Sunday 23 October 2005
Standards and teacher competencies
Eckhard Klieme, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität and Deutsches Institut für Internationale Pädagogische Forschung, Germany
Discussant: Frank Jansma, Stichting Beroepskwaliteit Leraren, The Netherlands

Since 1989 – the year when OECD published its report on “Schools and Quality” -, there has been a strong movement worldwide towards more decentralization and (semi-) autonomy for schools, combined with an increased use of educational standards, student assessment, and accountability procedures. This movement towards standards-based school reform has been a challenge for teachers and schools. Now, teaching and teacher education themselves are to be ruled by state-wide, or even European-wide standards. There is fear that this will – in contradiction to the rhetoric of decentralization and autonomy – result in intensified external control over teachers and teacher educators, narrowing their professional autonomy.
The pros and cons of standards-based teaching, teacher education and in service-training will be discussed in three steps:
First, the development and implementation of student (achievement/output) standards will be reviewed. There are lessons to be learned: (1) Models and methods for understanding and diagnosing student competencies, (2) cohesion among staff and clear learning goals, (3) feedback on learning outcomes and processes - they may all stimulate professional development and school improvement. Without strong efforts on the school and department level, however, and without external support, standards-based school reform will have no impact or even negative effects.
Second, the notions of teacher competencies, teacher professional knowledge, and quality of teaching are discussed. Educational research draws a rather clear picture of “teacher quality”, strengthening factors beyond personality, i.e. factors which are malleable and learnable. Present attempts at defining “standards for teaching” or “standards of teacher education” are reviewed from this point of view. Third, it is discussed whether and how the present system of teacher education can cope with these goals. As an example, some results from an evaluation of teacher education in the state of Hesse are provided which show deficits, especially in the area of diagnostic competency.
The presentation will be summarised in a number of theses on the role of standards in teacher education and teacher training, much in line with ATEE’s discussion paper.

>> Download the presentation of Eckhard Klieme

Sunday 23 October 2005
A Straitjacket or Stimulus for our Professional Development?
Bob Koster, IVLOS, Interactum, VELON, The Netherlands
Discussant: Jean Murray, Brunel University

This keynote will start with a statement: “Standards for teacher educators can play an important role in their professional development”. The participants of the conference will have the possibility to make clear what they think about this statement and share their thoughts with other members of the audience.
The main concepts, like standard, teacher educator, professional and professional development, will be defined. We will make explicit why and how a standard for teacher educators in Holland has been developed and what the experiences of Dutch teacher educators are who worked with this standard for their professional development.
We will explore some central issues related to function, content, use and way of developing standards for teacher educators. Are standards for example used by governments or teacher education institutes to control professionals, or used by teacher educators themselves for their professional development? Are standards simple lists telling teacher educators what to do or do they take into account the complexity and unpredictability of teaching student teachers? Are standards used for individual or team development or for the development of the profession as a whole? Etcetera.
With these issues in mind, some conclusions will be formulated towards the function standards can have, the way standards can be developed and used, and the challenges of developing and using standards for teacher educators in Europe.
This presentation will have interactive moments, the audience will be invited at some moments to share and discuss things with others, to give their opinion, or to work out some tasks out of a working book. Warning: there will be no time during the presentation to read your conference book.

>> Download the presentation of Bob Koster
>> Download the Presentation of discussant Jean Murray

Wednesday 26 October 2005
European Commission Activities on Teachers and Trainers and the Role of ATEE
Sean Feerick, Principal Administrator School Education and Higher Education, European Commission - Directorate General for Education and Culture

This presentation will focus on the outcomes of the work undertaken on teachers in general and initial vocational education within the framework of the Education and Training 2010 work programme. It will address some of the concepts raised in the ATEE discussion paper on Teacher Quality, present an update on the results of the work of the EU Cluster Group on Teachers and Trainers and conclude by making some observations on the contribution of ATEE to work at the European level.
Part I of the presentation will share some reflections concerning the issues raised in the ATEE discussion paper ‘Standards and the Quality of Teachers’ in particular by situating the debate within the wider European and international context and using this as a basis for addressing some of the issues raised by the work currently underway at a European level.
Part II of the presentation will explore the results of the work undertaken by Expert Group A (Improving the Education of Teachers and Trainers) and the Cluster Group on Teachers and Trainers and reflect on the implications of this work for policy-makers and those involved in teacher education. It will also refer to work underway on the preparation of a Commission proposal for a Council and Parliament Recommendation on the quality of teacher education.
In part III the presentation will raise some issues relating to the role of ATEE within the context of the work on teachers and trainers currently underway at European level.

>> Download the presentation of Sean Feerick