scenarios. In particular, a diversity of professional roles, a healthy work environment and empowering students featured to some extent in all six scenarios. School leadership and teacher collective learning were included in five of the scenarios. A vision for teaching and learning, community and higher education links were included in four of the scenarios. Teacher autonomy, equity and partnerships with family were explicitly featured in three scenarios.
The study also underlines the importance of thinking in more nuanced ways about the existing teacher workforce and potential new recruits. There is a rich diversity of professionals working within Flemish schools, with different motivations, life phases, passions, ambitions and professional development needs. An evidence-informed set of six Flemish teacher personas provides input to stress test the set of future scenarios. What would different teachers find attractive in the future scenarios that were developed? Would it be particularly attractive to experienced teachers? Would newer recruits hold some reservations? Would it match what younger people will be looking for in their working lives? Overall, the Flemish teacher personas responded positively to the suggested scenarios for the teaching profession in Flanders.
This report presents results of the initial reflection and provides tools to extend the exercise going forward.