This chapter provides OECD analysis of the results of the study on the future of teaching in Flanders, including a focus on the diversity of the current and future teacher workforce and lessons for transformation emerging from the set of preferred future scenarios. First, it summarises the input from stakeholders on the research questions for the study. Second, it provides analysis on key elements that feature across the set of six preferred future scenarios and suggests three interconnecting themes to help realise the future scenarios. Third, it considers the implications for strategic thinking and moving forward. The final section presents more specific ideas to support transformation of teaching in Flanders.
Constructing Scenarios for the Future of Teaching in Flanders
Educational Research and Innovation
Abstract
This study set out to explore three research questions related to the future of teaching in Flanders:
1. What is the core of being a teacher?
2. What do we expect from the teacher as a professional?
3. How can other professionals* support the teacher in this (*inside and outside the school, from other sectors and the wider community around the school)?
These questions were developed by the Ministry’s team as part of a focus on developing a long-term strategy for the future of the teaching profession in Flanders.
During the workshops, each working group was asked to document how their preferred scenario addressed the research questions. As a reminder, these scenarios were drafted using the ambition loops tool which was explicitly constructed using evidence-based statements as outlined in Chapter 2. Key input was distilled from the set of six scenarios that were constructed by the different groups and is presented in Box 5.1 and Box 5.2.
The core of being a teacher comprises:
Knowledge of the curriculum and the developmental stage of children.
Knowledge of the school and student community and societal context.
Ensuring suitable learning conditions for all students and identifying and nurturing their different motivations and points of interests.
A passion for learning and a commitment to continuously updating expertise, pedagogical and didactic knowledge.
Forging a career path is a core aspect of being a teacher, horizontally and vertically.
Building (individual and collective) professional strengths and interests and identifying how these contribute to the school’s objectives.
Collaborating within a school team, including opportunities for non-traditional forms of professional development.
As a professional, we expect the teacher to:
Have a self-reflective attitude;
Take professional development seriously;
Forge different career paths and take advantage of development opportunities;
View parents and families as important partners;
Take account of the full development context of children/students;
Exhibit positive attitudes towards diversity;
Work with a trusted and shared evidence base and contribute to this (experiment/evaluate new practices);
Co-create excellent learning resources;
Work as part of a multidisciplinary team;
Build interprofessional skills and communication for collaboration with other professionals.
Source: OECD workshops on New Professionalism and the Future of Teaching in Flanders.
School leaders/school boards – building a collaborative school culture, sharing micro-innovations in and across schools, establishing, and strengthening community links, ensuring well-being and diverse career options for staff, having high quality, sophisticated and strategic Human Resources-policies in place.
Colleagues within the school – pooling expertise and developing different profiles within the broader team, supported by effective collaboration in and across classrooms and at the school level.
Professional development providers – high quality (‘trusted’) and consistent offer.
Researchers –extend the evidence base for teaching and collaborate with teachers.
Social/psychological experts – extend teachers’ knowledge of broader development needs and provide specialist support for students when needs are identified by teachers.
Policy makers – ensure a clear continuum of learning and shared expectations for coherence across developmental stages and schools; set conditions and promote a long-term vision. Regarding continuous professional development, ensure a consistent high-quality offer and other support to teachers and schools.
Business / industry / non-governmental organisations / public sector – provide opportunities for students and teachers that can help make learning more relevant and engaging.
Source: The input from stakeholders is distilled from the set of six preferred scenarios for the future of teaching in Flanders.
This study on the Future of teaching in Flanders sought to create space to collectively consider opportunities that can inform longer-term transformation, shorter-term improvement and build on current strengths. As a basis, this section identifies key elements that feature across the set of scenarios, keeping in mind input from different stakeholders on the degree of change required to current policy and practice.
As a first step, there are eleven key elements that feature across the set of six preferred future scenarios. These reflect the choice of specific ambitions and collegial discussion within the working groups. Arguably, all of these elements would be important to the future of teaching. Figure 5.1 provides an overview of the extent that each element appears in each of the scenarios and shows that many ideas are common to several of the scenarios for the future of teaching. In particular, a diversity of professional roles, 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.
There is consensus across the scenarios that the core focus of being a teacher relates to work with children and young people and maintaining a focus on this core relationship as central to the teacher’s role. However, on other aspects there was some diffusion amongst stakeholders about the core focus. For example, many of the scenarios emphasise a broad core focus of being a teacher that includes skills in working collaboratively with colleagues and other partners and that promotes a broader understanding of supporting children’s development. However, scenarios 4 and 5 emphasise a narrower focus for the core role of teachers, including professional development and reducing tasks that take away from their work in the classroom. It is important to revisit descriptions of the core role of the teacher to build a common understanding based on current and future education goals. This can support building of momentum for positive, sustainable change over the medium term and reduce diffusion.
Note: This figure indicates the OECD analysis of key elements features across the set of six preferred future scenarios. Features outlined by a black box are the core focus of the particular scenario. For example, in Scenario 1, community is the core focus.
Source: OECD study on New Professionalism and the Future of Teaching in Flanders.
As a second step, taking the input from stakeholders on the research questions and the key elements featured across the set of scenarios, three themes emerged that could support realising the preferred future scenarios:
1. Sustaining investment in teachers as professionals.
2. Investing in the importance of school leadership.
3. Promoting a dual focus on benefits for teachers and students.
Sustaining investment in teachers as professionals
The centrality of professional knowledge and expertise and the need to continuously update this features strongly in stakeholders’ vision for teachers as professionals (Box 5.1). This also includes an evidence base for teachers’ work and collaboration with researchers (Box 5.2), interprofessional collaboration as a way of deepening expertise and availability of different roles for teachers during their career. A diversity of professional roles is explicitly referenced in every scenario (Figure 5.1).
Investing in teaching begins by recognising and nurturing the passion and expertise of each professional. This includes continually investing in creating a healthy working environment – as part of developing expertise a role for school leaders and teachers is to promote the well-being of all, including their professional development and satisfaction (Backers, Tuytens and Devos, 2020[1]). It also includes a sense of responsibility for creating a teaching profession (de Jong, Meirink and Admiraal, 2019[2]) that grows professionalism, respects and appreciates variety, diversity (both in roles and backgrounds), ambition and career perspectives (Pauwels et al., 2022[3]). Valuing teachers as professionals can benefit individual teachers, enhance the profession’s status (Mezza, 2022[4]; Sachs, 2016[5]), and enhance the quality of schooling. Side-entrants and a new, younger generation of future teachers in particular would likely consider a focus on these elements (Clemson et al., 2020[6]; Mombaers, Vanlommel and Van Petegem, 2020[7]; Vanslambrouck, 2014[8]; Baeten and Meeus, 2016[9]).
Investing in teachers as professionals recognises that, similar to other contemporary professionals, professionalism will rely on increased inter-professional collaboration to respond to a changing world (Nilsson Brodén, 2022[10]; Jordan, Kleinsasser and Roe, 2014[11]; Lawson and Lawson, 2020[12]). Collaboration with other colleagues, inside the school and across schools, as well as other professionals, can support teachers’ professional work (Jordan, Kleinsasser and Roe, 2014[11]; Lawson and Lawson, 2020[12]; Brinckman and Versluys, 2021[13]; Tuytens, Vekeman and Devos, 2020[14]). An important basis would be the assumption that any partnerships would result in an overall greater benefit for teachers and be considered useful (Nilsson Brodén, 2022[10]; Brinckman and Versluys, 2021[13]), including strengthening their expertise, reducing net workload and enhanced support for students. Similarly, there is opportunity to consider how teachers can work as a group to provide mutual benefits, as highlighted by TALIS 2018 (OECD, 2020[15]; Van Droogenbroeck et al., 2020[16]), including job satisfaction and efficacy resulting from deeper forms of professional collaboration.
Recognising the importance of and investing in school leadership
Working as part of a school team and identifying how individual and collective strengths contribute to the school objectives are part of stakeholders’ vision for teachers as professionals (Box 5.1). Stakeholders also highlight the pivotal role for school leadership and school boards in building a collaborative school culture, and establishing and nurturing partnerships with families and the community to support teachers’ work (Box 5.2). In the only scenario (2) where school leadership is not explicitly referenced, core focus is placed on a shared vision for teaching and learning within the school team and also with partners who support the school’s work (Figure 5.1).
One of the most direct ways to support the work of teachers is to invest in the importance of school leadership (Thomas et al., 2018[17]; Van Maele and Van Houtte, 2012[18]; Van Droogenbroeck, Spruyt and Vanroelen, 2014[19]). The key work of teachers occurs in and around their classrooms and within their schools to benefit students and the community. Support for this work can enhance quality schooling outcomes across the education system. School leaders play a pivotal role for supporting students, teachers and other staff and nurturing productive relationships with the community and are supported by school boards to do so (Tuytens, Vekeman and Devos, 2020[14]; Flemish Ministry of Education and Training, 2023[20]).
Making a positive difference to the work of teachers requires skillful support from school leadership to develop expertise and motivation (Brinckman and Versluys, 2021[13]; Tuytens, Vekeman and Devos, 2021[21]; Thomas et al., 2018[22]). The importance of this role has been referred to in multiple scenarios. For example, fully utilising the diverse expertise of teachers within a school will need support for exploring school organisation and leadership approaches. School leaders will require support for realising this potential by developing themselves in this direction as well.
Promoting a dual focus on benefits for teachers and students
Knowledge of the student community and ensuring suitable learning conditions and nurturing the talents of all students are part of stakeholders’ vision for teachers as professionals (Box 5.1). Stakeholders also highlight the potential for stronger links with a broad range of external experts that will bring opportunities for both students and teachers (Box 5.2).
During the study, many of the conversations about teachers’ work led to discussion of the purpose of schooling, including supporting children and young people. Indeed, empowering students is explicitly featured in all scenarios (Figure 5.1). Any transformation must be considered with dual lenses of benefits for teachers (collectively and individually) and students (McGrath, 2023[23]; Darling-Hammond, 2024[24]). For example, many opportunities discussed for establishing connections with the broader community directly relate to evolving or emerging areas of learning for students, where external expertise can be of considerable support to teachers’ work (Nilsson Brodén, 2022[10]; Brinckman and Versluys, 2021[13]). Establishing partnerships will bring benefits for teachers, including learning with other professionals, professional satisfaction, valuing and better respect in society for the teachers’ role and support across all phases of a career (Clemson et al., 2020[6]). For students, benefits relate to a broader variety of learning experiences in different contexts (Darling-Hammond, 2024[24]).
A range of core topics emerged through the study which can be explored as part of a forward-looking strategy. These are highlighted areas where policy decision making requires a more sophisticated response. Some researchers suggest we should see many of the areas for investigation in education as wicked problems. The term “wicked problems” was used by Rittel and Webber (1973[25]) to describe how social issues can be “re-solved” within contexts through processes such as goal setting and problem identification by collective stakeholder voices rather than “solved” as might be done by an engineer to a problem they have been tasked. As Jordan, Kleinsasser and Roe describe, “the goal simply shifts from finding truth to improving the identified need” (2014, p. 422[11]).
Short-term reality and long-term innovations
While the future of teaching holds many opportunities, it would be incorrect not to recognise that the short-term reality in schools is marked by a tight labour market, teacher shortages and high work pressure (Flemish Ministry of Education and Training, 2023[26]; De Witte et al., 2023[27]). An obvious tension is therefore the relatability and feasibility of working towards the elements that have been identified as promising for the future of teaching in the Flemish context. It should also be noted that some of these issues are beyond the possibilities and capacities of the education sector to change, such as labour market realities or societal changes (De Witte et al., 2024[28]).
However, remaining focused on longer-term preferred futures can influence short-term decisions (Ko and Yang, 2024[29]; Störmer et al., 2020[30]), including offering bold, informed policy choices (Fuller, 2017[31]) for the short term that can benefit and do not hinder, desirable long-term visions (Störmer et al., 2020[30]). For example, decisions that ensure current professionals feel their work is valued (retention) and future professionals are motivated to choose teaching as their desired career (attracting). A focus on future preferred scenarios can therefore impact positively on decisions made for the present (Ko and Yang, 2024[29]; Störmer et al., 2020[30]; Fuller, 2017[31]).
Investing in teachers
Specific areas to be explored in relation to investing in teachers includes (a) autonomy, (b) continuing professional learning and (c) collaborative endeavors:
Autonomy is a strength that can be valued within the Flemish system, compared to many other education systems in the OECD (OECD, 2020[15]). However, the concept of autonomy needs to be refreshed to build consensus about how it should evolve within current and future contexts. Autonomy as an individual characteristic of teachers (Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2021[32]) can also mean closing the door of your classroom, while future contexts will require -and look for- autonomy that supports individual interests and practices, but also accepts collective goals and directions. Autonomy could also mean that teachers work within a school as a team to make decisions about their teaching in ways that connects with positive feelings about autonomy (Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2021[32]; Valckx, Vanderlinde and Devos, 2020[33]).
An extension of this ‘collaborative autonomy’, working as a professional as part of a broader school team, would provide greater opportunities to build teams with a greater diversification of their work based on individual strengths and interests. While this could in turn result in a challenge, as a school to balance expertise across the teacher team, this approach would align autonomy with professional accountability to the collective goals.
Continuing professional learning (CPL) is a core part of being a teacher (Suarez and McGrath, 2022[34]; Education International, 2019[35]), including to build expertise, competencies and Teacher Professional Identity (Hanna et al., 2020[36]; Suarez and McGrath, 2022[34]). Similar to autonomy, there is a need to balance collective and individual needs. Professional learning is often part of a collective activity, but should also be informed by individual needs, interests, and experience. There is a need to balance general topics for learning for a team and providing support that is more directly relevant to each teachers’ current work, needs and interests. For the latter, there is also opportunity to value and draw on the collective strengths of other teachers and partners to support addressing these identified focuses (Suarez and McGrath, 2022[34]). There is also a need to consider the overall needs of each teacher over their career lifespan (Mezza, 2022[4]).
During various phases of the study, a desire for expanded directions in continuing professional development was expressed. This continues previous work developing CPL (Boeskens, Nusche and Yurita, 2020[37]). At the same time, other education systems are recognising the limitations of more traditional forms of professional development (for example, individuals attending one-off courses). Going forward, there is opportunity in Flanders to expand support for continuing professional learning in more innovative ways such as, greater focus on CPL addressing current needs of teachers for their current classes (OECD, 2021[38]). This could involve placing greater value on peer learning, sharing and development that builds individual and collective Teacher Professional Identity.
Collaborative endeavors with stakeholders (as mentioned in Box 5.2) can empower teachers by combining skills and providing supportive relationships that can add to job satisfaction (Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2021[32]; OECD, 2020[15]; Brinckman and Versluys, 2021[13]). This can occur within schools (Backers, Tuytens and Devos, 2020[1]; Valckx, Vanderlinde and Devos, 2020[33]), school communities (OECD, 2019[39]; De Mets et al., 2018[40]; Pushor, 2015[41]), within the education sector (Willegems et al., 2018[42]; Wang et al., 2020[43]; Oates and Bignell, 2022[44]) and/or with broader societal partners (Bevan et al., 2010[45]; Mujtaba et al., 2018[46]). However, if benefits of collaboration are not clear, there is a risk of collaboration being viewed as burdensome and bureaucratic (Nilsson Brodén, 2022[10]; Brinckman and Versluys, 2021[13]). As part of developing a vision for future practice, consider (and define) productive collaboration that adds value to teachers’ work and benefits educational quality.
Investing in support for school level
An element that could be explored in more detail is the investment in the importance of the school level, which could include (a) balancing individual and collective needs of teachers (b) acknowledging high levels of teacher expertise and (c) exploring a dual focus on teachers and students.
Similar to autonomy above, balancing between nurturing individual teacher needs with the collective needs of the teacher team in a school will need finetuning (Clemson et al., 2020[6]). This should also include balancing the overall needs of students (Kelchtermans, 2009[47]). One aspect is researching the intricate and complex relationship between professional needs and personal life needs (Arbeidsmarktplatform primair onderwijs / Dutch labour market platform primary education, 2019[48]; Van Droogenbroeck et al., 2019[49]).
Acknowledging and harnessing the high level of expertise (Mezza, 2022[4]; Sachs, 2016[5]) within a school needs to be considered within a framework that fosters collaboration within a school culture to support learning by all and sharing of expertise, responsibilities and workload. Examining ways to value a collective set of diverse teacher talents is likely to enhance benefits beyond seeking all teachers to have the same competencies.
There is a need to balance the dual focus on teachers and students. While all scenarios developed in this study have a focus on students (Figure 5.1), there is some variability about the role of students across the set. Scenario three has the largest focus on empowering students in their learning and schooling while scenarios four and five focus mostly on empowering the work of teachers. There is a need to define the role of knowledge in learning and teaching. This should include considering ways of empowering teachers in their work (Ulferts, 2021[50]), empowering students in their learning (Gottschalk and Borhan, 2023[51]; Bron, Emerson and Kákonyi, 2018[52]), and how these two things can be combined to create benefits for schooling (OECD, 2019[39]).
At the same time, there would be benefit in clarifying the contribution that teachers’ make to student learning and well-being (Gottschalk and Borhan, 2023[51]; OECD, 2019[39]). This includes clarifying the core role of teaching with reference to teacher needs, student needs and the collective school needs. It also includes examining the role of other professionals to support the professional work of teachers with their students. An important aspect of this is nurturing coherence across the support systems and reducing areas of fragmentation. Strengthening coherence in support for schools can build long-term confidence for inter-professional work that can benefit students, communities and teachers.
The OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) seeks to create a space for innovation. This includes generating ‘next practice’ that is adaptable, identifies and interprets multiple change signals and privileges discovery, co-creation, and genuine inclusion (Lundy et al., 2021[53]). CERI privileges a strong focus on research and practice to create an evidence base for experimentation, innovation and transformation. This study in Flanders has allowed participants to engage with the research base and ideas for next practice, to share current examples and/or ideas for next practice for other schools or parts of the system and to co-create ideas for transformation.
Specific ideas to support transformation arising include:
✓ Innovating human resource management with a focus on trust, connectedness, flexibility and career perspectives. The role of supporting teachers in developing a career should be taken seriously (OECD, 2019[54]; Brinckman and Versluys, 2021[13]; Clemson et al., 2020[6]; Mombaers et al., 2023[55]). This includes taking responsibility, having a shared understanding about what autonomy means, investing in professional development on an individual and collective level and considering life-long learning opportunities. Equally, the role of ensuring well-being among staff is an important element for a healthy and sustainable teacher workforce in the future. Lastly, it would include a strong effort to diversify the teaching population (Commissie Diversiteit, 2020[56]; Commissie van Wijzen, 2023[57]) both in terms of roles and professional experiences, and social, economic and cultural backgrounds.
✓ Re-architecturing the web of support for educators, students/ young people, including addressing current blockages and creating clarity about the place(s) of teachers, schools and partners within the web of support for children and young people. This should occur at all levels, including between Ministers and ministries (Holroyd, 2022[58]; Nilsson Brodén, 2022[10]) to ensure education has a voice in relevant cross-sectorial groups. Responsibility for designing the web of support for young people would include, but also extend beyond the responsibility of the education portfolio. This would mean the education sector would need to invest in the right skills to collaborate with other partners.
✓ Building interprofessional skills, trust and confidence in teachers and other professionals working together as an effective way of professional learning and working. To benefit from this form of collaboration as a core task of teaching requires a change in mindset to invest in interprofessional skill development and demonstrating the concrete benefits that this way of working provides teachers (Nilsson Brodén, 2022[10]). This can be done by thinking of different relationship circles around the teacher and school, with stakeholders as defined in Box 5.2. Starting with the most frequent interactions and investing in making these productive and meaningful to supporting teachers and students (Lawson and Lawson, 2020[12]; Bron, Emerson and Kákonyi, 2018[52]). Examples for teachers could be closer partnerships with higher education (McGrath, 2023[23]; Oates and Bignell, 2022[44]) across the whole career lifespan of a teacher (Mezza, 2022[4]). Examples of demonstrating to teachers the benefits for students might include in relation to student well-being or high-level curriculum opportunities (Harris, Jones and Crick, 2020[59]; Sinnema and Stoll, 2020[60]).
✓ Focusing on the “nearest/ first circle” of relationships that support the work of teachers can build momentum for transformation. These relationships are of higher levels of importance and interest for teachers. At the same time, teachers are more concerned about blockages/ frustrations in this space. Examples include working with trusted partners (see scenario three), focusing on the daily work of “core work” of teachers (see scenarios three and four), and Continuing Professional Learning (see scenarios one and six).
✓ Including teachers in efforts to co-construct the future education system promises several benefits, including harnessing teachers’ expertise (De Bruyckere, 2017[61]) and school micro-innovations, adaptations and inventions new to the context in which they are developed to tackle concrete school needs (Education International, 2019[35]). This can also help teachers explore ways to strengthen these relationships at the “nearest/ first circle” level and their direct work. This can build momentum for transformation by supporting the work that is most important to teachers first before considering secondary levels of support.
✓ Moving from a focus on “basic” teacher competencies to promoting high level teacher expertise within schools. One example of reframing thinking relates to the Decree on the basic competences of teachers (Flemish Government, 2018[62]). Building on just a focus on “basic” competencies could be expanded to consider how each area of the decree could provide opportunities to co-create “extended” opportunities for teachers with specific interests and expertise. That is, there are opportunities to nurture specialisation and development of high level of expertise based on teacher interest that can be harnessed within the system to inform system development, and in turn, contributing to ongoing development across the profession for the “basic” competencies. An explicit focus beyond the basic competencies is particularly relevant for highly talented and motivated teachers (Clemson et al., 2020[6]). The assumption should be that this is open to all interested teachers. This was also identified in earlier OECD work in Flanders (2021[38]).
Other ways to move beyond a focus on basic competencies is to examine and value the sophisticated work relating to team competencies (Backers, Tuytens and Devos, 2020[1]; Vekeman, Tuytens and Devos, 2020[63]; Boyd et al., 2011[64]; Buchanan et al., 2013[65]; Kelchtermans, 2017[66]) and how policy, practice and research can develop more sophisticated approaches to value synergies from people working together. Moving beyond “basic competencies” can shift the narrative to recognise the richness of the professional work of teachers, leading to greater recognition and status for the profession. Policy work that focuses on supporting and promoting the many talents of teachers can complement work focused on basic competencies.
✓ Considering the diversity of teachers’ expertise/ capacities, professional aspirations, motivations and development needs. Broadening the use of the teacher personas concept (Nilsson Brodén, 2022[10]; Huynh et al., 2021[67]; Madsen et al., 2014[68]) to support planning and decision making and as an additional mechanism to take into account teacher voice.
The set of teacher personas highlight the potential benefits for considering planning and decision making through the lens of different teacher perspectives. The set of teacher personas for Flanders can be used beyond this study to consider other policy ideas in the future and can be regularly updated with published data and research.
At the same time, the use of teacher personas can be explored more broadly within the education system (Nilsson Brodén, 2022[10]). For example, school boards could consider developing teacher personas based on the current composition of their teacher workforce, using data and teacher input, as well as thinking about future needs for their student population, teacher workforce and the community the school serves.
Previous work on personas in education have primarily focused on the personal experiences of groups or individuals (see for example work done by Education Services Australia (2019[69]). Making personas data-informed, however, is a relatively new concept in education (Weinhandl et al., 2023[70]; Nilsson Brodén, 2022[10]; Huynh et al., 2021[67]; Jansen et al., 2021[71]). This study has developed a method to do this (see Chapter 2). There can be benefits to extend such work, depending on the availability of data, intended target audience and/or use. There can be benefits from establishing participatory processes (McGrath, 2023[23]) to identify persona focuses, collating relevant research and data, and analysing key categories relevant to one or more personas.
Futures approaches do not try to predict the future (OECD, 2021[72]; Holfelder, 2019[73]) but are able to shape the future by influencing decision making and offering strategic foresight (Holfelder, 2019[73]; Fuller, 2017[31]).
This study on the future of teaching in Flanders does not aim to be representative or comprehensive. Invitations were issued to key representative stakeholder groups, who then chose whom to circulate the invitation to. Participants in each of the study activities are, therefore, not a representative sample but rather a group of willing professionals with a stake in Flemish education who offered to share their expertise.
Participants in this study have highlighted ideas and possible actions that they felt would make teaching more resilient, more attractive, more professional, and more sustainable in the future. The elements relating to the teaching profession and education as a whole that have been identified and were the object of focus and study in this publication are in no way absolute. Rather, they are conceptual, intertwined and can be interpreted differently by different stakeholders. Education is rarely a concept that is shaped by ‘hard’ truths or clear contradictions.
The outcomes of the study in Flanders discussed in this report illustrates that this is also very much the case for teachers. This does not mean they do not hold truth; the value in identifying common directions can provide a starting point for more elaborate discussion on the ‘how’. In getting to this next level of planning, this report can assist Flanders in following directions in which different stakeholders in the education system have identified a common ground.
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