Teacher Education Policies in the European Union and the Quality of Lifelong Learning

by Joseph Declercq
Flemish Ministry of Education

The decree of 16 April 1996 reformed the teacher training in the Flemish Community.

Teacher training is based on the concept of two types of teacher: the generalist and the specialist. Pre-school education and primary education need teachers with mainly general competencies. Lower secondary education needs a teacher whose competencies are characterised by a balance between general and specialised competencies. Upper secondary education needs a teacher who is a specialist in his discipline.

2. Structure

Teacher training is organised on different levels.

One cycle initial teacher training at the hogescholen takes three years and leads to a diploma entitling the holder to be a Pre-school teacher, a primary school teacher or a lower secondary education teacher. The scope of the study contains 4500 to 5400 hours all in (180 credits). Considering the similar competencies of these three teacher profiles, the three kinds of training contain a common programme to the extent of 45 credits.

The holder of a diploma of an initial teacher training can follow an advanced study. The scope of these studies range from 30 credits to 60 credits. These studies allow to acquire additional teaching qualifications (e.g. special education) or to gain more in-depth competencies (e.g. remedial teaching).

The qualified teacher’s degree entitling the holder to teach in upper secondary education can be acquired at the hogescholen, offering two-cycle programmes, and at the universities. The training is organised simultaneously with or after the second cycle of the vocational training. The scope of the study varies from 870 hours to 1020 hours all in. This is about 35 credits. The hogescholen can organise this teacher training connecting to the disciplines Commercial Sciences and Business Administration, Audio-visual and Fine Arts and Music and Drama. The universities can organise this teacher training connecting to all academic programmes.

Next to the above teacher training, any graduate can acquire a certificate of pedagogical competence after following a specific teacher’s programme, which entitles the holder to teach. This programme is not organised at the hogescholen and universities, but at the institutions of education of social promotion. The programme is modular. The scope of the study contains 700 contact hours.

3. Policies

3.a. General

The decree of 12 June 1991 on the universities in the Flemish Community and the decree of 13 July 1994 on non-university higher education in the Flemish Community redefine the relationship between the government and the institutions. The main objectives were deregulation and autonomy for the institutions. They offer a new and operational framework in which higher education can develop in a dynamic way and also free itself from the traditional patronising treatment by the government as far as all kinds of aspects of the study curriculum are concerned. The government no longer provides centralist and detailed regulation but rather overall laws combined with quality assurance and retroactive financial control. Internationalisation is defined as an important objective for the hogescholen and the universities.

In this context, the institutions define autonomously the training programmes. The institutions guard the quality of their programmes on their own initiative. The system is twofold: permanent internal quality assurance and external quality assurance by means of visitation commissions. The government limits itself to a meta-evaluation: the evaluation of the quality of the system of quality assurance of the institutions. The government can take measures if the quality systems are unsatisfactory or if the pursuit by the institutions of the recommendations of the visitation commissions is insufficient.

Although it was not strictly enforced by the government, the hogescholen took the initiative to define a professional profile, a training profile and basic competencies concerning all their training programmes. The professional profiles are defined by the professional world. The institutions defined the training profile and the basic competencies the students have to achieve.

Before May 2002, the government will evaluate the offer of the programmes at the hogescholen. Essential criteria are: the conformity with the decree, the professional profile, the intrinsic quality and the social relevance.

This evaluation can lead to changes in the structure of the offer of programmes at the hogescholen.

3.b. The teacher training.

The teacher training is a specific case in the whole of the higher education.

The government is both financier of the training and employer of the graduates.

So, the government, contrary to the general principles concerning higher education, maintains a great impact on the teacher training. The professional profiles are defined by decree. The basic competencies are defined by order of the Flemish government.

The Flemish minister of education sets great store by both the teacher training and the (re)appreciation of the professional context of the teachers.

At the moment, there is a deficiency of teachers, especially primary school teachers, in the Flemish Community. The minister already took measures to facilitate the (re)intake of teachers. The minister also took the initiative to evaluate the teacher training. Therefore, she wants to involve the whole educational and social field. The first steps are already realised. The minister organised parliamentary hearings where all actors (hogescholen, universities, institutions of primary and secondary education, teachers, students, parents, trade unions, …) were invited to tell their experiences, desires and problems. The minister also opened an e-mail address on her cabinet on which everyone can formulate considerations and suggestions. The handling of the data is going on. However, we already find the initiatives were successful.

The minister installed a commission of experts who will co-ordinate the whole process of evaluation. The evaluation will be completed in the spring of 2001.

The decrees on the universities and the hogescholen defined the internationalisation as an important objective. The hogescholen and universities take many initiatives to optimise the international dimension of their programmes. However, the internationalisation of the teacher training is still in his infancy. Therefore, the Flemish Community is pleased with the initiative of the European Network and is highly interested to participate in its activities.