1

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Education and Culture

Life Long Learning: policy and programmes
School Education; Comenius



Education and Training 2020 programme
Thematic Working Group 'Teacher Professional Development'
Report of a Peer Learning Activity
in Naas, Ireland
2 - 6 October 2011


Policy approaches to
defining and describing teacher competences


This note summarises the main conclusions of a Peer Learning Activity (PLA) in which
experts from several European countries exchanged ideas on policy approaches to the
defining and describing teacher competences.
It starts by referring to some of the relevant academic research (paragraphs 1 6) and recent
policy statements (7 14) in this field, and then briefly summarises the peer learning process
(15 20),
The main focus of the report is on the policy conclusions that participants drew during the
PLA. These concern:
factors motivating countries, and others, to seek to define teacher competences (22 - 24)
the value of working with frameworks of teacher competences (25 31)
concepts that may underlie such frameworks (32 40)
ownership of the process of developing a competence framework (41 42)
purposes for which such frameworks can be used (43 45)
the process of establishing such frameworks (46 51)
their essential characteristics (52 54)
drafting (54 57)
and implementation arrangements (58 59).

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The Context
Research
1 Deakin Crick (2008) proposes this definition of competence:
A complex combination of knowledge, skills, understanding, values, attitudes and desire
which lead to effective, embodied human action in the world, in a particular domain. ()
Competence implies a sense of agency, action and value.
2 Acquiring and developing an appropriate set of competences (knowledge, skills and
attitudes) can help one ensure that one undertakes tasks as effectively (so that they
achieve the desired outcome) and as efficiently (making the optimum use of resources
and effort) as possible.
3 Teaching is, of course, much more than a task. As Conway and colleagues (2009)
point out, discussions about the competences needed by teachers, how they develop
over time, and how they are evidenced and recorded, are bound up with wider
discussions about:
the purposes of education,
assumptions about learning,
societys expectations of and demands on the teacher,
available resources, priorities and political will,
the status of the profession,
perceived external or international pressures,
existing traditions and culture, and
the broader societal context and environment in which teaching and Teacher Education
occur.
4 Thus, (they continue) establishing what constitutes valuable professional knowledge and
competence is not simple and straightforward or neutral and universal. Neither is it
fixed and certain. Rather, it is historically and culturally bound, and as such subject to
change and contestation. Whether and how to frame professional knowledge in terms of
standards and teacher competences are further questions.
5 As regards the application of concepts of competence to teaching, Biesta (2011a) notes
a tension in the competence discourse between, on the one hand, a behaviouristic
approach that emphasises doing, performing, achieving, observing, measuring and,
ultimately, control, and, on the other hand an integrative approach that emphasises
knowledge, skills, understanding, values, purpose and, ultimately, teacher agency. He
emphasises the need for educational judgement (Biesta 2009a), asserting that
competence (being able to do things) is not enough; (teachers) need to exert professional
judgement to decide what ought to be done; and
scientific evidence about what works is not enough; teachers need to exert professional
judgement to decide what we want things to work for (if things can work at all in
education).
6 For Biesta, good teaching requires the ability to make situated judgements about what
is educationally desirable, in relation to the three domains of educational purpose
(qualification, socialisation and subjectification), which includes judgements about how
to balance priorities (see Biesta 2009b; 2010). Such judgements need to be informed by
insights from research and theory. Biesta stresses that there is an important difference

3
between theoretical traditions in the English speaking world and those having their
origin in Continental/German traditions (Biesta 2011b), and that it is important that the
two learn from each other. Teacher education should contribute to developing
'virtuosity' in the ability to exert professional educational judgements (Biesta 2011c)..
Policy
7 The European Commission (2007) noted that Teachers have a key role to play in
preparing pupils to take their place in society and in the world of work and therefore
suggested that At every point in their career, teachers need to have, or be able to
acquire, the full range of subject knowledge, attitudes and pedagogical skills to be able
to help young people to reach their full potential.
8 The OECD (2005) has asserted that:
countries need to have clear and concise statements of what teachers are expected to
know and be able to do, and these teacher profiles need to be embedded throughout the
school and teacher education systems. The profile of teacher competencies needs to derive
from the objectives for student learning, and provide profession-wide standards and a
shared understanding of what counts as accomplished teaching.
The teacher profiles need to encompass strong subject matter knowledge, pedagogical
skills, the capacity to work effectively with a wide range of students and colleagues, to
contribute to the school and the profession, and the capacity to continue developing. The
profile could express different levels of performance appropriate to beginning teachers,
experienced teachers, and those with higher responsibilities. A clear, well structured and
widely supported teacher profile can be a powerful mechanism for aligning the elements
involved in developing teachers knowledge and skills, and for providing a means of
assessing whether teacher development programmes are making a difference.
9 Ministers of Education, meeting in the Education Council, have on three occasions
(European Union 2007, 2008, 2009) committed themselves to improving the whole
continuum of Teacher Education by improving the recruitment and selection of teachers,
raising the quality of their Initial Teacher Education, providing systematic support to
beginning teachers, and improving the relevance and quality of career-long
opportunities for continuing professional development.
10 Concerning specifically the competences of teachers, Ministers have recognised that:
The knowledge, skills and commitment of teachers, as well as the quality of school
leadership, are the most important factors in achieving high quality educational
outcomes. ... For this reason, it is essential to ensure that those recruited to teaching
and school leadership posts are of the highest calibre and well-suited to the tasks they
have to fulfil .
11 They went on to note that:
No course of initial teacher education, however excellent, can equip teachers with all the
competences they will require during their careers. Demands on the teaching profession
are evolving rapidly, imposing the need for new approaches. To be fully effective in
teaching, and capable of adjusting to the evolving needs of learners in a world of rapid
social, cultural, economic and technological change, teachers themselves need to reflect
on their own learning requirements in the context of their particular school environment,
and to take greater responsibility for their own lifelong learning as a means of updating
and developing their own knowledge and skills.
and that:

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Great care and attention should be devoted to defining the required profile of
prospective teachers and school leaders, to selecting them and preparing them to fulfil
their tasks.
12 Ministers have noted specifically the need to promote professional values and attitudes
amongst teachers, including reflective practice, autonomous learning, engagement in
research and innovation, collaboration with colleagues and parents and an involvement
in the development of the whole school.
13 As regards competences, Ministers agree that, as a minimum, teachers should have a
specialist knowledge of subjects, plus the necessary pedagogical skills to teach them,
including to heterogeneous classes, making full use of ICT, whilst helping pupils to
acquire transversal competences.
14 The question of teachers competences can also be set in the wider context of the
European Unions work to ensure that all citizens have the competences (knowledge,
skills and attitudes) that they require. The European Parliament and the European
Council in 2006 adopted a Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong
Learning which sets outs the 8 competences deemed to be necessary for people to
develop their potential and to play a full part in society and the economy. Logically,
teachers also should master these competences.
The PLA process
15 The Thematic Working Group Teacher Professional Development agreed in 2010 that
two Peer Learning Activities (PLAs) should be organised on the topic of teacher
competences. The first should compare and contrast policy approaches to defining and
describing the competences that teachers require in order to perform their different roles
effectively. It should focus on the process by which current description of competences
were arrived at and at the characteristics of the competences in the resulting
descriptions. The second PLA, which will consider policies supporting teachers
acquisition and development of teaching competences, will be the subject of a separate
report.
16 The Irish Vocational Education Association hosted the PLA in Naas, Ireland from 2 to 6
October 2011. 26 people took part, representing ministries, professional associations and
Teacher Education institutions from 12 countries [Belgium (Flanders), Cyprus, Estonia,
Austria, Spain, Croatia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK
(Scotland)] and two European stakeholder bodies [EFEE, ETUCE]. The programme is
attached.
17 In line with the participatory nature of peer learning in Education and Training 2020, a
small group of participants formed a steering group to further fine-tune the programme
each day in response to participants feedback. Some participants agreed to act as
facilitators for one day of the PLA, and others acted as day rapporteurs. The mix of
work in small groups and in plenaries enabled all participants to have their say.
18 Peer learning is rooted in research evidence. The European Commission circulated
relevant research material before the event, including:
A literature review Teachers core competences: requirements and development, by the
TWGs consultant Dr. Francesca Caena, and
A summary of Policies concerning Teacher Competences an analysis of a survey of
TWG members, also by Dr. Caena.

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19 The PLA provided participants with an opportunity to learn from other countries
policies and practice, and to reflect critically on the current arrangements in their own
countries with a view to making appropriate modifications. The main inputs into the
discussion were a keynote presentation by Prof. Gert Biesta, University of Stirling, UK,
and detailed presentations concerning the policies operated in BE(nl), EE, IE, NL,
UK(Sc) and a novel project in AT.
20 At the end of the PLA, participants identified the key issues that had arisen during the
PLA and that seemed particularly relevant for their national contexts, and planned how
they would disseminate and explain the conclusions of the PLA to relevant
policymakers and stakeholders.
The Policy Conclusions
21 The overall objective of a PLA is to derive policy conclusions and recommendations to
help Member States to develop their education policies. Through a process of
comparison and contrasting of the different policy approaches, participants arrived at a
better understanding of the common characteristics of policies that can lead to effective
leadership for learning. Their main conclusions are set out below.
Motivating factors
22 There are a great many factors that may encourage governments (or others) to seek to
define the competences that they expect teachers to possess at different stages of their
career. These include:
The results of research and of international comparisons such as PISA and TALIS;
International commitments such as the Bologna process of Higher Education reform or the
development of Qualifications Frameworks;
The desire to enhance the quality or effectiveness of education;
Other system developments, such as moves towards expressing school curricula in terms
of learning outcomes or reforming the system of Teacher Education;
Demand from parents or other stakeholders for greater accountability in education
systems.
23 Concerning the teaching profession itself, drivers might include:
The need to make the teaching profession more attractive and provide for career
progression;
The desire to promote teachers lifelong learning and engagement in continuing
professional development;
Demand for the professionalisation of teaching;
A desire to clarify teachers roles;
The growing importance of the role of school leadership; and
The need to assess the quality of teaching.
24 In some contexts, the move towards competence definition may be driven by a strong
agent for change (e.g. a Teaching Council or other professional body). However, it is
worthy of note that, by and large, in Europe teachers themselves seldom seem to be the
driving force for this kind of change.

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The value of frameworks of teacher competences
25 The process of bringing all the relevant stakeholders together in the common task of
describing competences can, in itself, be beneficial by stimulating discussion and debate
and by promoting shared understandings.
26 But beyond this, other benefits of developing such frameworks include:
Language: the process can help the teaching profession develop a common language that
facilitates professional discussion. It can make teachers roles more transparent
including to teachers themselves and to other stakeholders. Importantly, it can make
explicit that which is currently (only) implicit; for even countries without a framework of
teacher competences still find ways to assess the competences of their teachers.
Such a framework can provide important support for teachers:
o facilitate a discussion about what society can expect from teachers and what teachers can
expect from society thereby providing teachers with a sense of security in their roles;
o highlight the professionalism / knowledge / skills that are unique to teachers;
o provide teachers with a clear image of their profession and its role in society leading to
enhanced pride in the profession and enhanced social standing; and
o be a starting point to encourage teacher self-reflection and therefore point teachers towards
possibilities for further professional development.
It can also provide useful benchmarks / baselines:
o In the assessment of probationary teachers
o In the assessment of serving teachers
In addition, in some contexts, competence frameworks have been used in the processes of:
o granting or withdrawing licence to teach,
o the management of teachers performance and / or professional development (e.g. in regular
discussions between the school leader and the teacher),
o the design of programmes of Initial Teacher Education (ITE), induction (early career
support) and continuing professional development (CPD).
27 It should also be noted that there seems as yet to be little evidence about the impact on
pupils learning outcomes of having a framework of teacher competences. Research is
needed to provide this evidence.
28 The purpose of the Framework needs to be clearly determined before the process starts,
and needs to be kept under review throughout.
29 To sum up, the Peer Learning Activity concluded that, if planned and undertaken
appropriately, the development of a comprehensive framework that defines and
describes the competences that teachers are expected to deploy, can bring numerous
benefits to education systems.
30 However, a framework of teacher competences is not a panacea. It is but one of a
number of instruments that can be used to support teachers professionalisation and to
promote quality in education. Teachers work within systems; these need to enable
teachers to deploy and develop their professional competences.
31 These benefits, however, require each framework of teacher competences to be
developed in a methodical way, based upon its stated purpose. Comparison of the
approaches used in several European countries has shown that a range of factors need to
be taken into consideration when embarking on such an undertaking. These include:
the conceptual framework
ownership

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purpose
the process of arriving at a framework of teacher competences
the framework itself, and
putting complex teacher competences into words
and they are discussed in greater detail immediately below.
The importance of the conceptual framework
32 As for any proposed change in educational systems, it is important that there be a social
consensus about what education, school, and indeed, teachers are for. Work also needs
to be set in the context of the local or national understanding of the continuum of
Teacher Education (encompassing initial teacher education, the induction or
probationary period, early professional development, continuous professional
development and leadership development) and the modern learning environment.
33 It is also important that those involved are aware of the national and international
educational context including, for example, different cultural-linguistic assumptions
(how we talk about Bildung / education / Pdagogik / learning / etc.), or different
approaches to defining quality in education (e.g. outcome-oriented or process-oriented)
(see Biesta 2011). Equally, there are different ways to understand teacher
professionalism,
34 It should be remembered that the broad spectrum of teachers work can be described in
many ways. Furthermore, not every aspect of teaching can be fully described or defined;
aspects such as the teachers professional values, dispositions and attitudes can be as
important as more measurable and quantifiable aspects. It is important to acknowledge,
for example, teachers ability to use wisdom or judgement or creativity in responding to
different situations.
35 Conceptions of teacher competence may be situated along several continua, e.g.:
craft vs. professionalism.
centralisation vs. autonomy (of schools, teachers ...).
control vs. trust
stagnation vs. growth'
teacher complacency vs. teacher agency (proactively taking action to produce a desired
result)
36 In short, the use of frameworks of teacher competence can develop in two broad
directions: towards promoting teacher agency, empowerment and responsibility or
towards the control and disempowerment of teachers.
37 As well as questions of conception, there are closely-linked questions of language and
meaning. The terms competence and standard are both current. Each can be defined
in several, sometimes overlapping, ways.
38 However, the language of competence or standards is not the only language available
for promoting a professional discussion about quality, and it may have drawbacks. Some
have criticised it for focusing more on action (what teachers can do) than on cognition
(what they know) or for focusing too much on the teacher and not enough on the
pedagogic relationship. Others have pointed to the danger of reducing teaching (a
complex, situated activity) to a narrow instrumentalist list of tasks, which may be
accompanied by using a competence framework in a tick box approach.

8
39 Each conceptualisation of teaching and learning, then, implies certain conceptualisations
of teacher professionalism and competence, and vice versa; there may implicitly be
competing values underlying different conceptual approaches.
40 In this context it should be recalled that there are as many different kinds of teaching as
there are teachers; each of these has the potential to be of high quality; diversity in
teaching can be valued as a strength; uniformity is not the aim.
Ownership
41 If the development of a framework of teacher competences is being considered, the issue
of ownership needs to be addressed. The stronger and deeper the involvement of a
significant proportion of teachers at all stages of the process of developing the
framework, the more likely it is that the profession will feel ownership of it and accept
the outcome. Involvement implies more than merely informing or consulting teachers.
However, in many countries the profession is not yet organised in a way to allow
teachers to take the lead. The process may be more easily accepted by teachers where
there is already a culture of, for example:
teacher self-evaluation,
teachers reflection on their own work and
teacher professionalism.
42 Ownership can be promoted by:
clear educational leadership at all levels within the profession,
bringing about change through consensus, in order to ensure active implementation,
using ever-wider circles of consultation and several opportunities for involvement, and
ensuring that teachers involvement in the process is facilitated (e.g. by being included in
working time). and acknowledged
Purpose
43 It is important that all parties are very clear from the outset about the stated purpose of
any framework, as this will affect how it is conceptualised and described (e.g. low
stakes uses may require very different frameworks from high stakes uses). Issues to be
considered include:
What needs should the framework respond to?
Whose needs are they teachers? pupils ...?
What are the expectations of the different stakeholders from this exercise?
44 It should be noted that the purposes of the framework of teacher competences may well
evolve over time, and that, once established, it may be used for purposes for which it
was not designed; this may have negative consequences.
45 It is also important for all parties to understand the potential consequences of going
down this path. Starting to define and describe teacher competences may bring to the
surface existing tensions, e.g. between the demands for external control or
performance management and demands for teacher professional autonomy.
The process of defining teacher competences
46 Assuming that there is consensus around the purpose of the project, a comparison of the
approaches used in several countries suggests that it can be facilitated by:

9
a high level of long-term Government commitment to the process,
securing the ownership of teachers and other stakeholders throughout,
advocacy for, and promotion of, the approach at all levels,
the roles of all the parties in the process being clearly stated,
allowing enough time to do the job well and having a realistic time schedule with a clear
end-point and
undertaking several iterations (opportunities for all parties to comment).
47 Each country will find its own way to arrive at its first draft Framework of Teacher
Competences. It is important at this point to consider who will be involved in the
reflection and then the drafting process.
48 The inputs into the process should also be considered; some countries have found it very
helpful, for example, to commission a review of the relevant literature, or cross-country
comparisons, as starting points.
49 Whatever process is chosen, there always has to be a first draft; the content of this draft
is less important than its use as a tool to start off the discussion, and to motivate all the
stakeholders to get involved in an iterative process of development.
50 It should also be recalled that the process does not end with the adoption of the first
framework of descriptors frameworks need to be implemented effectively, and kept
under regular review.
51 Useful questions to ask about a process of defining competences include:
To what extent are teachers (willing to be) involved in the process?
Are teachers perspectives sufficiently present in the text?
What are the most effective ways of involving teachers in each national / regional context?
Who are the relevant stakeholders?
o The list of relevant stakeholders will vary from country to country. As well as individual
teachers and their different associations and unions, other stakeholders might include:
different levels of government, Teacher Education Institutions, Teacher Educators, parents
and, of course, pupils.
How are all stakeholders to be consulted / involved?
How should any framework be introduced (e.g. through a pilot phase? in stages? for
certain purposes only?...)
By what means will information be gathered about the impact of the new approach? How
will this information be used to re-evaluate and revise it?
The framework of teacher competences
52 Comparison of the approaches used in several countries shows that, to be successful,
such a framework should:
be grounded in the culture, including the educational culture, of the country;
be based upon a negotiated consensus about the purpose of teaching and about what
constitutes successful teaching and successful student learning;
be based on a clear statement of the underlying educational / teaching philosophy;
accommodate all the dimensions of teachers professional work, in an integrated way;
be based on the understanding that teaching involves a cycle of self-evaluation and
improvement;

10
be consistent with (but not limited by) the desired learner outcomes (e.g. in national
curriculum guidelines);
have the key attributes of stability, durability and flexibility. In particular, there are
advantages in building flexibility into the framework of competences; e.g.:
o There may be a general framework that is interpreted locally
o need to be specific, yet leave room for creativity
o should not limit professional action / agency
53 Key questions to be asked include the following:
What philosophy / rationale underpins the framework? What vision:
o of education?
o of teaching?
o of leading learning?
o of teacher professionalism?
How is the framework to be structured? (e.g. what headings, what taxonomy are used?)
o It is useful to describe the concepts underpinning the framework in a visual way (jigsaw,
interlocking circles, etc.).
Who formulated it?
o There is a choice to be made about whether the impetus should come from above or below,
from teachers or from other stakeholders.
o But all stakeholders need to be, and feel, fully involved throughout the whole process.
Who is it for?
o Possibilities include: pupils, parents, teachers themselves, school leaders, teacher educators,
society as a whole, the labour market, employers...
Are the competence descriptions to be:
o applied to all stages of the teachers career? (e.g. will there be different levels of each
competence for different career stages?)
o applied to teachers at all levels of education? (pre-primary, primary, lower secondary, upper
secondary ... )
o oriented to the present or the future?
If teachers are to be required to offer evidence that they meet each competence, in what
ways will they be able to do this?
Putting teacher competences into words
54 The processes of introducing a framework of teacher competences and the process of
writing the descriptors are inextricably linked, and need to happen in parallel.
55 Components of teacher competences often include: knowledge, skills and values.
56 The descriptors should:
reflect the culture and context in which they will be used;
be expressed in a way that promotes teacher agency;
be based on a culture of trust;
motivate each teacher to grow as a professional;
be of sufficient detail for the intended purpose;
be dynamic, rather than too fixed (to ensure that they can be further developed in line with
changing circumstances);
use language in which teachers can recognise themselves and their school reality and
language that is

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o as concrete as possible
o unambiguous
o Clear, simple, understandable by all users
o Consistent
o Empowering, affirming and positive
o Action-oriented (e.g. ... )
57 For example, the experience of other countries suggests that it is helpful for the
framework to be accompanied by texts that use professional exemplars based in real
teaching situations to illustrate the meaning behind each descriptor.
Implementation
58 It goes without saying that the process of implementing a framework of teacher
competences needs to be carefully planned and agreed by all actors, and adequately
supported throughout the education system. The implementation process needs to be
coherent with the stated purpose of the undertaking.
59 Some key questions include:
How will the relevant actors - including the teachers themselves - be prepared for the
(possibly several) different ways in which the framework is to be used in your country?
If the framework is to be used in any form of assessment, how will a common
understanding be developed about the interpretations of the different descriptors?
o (e.g. by organising discussions between different users such as mentors, School Leaders,
Teacher Educators about what the descriptors mean)
How will feedback from users during the first months be gathered and analysed?
Based on this feedback, how will improvements be proposed and implemented? How will
the Framework be kept under continuous review?
Conclusions
60 This report has summarised the main conclusions of the first of two Peer Learning
Activities focussing on policy on teacher competence. It has found that there are
substantial reasons for defining more clearly the competences that teachers can be
expected to deploy. Such undertakings will be more likely to achieve success if they are
allowed enough time, if they involve all stakeholders and if they are implemented
methodically. This report has pointed to some of the key factors for success, and
provides guidance for countries that are in the process of developing or recalibrating a
framework of teacher competences.


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References
Biesta, Gert: 'Values and ideals in teachers professional judgement. In S. Gewirtz, P. Mahony, I.
Hextall & A. Cribb (eds), Changing teacher professionalism, London: Routledge, 2009a.
Biesta, Gert: 'Good education in an age of measurement: On the need to reconnect with the
question of purpose in education' Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability
Volume 21 N 1 2009b.
Biesta, Gert: Good education in an age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy, Boulder, Co:
Paradigm Publishers, 2010.
Biesta, Gert: 'Disciplines and theory in the academic study of education: A Comparative
Analysis of the Anglo-American and Continental Construction of the Field' Pedagogy, Culture
and Society Volume 19 N 2 2011a.
Biesta, Gert: 'Het beeld van de leraar: Over wijsheid en virtuositeit in onderwijs en onderwijzen'
Tijdschrift voor lerarenopleiders Volume 32 N 3 2011b.
Biesta, Gert: Evidence, competence or wisdom? Exploring parameters for teacher education
and teacher development. Invited keynote presentation, Peer Learning Activity Policy
Approaches to Defining and Describing Teacher Competencies, Naas Ireland, 2-6 October
2011c
Conway, Murphy, Rath, Hall, Learning to teach and its implications for the continuum of
Teacher Education: a nine-country cross-national study, Teaching Council, Ireland, 2009.
Deakin Crick, Ruth: Key Competencies for Education in a European Context: narratives of
accountability or care European Educational Research Journal Volume 7 N 3 2008
European Commission, Teachers core competences: requirements and development, author:
Dr. Francesca Caena, Brussels, April 2011
European Commission, Policies concerning Teacher Competences an Analysis of a survey of
TWG members, author: Dr. Francesca Caena, Brussels, June 2011
European Commission Improving the Quality of Teacher Education, Brussels, 2007.
European Union: Conclusions of the Council on improving the quality of teacher education
(Official Journal C 300, 12.12.2007)
European Union: Conclusions of the Council of 21 November 2008 on preparing young
people for the 21st century: an agenda for European cooperation on schools (Official Journal
2008/C 319/08)
European Union: Conclusions of the Council of 26 November 2009 on the professional
development of teachers and school leaders (Official Journal 2009/C 302/04)
OECD Teachers Matter, Paris, 2005


13
Peer Learning Activity
Policy approaches to defining and describing teacher competences
Naas, Ireland.
2 6 October 2011

Programme

SUNDAY 2
nd

Arrivals
18.00 Meeting of the preparatory group (hotel lobby)
19.00 Informal Welcome - hotel lobby
MONDAY 3
rd

Theme: getting to grips with teacher competences
09.30 Official Welcomes Plenary
09.45 What is Peer Learning?
EU policy on teachers
(Paul Holdsworth)
Plenary
10.10 Participants / countries expectations from the PLA Group Work
10.30 Report back: what we want from the PLA Plenary
11.00 Keynote Presentation
(Prof. Gert Biesta, University of Stirling, UK)
Plenary and
Group Work
12.50 Leave for hotel
13.00 Light lunch at the hotel
Theme: defining teacher competences (1)
14.30 Policy Example 1: Ireland Plenary
15.00 Policy Example 2: Belgium (Flanders) Plenary
15.30 Guided discussion Group Work
16.15 Report back Plenary
17.00 Reflections on the Day
Preparation for tomorrow
Plenary
Meeting of the preparatory group

Evening Dinner hosted by IVEA at Kilashee House Hotel


TUESDAY 4
th

Theme: defining teacher competences (2)
09.30 Policy Example 3: UK (Scotland) Plenary
10.10 Policy Example 4: The Netherlands Plenary
10.50 Guided discussion Group Work
12.00 Report back Plenary
12.50 Leave for hotel

14
13.00 Light lunch at the hotel
14.30 Managing without defining teacher competences Plenary
14:50 Discussion Plenary
15.30 Reflections on the Day
Preparation for tomorrow
Plenary
16.00 Visit to St Patricks College Maynooth - history and architecture
See: http://www.maynoothcollege.ie/faculty/index.shtml

Evening Meeting of the preparatory group
WEDNESDAY 5
th

Theme: how to describe teacher competences
09.30 Policy Example 5: Austria Plenary
10.00 Policy Example 6: Estonia Plenary
10.30 Guided discussion Group Work
11.15 Report back on group work Plenary
12.00 Round table with stakeholder groups (unions, employers) Plenary
12.50 Leave for hotel
13.00 Lunch at the hotel
Theme: what weve learned so far
14.30 Discussion Plenary
14.50 Guided discussion Group Work
16.00 Reports back the main points of our conclusions Plenary
17.15 Reflections on the Day
Preparation for tomorrow
Plenary
Evening Preparatory Group: synthesis of conclusions from the PLA
THURSDAY 6
th

Theme: drawing the threads together
09.30 Presentation of draft conclusions of the PLA Plenary
10.00 Discussion, amendment, adoption of conclusions of the PLA Plenary
11.15 What ideas we will each take home to policymakers? Work in country
pairs
11.35 Sharing the ideas we will take home Plenary
12.00 Evaluation of the PLA process Plenary
12.30 Feedback to our hosts Plenary
12.45 Closing remarks Plenary
13.00 Lunch at the hotel
Departures