The Academic Cooperation Association’s (ACA) Annual Conference “Europe in the world. Higher education developments across the globe" will take place in Bordeaux, France, from 15 to 17 June 2014.
Co-organised with the Agence Europe-Education-Formation France, the conference will focus on issues such as the “relative attractiveness of European higher education on a global scale”; “present and future key issues of European and global higher education”; and “recent trends in major non-European countries and regions around the world”.
EUA Secretary General, Lesley Wilson, is due to speak at the conference.
For more information, please visit the conference website. More...

The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is the biggest interdisciplinary student associations in Europe. It was founded on the 16th October 1989 and its aim at supporting and developing student mobility. ESN conducts several transnational surveys and research project on students’ mobility and internationalisation of higher education each year. ESN is present in more than 450 Higher Education Institutions from 36 countries. ESN works for the creation of a more mobile and flexible education environment by supporting and developing student exchanges on different levels, and providing an intercultural experience also to those students who cannot access a period abroad ('internationalisation at home'). The board of ESN International, based in Brussels, is looking for an Administrative Assistant from June 2014. The position is crucial for the work of ESN Headquarter and it requires flexibility and adaptability skills.

Job description

• Help with the general administration of ESN
• Assist the Director in the office management
• Assist the international board with administrative tasks
• Processing of incoming and outgoing mail
• Administrative management of the network and membership
• Translation (EN-FR-EN essentially according to the necessity and the qualifications of the employee)
• Mailings: posts and other providers
• Management of the orders and shipment
• Preparation of meetings and events

Profile

• You have preferably a degree in secretariat or administration
• You have an experience of at least 3 years
• You are fluent in French (mother tongue level or equivalent)
• You have a very good command of English
• You feel comfortable in an international environment
• You have a very good knowledge of all Office Tools (Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc) and Google Apps
• You work in a very precise and organized way
• You are capable of initiative
• You can work in a team as well as on your own and learn quickly
• You can work with volunteers of different nationalities
• Minimum of a Bachelor degree

Highly valued

• Working experience in the field
• Fluency in other European languages
• Experience in a European network

Term and conditions

• Full time position (38hours/week)
• Permanent contract
• Salary to be negotiated
• Covered expenses for transportation
• Health Insurances covered

Please send your motivation letter and CV to applications@esn.org.

Deadline for the application is April 24, 23:59 CET.

Please don't hesitate to contact us in case you have any additional questions regarding the position. For more information on our research’ projects please visit our website www.esn.org. Read more...

The conference is organised in support of the European Alliance for Apprenticeship and addresses Government officials responsible for apprenticeships and social partners, employers and employees, who are involved in apprenticeships. By showcasing examples of approaches to apprenticeship, the event will offer the chance to discuss challenges and success factors for quality apprenticeship and find partners for cooperation and experience exchange. Contact details: . More...

The objective of the consultation is to collect the views of stakeholders on the problems faced by learners and workers with regard to the transparency and recognition of their skills and qualifications when moving within and between EU Member States, on the adequacy of the related European policies and instruments and on the potential benefits of developing a 'European area of skills and qualifications'. More...

Digital learning is expected to offer multiple advantages enabling people of all ages to learn at their own pace. The potential benefits include diverse knowledge sources, often provided for free, no geographical limits, flexible timetables and methods that can be easily personalised, and the possibility for teachers to share and create content with colleagues and learners from different countries. More...

Around 350 university leaders and representatives from the higher education sector will come together this week (3-4 April) for the European University Association (EUA) Annual Conference, hosted by the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium. The theme of this year’s event is “Changing Landscapes in Learning and Teaching”.
European higher education has been in constant flux for well over a decade. However, some voices are predicting that the real revolution still lies ahead, with MOOCs, growth in private for-profit providers and increased global competition given as evidence that disruptive change is already underway.
The conference will look at trends that are transforming learning and teaching, and discuss how European universities should respond. Participants will also explore the innovative teaching approaches being developed, discussed or introduced, and consider their implications for the organisation of learning and teaching processes in the years to come.
The conference will be opened by: Didier Viviers, the Rector of ULB; Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth; and Maria Helena Nazaré, EUA President. Three university representatives from Finland, Italy and Germany will then provide their reflections on the conference theme.
On the second day, HE representatives from the US, China and Brazil will provide an international perspective on the future of learning and teaching before participants break into working groups to look at three themes in more detail:

• university learning and teaching in the digital age,
• the impact of the introduction of Bachelor and Master’s degrees across Europe, and
• the impact of internationalisation and mobility on learning and teaching.

The final plenary will look to the future with a panel discussion on “Learning and teaching 2020: prospects for Europe” with leaders from European universities, and representatives of the European Commission and European Students’ Union.
This will be followed by a session on the topic of massive open online courses (MOOCs), where several representatives from different universities across Europe will present their perspectives and experiences with MOOCs. The full conference programme is available here.

Teachers are vital for young people to develop their talents and acquire the knowledge and skills they need in a rapidly changing world. Continued teacher education which allows teachers to cope with these challenges is thus of high importance. Despite the fact that there more than 28 different teacher training systems in place across the EU, the European Parliament in its resolution of September 2008 on the improvement of teacher education quality (P6_TA(2008)0422) stressed that in essence these challenges are common to all Member States. The resolution, taking into account the Commission’s communication COM (2007) 392 final and its attached impact assessment SEC (2007) 931 addressed 36 proposals to Council, Commission, the Member States, OECD, Unesco and the Council of Europe. Key proposals were: more and better quality teacher education, and recruiting best candidates as priorities for all education ministries; promoting continuous and coherent professional development for teachers throughout their careers; regular opportunities for all teachers to update their skills and qualifications (qualifications should be recognised in all Member States); need for transnational exchange of experience; particular attention be paid to new teachers’ initial induction; mentoring programmes; composition of teaching workforce at all levels should represent social and cultural diversity within society; teachers’ participation in critical reflection; ensuring teaching is an attractive and fulfilling profession with good career prospects. The European Commission’s 2013 Education and Training Monitor report (p. 33) found out that continuing professional development is now considered a professional duty in 28 education systems. However only in 8 of them it is clearly linked to promotion. During the 2014 Greek Presidency of the Council the subject will be re-assessed.

The European Parliament has closely followed the developments in the field, which is also reflected by a considerable number of questions to Commission and Council. This is a selection of the most recent ones. In the framework of its communication on “Rethinking Education” (see Library Keysource) the Commission introduced an evaluation of the present situation (SWD (2012) 374 final) and the Greek Presidency anounced in its programme (p.55) that it “… will build on the European Commission’s presentation of April 2013, following the Conference held by the Irish Presidency on “The Professional Identity of Teacher Educators” with the aim of adopting relevant Council Conclusions at the June 2014 Education and Youth Council“.

Overviews

Improving the quality of teacher education – Summary of EU legislation on the European Commission’s website

Key Data on Teachers and School Leaders in Europe / Eurydice, 2013 – Factsheet presenting the study and providing a link to the fulltext.

Teachers’ professional development: Europe in international comparison: an analysis of teachers’ professional development based on the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) / Jaap Scheerens for the European Commission, Luxembourg 2010

Teacher Education and Training in the Western Balkans / Eurydice, 2013

The European Parliament’s DG IPol (PolDep B) is preparing a study on the “Outlook of Primary Teacher Training in Europe” which is foreseen to be published in April 2014 (anounced in the PolDep B’s February newsletter)

Analysis

OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) collects information from teachers and schools about their working conditions and the learning environments. It covers in particular initial teacher education and professional development; appraisal and feedback for teachers; the school climate; school leadership; and teachers’ instructional beliefs and pedagogical practices. The final survey is due in April 2014. The project has been running since 2008 and is covering 33 countries – a number of intermediate results have already been published. You may find them on the respective OECD pages.

Teachers in Europe – Main Trends, Issues and Challenges / Vlasta Vizek Vidović and Vlatka Domović. in: Croatian Journal of Education, (2013) vol. 15, Sp.Ed. 3, p. 219-250

Developing High‐Quality Teachers: teacher evaluation for improvement / Looney, Janet. in: European Journal of Education – Research Development and Policies (2011) vol. 46, is. 4, p. 440-455

Key Competences in Europe: Opening Doors For Lifelong Learners Across the School Curriculum and Teacher Education / Jean Gordon et al. 2009: The study was commissioned by DG EAC of the European Commission and undertaken by a consortium led by CASE (Center for Social and Economic Research, Poland). It provides a comparative overview of policy and practice concerning the development and implementation of key competences in the education systems of the EU’s 27 Member States. In particular, the study assesses the implementation of the 8 key competences contained in the European Reference Framework of Key Competences in primary and secondary schools across the EU as well as the extent to which initial and in-service education and training of teachers equips them with the necessary skills and competences.

Learning to Teach and its Implications for the Continuum of Teacher Education: a Nine-Country Cross-National Study / Conway, Paul; Murphy, Rosaleen; Rath, Anne and Hall, Kathy. School of Education, University College, Cork, IE, 2009 [comparing Ireland, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Finland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United States and Poland].

Teacher education policy in Europe : a voice of higher education institutions / Brian Hudson and Pavel Zgaga (eds.) Brian Hudson and Pavel Zgaga. Faculty of Teacher Education, Umeå and Center for Educational Policy Studies, University of Ljubljana, 2008.

How the best performing education systems in the world come out on top / Michael Barber, Mona Mourshed. McKinsey, 2007

Stakeholder views

The European Commission runs a webpage on “The Teaching Professions” where it presents studies, policy papers and official EU documents (e.g. Council conclusions of 2007, 2008 and 2009). Among others you may find “Literature review: Quality in Teachers’ continuing professional development.” / Francesca Caena, European Commission, June 2011 and a Study of the feasibility of a long-term school education staff mobility action / Eurydice, 2013. The Commission also launched the “Opening up Education” initiative (see the roadmap as well as the Library’s keysource on intranet / internet), which includes issues of teacher education.  The issue is also monitored in the “Education and Training Monitor“, particularly in chapter 3.3 of the 2013 report, p. 33-34

The Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) is a non-profit European organisation, composed by individuals and institutions. They publish the European Journal of Teacher Education and provide policy views on relevant issues.

The European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) is the teachers’ social partner at European level and a defender of teachers’ interests to the European Commission. ETUCE was established in 1977. Their views are published in the publications section of the website, the most recent document on teacher education dates to 2008: “Teacher Education in Europe. An ETUCE Policy Paper“

Teacher Education Policy in Europe (TEPE) is an academic network with the goals to advance research in and on Teacher Education, increase mobility and extend the European dimension in Teacher Education and enhance quality through the renewal of evaluation cultures in Teacher Education. Their latest position paper dates from 2007.

Unesco’s 2014 Mobile Learning Week was focussed on teacher education as “teachers are the pillars of education systems and their involvement is crucial to the viability of ICT in education efforts.” Unesco also maintains a section on teacher education.

Statistics

Key data on education in Europe 2012. Eurostat, 2012. In particular chapter E on teachers and management staff (p. 109 ff)

Eurostat statistics tables: Pupil/teacher ratio in primary education / Teaching staff / Pupil/Student – teacher ratio and average class size (ISCED 1-3) / Teachers (ISCED 0-4) and academic staff (ISCED 5-6) by age and sex / Teachers (ISCED 0-4) and academic staff (ISCED 5-6) by employment status (full-time, part-time, full-time equivalence) and sex / Teachers stays abroad (ISCED 0-4, Erasmus Programme) as % of academic staff (ISCED 5-6)

The Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS) provides a core set of teacher indicators based on its administrative data collection. This includes traditional indicators, such as: trends in teacher numbers; pupil-teacher ratios; and data on trained teachers.

OECD TALIS (see above) survey raw data and technical guides

EU Programmes and Projects

Teacher education is part of the Education and Training 2020 – Strategic framework (ET2020).

Mobility of teachers is supported via the Erasmus+ programme.