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Outcomes ITQ project support the voice of teachers in Europe.

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30 juli 2010 - Project news

Outcomes ITQ project support the voice of teachers in Europe.

The outcomes of EU funded project Identifying Teacher Quality can support teachers throughout Europe in raising their voice  in national and European debates on teacher quality.

The main focus of the project was to develop tools for teachers to identify and to reflect on the concept of teacher quality. Underlying idea was that teacher quality is first and foremost an issue that should be defined by the professionals themselves, by teachers in the wide variety of schools in Europe.

Next to the reflection tools, the project has lead to a variety of interesting other outcomes through comparative studies on teacher quality as identified by teachers and by policy makers. 

Outcomes

The project has resulted in several outcomes:

  • The reflection tools are made available through the ITQ website www.teacherqualitytoolbox.eu and translated in eight different Euroepan languages,to support the implementation and use by teachers and teacher educators throughout Europe.
  • A comparative study show how formal national and European documents defining quality criteria that teachers have to meet, vary strongly. As a result a shared European language on the concept of teacher quality is missing.
  • A second comparative study shows that teachers emphasize personal attributes when defining teacher quality. Throughout Europe, teachers consider qualities like honesty, patience, empathy, creativity and humour as key elements in performances of teachers. Those qualities are hardly mentioned in national and Euroepan teacher standards.
  • The reflection tools have been tested in national and international pilots. The evaluations of the pilots have resulted in a evaluation report.
  • The full set of tools has been brought together in the design of a intensive course on teacher quality which can be used by teachers, student teachers and teacher educators. 

The final outcomes and report of ITQ project have been sent to the European Commission who supported the project financially.

All outcomes are published on the ITQ website and can be used free of charge by teachers, teacher educators and policy makers throughout Europe.

 

Added value of the project

In the final report of the project, it is concluded that the project has an added value to the community of teachers and teacher educators:

  • First of all through the toolbox, a coherent set of reflection tools is made available to the community of teachers and teacher educators. Some tools are well known in some countries, some in others. Through the work of the project a varied set of reflection tools can be shared throughout Europe.
  • The toolbox stimulates reflection of (student) teachers on their professional quality, thus contributing to their quality awareness, stimulating their involvement in national debates on teacher quality, stimulating collaborative discourses within teams of teachers and the development of a shared understanding and definition of their professional quality and finally increasing their awareness of concerns of other stakeholders with respect to teacher quality.
  • The comparative research shows that a shared European language on teacher quality is still far away. At the same time, through the comparative research, the voice of the teacher with respect to teacher quality is raised. It shows that their opinions on essential elements of teacher quality differ in some fundamental aspects from the way in which teacher quality is defined in formal policy documents. The comparative research can contribute to the discussion how to bridge the gap between teachers’ opinions on teacher quality and that of policy makers.
The outcomes of the project can contribute to an increased ownership of teachers with respect to their professional quality and responsibility and an increased involvement in the discourse on teacher quality.
 

Benefits of transnational co-operation

In the project a large amount of partner institutions and countries were involved. Although from an organisational perspective this complicated the project management, it created a rich source for the project. The variety of reflection tools for the toolbox was increased considerably, as ideas from different countries and cultures contributed to a varied set of tools. Also the feedback from pilot participants from different countries increased the validation of the tools, as their effectiveness in different countries and cultures was tested. Thus a mono-cultural bias was avoided.
In the course, the transnational setting contributed to both a richer source for reflection (e.g. realising that standards for teacher quality are formulated in quite different ways), but also to a strong feeling of European connection, where although national teacher standards differ in their formulation, the participants shared a deep feeling of shared understanding of quality.
In the comparative research the transnational context contributed to a richer source for the comparison, both of national formal documents and of perspectives of teachers on professional quality.