|GRANTWAY

Erasmus+ Teacher Academies

European Comission

Favorite

Feedback

Summary

Opens:

05 December 2023

Closes:

06 June 2024

Amount :-

Estimated total funding amount:

Estimated number of awards:

Who can apply:

Public sector

R&D and Higher Education

Locations:

Aruba

Austria

Belgium

Bonaire

Bulgaria

Croatia

Curaçao

Cyprus

Czechia

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

French Polynesia

French Southern and Antarctic Territories

Germany

Greece

Greenland

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

New Caledonia

North Macedonia

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Saba

Saint Barthélemy

Serbia

Sint Maarten

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

St. Eustatius

St. Pierre and Miquelon

Sweden

Turkey

Wallis and Futuna

Categories: Education, Skills Building and Training

Research, Development and Innovation - - - Natural Sciences

Research, Development and Innovation - - - Social Sciences

Overview

Scope :

ERASMUS+ TEACHER ACADEMIES

The 2019 Council Resolution on further developing the European Education Area1 invites the Commission to “Develop new means to train and support competent, motivated and highly qualified teachers, trainers, early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff, school leaders and other staff, and promote their continuous professional development and high-quality, research-based teacher education”.

The Council Conclusions on European Teacher and Trainers for the Future of May 20202 reiterate the role of teachers as cornerstones of the European Education Area and call for further support to teachers’ career and competence development as well as well-being at all stages of their careers. The Conclusions stress the benefits of mobility of teachers and the need of embedding mobility as part of teachers’ initial and continuous education. Moreover, the Conclusions invite the Commission to support closer cooperation between teacher education providers within the continuum of teachers’ professional development.

The 2020 Commission’s Communication on Achieving the European Education Area by 20253 recognises the key role of teachers and trainers and sets the vision of having highly competent and motivated educators who can benefit from a range of support and professional development opportunities throughout their varied careers. It proposes a number of actions to address the challenges the teaching professions face today, including the plan to launch Erasmus+ Teacher Academies.

The Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027)4 stresses the need to ensure that all teachers and trainers have the confidence and competences to use technology effectively and creatively to engage and motivate their learners as well as to ensure that all learners develop their digital competences for learning, living and working in an ever more digitalised world.

The Council Resolution on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021-2030) refers to the potential of Erasmus+ Teachers Academies in facilitating networking, knowledge sharing, mobility and providing teachers and trainers with learning opportunities at all phases of teachers’ and trainers’ careers.

There is a need to improve the attractiveness of the profession: in the EU countries participating in OECD’s TALIS survey, on average, less than 20% of lower secondary school teachers felt that their profession is valued by the society.

The ageing of the teaching professionals is a concern as upcoming waves of retirement could result in potential shortages in the teaching workforce in a country.

The Education and Training Monitor indicates also that a number of European countries face serious shortages of teachers, either across the board or in some subjects such as science, or in specific profiles such as teaching pupils with special needs.

Despite wide offer of continuous professional development, teachers still self-report a lack of professional development opportunities according to the OECD’s TALIS survey.

Despite the benefits of mobility, it is still not embedded in teacher education effectively, due to many practical obstacles that should be removed by more consistent policies.

The Erasmus+ Teacher Academies will address these issues by promoting close cooperation between organisations active in initial and continuing teacher education and training, complement other work done in achieving the Education Area, and help transfer the results to national and regional policy making and eventually to teacher education and support for schools.

They will build on the innovations and effective practice that exists within national teacher education and European cooperation and develop them further. Specific attention will be paid to dissemination and exploitation of effective practice across countries and teacher education providers, and to ensuring feedback and impact also at policy level.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION

The overall objective of this action is to create European partnerships of teacher5 education and training providers to set up Teacher Academies that will develop a European and international outlook in teacher education.

These Academies will embrace multilingualism, language awareness and cultural diversity, develop teacher education in line with the EU’s priorities in education policy and contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the European Education Area.

The Erasmus+ Teacher Academies will meet the following objectives:

Contribute to the improvement of teacher education policies and practices in Europe by creating networks and communities of practice on teacher education that bring together providers of initial teacher education (preservice education for future teachers) and providers of continuing professional development (in-service), other relevant actors such as teacher associations, ministries and stakeholders to develop and test strategies and programmes for professional learning that is effective, accessible and transferable to other contexts.
Develop and test jointly different models of mobility (virtual, physical and blended) in initial teacher education and as part of teachers’ continuous professional development in order to enhance the quality and number of mobility as well as to make mobility an integral part of teacher education provision in Europe.
Develop sustainable collaboration between teacher education providers with an impact to the quality of teacher education in Europe and with a view to inform teacher education policies at European and national levels.
Enhance the European dimension and internationalisation of teacher education through innovative and practical collaboration with teacher educators and teachers in other European countries and by sharing experiences for the further development of teacher education in Europe.

This collaboration will address one or more of the horizontal priorities of the Erasmus+ Programme, as theme(s) for the Teacher Academy activities.

Teacher Academies should identify and work on one priority or more priorities that are particularly relevant for their partnership with a view to enhancing a high-quality education/professional development, and addressing (future) teachers’ pressing needs, notably by offering teachers courses, modules and other learning opportunities on:

Inclusion and diversity, notably:

To help teachers acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and competences for the educational inclusion of children/students with fewer opportunities, including children/students with disabilities or special needs, with a migrant background, as well as children/students living in rural and remote areas such as outermost regions, children/students facing gender inequalities, socio-economic difficulties or any other potential source of discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. This also means understanding underachievement, disengagement, and addressing well-being, mental health and bullying. Examples include: Developing competences to teach in multilingual and multicultural settings, on gender-sensitive practices, inclusive education for children with special needs, on creating supportive learning environments and strategies addressing learners’ and teachers’ well-being at school, on how to use a variety of learning approaches and blended learning, as well as formative assessment methods and tools.

To equip teachers to addressing the barriers faced by these groups in accessing education, as well as contributing to creating a positive learning climate and inclusive environments that foster equity and equality, and that are responsive to the needs of the wider community; building relationships of trust with learners, parents, families and carers; using collaborative practices and work in multi-disciplinary teams in schools.

Further references:

Council Recommendation on promoting common values, inclusive education, and the European dimension of teaching6
Council Recommendation on Pathways to School Success (replacing the Council Recommendation of 28 June 2011 on policies to reduce early school leaving)7.

Environment and fight against climate change, notably:

To implement and further develop comprehensive and collaborative approaches to teaching and learning for the green transition and sustainable development, recognising that all teachers, whatever their discipline or sector of education, are sustainability educators who need to support their learners in preparing for the green transition.

To offer (future) teachers professional training/education about climate change and how to best teach it; develop sustainability competences of (future)teachers/educators and education leaders; and exchange and develop the approaches of the participating organisations regarding environmental sustainability.

To exchange on how to raise awareness about the green transition, environmental and climate-change challenges, to develop competences, green sectorial skills strategies and methodologies, as well as future-oriented curricula that better meet the needs of teachers.

To support teachers in adopting pedagogies, including testing innovative practices, that enhance teaching and learning for the green transition and sustainable development in interdisciplinary ways, including the socio-emotional aspects of learning, so that all learners can become agents of change and learn to reflect and act, both individually and collectively, locally and globally, for a more sustainable world.

Further reference: Council Recommendation on learning for environmental sustainability8.

Addressing digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity, notably:

To support the need to engage (future) teachers in the path to digital transformation, with a view to harness the potential of digital technologies for teaching and learning and to develop digital skills for all, also increasing the capacity and readiness of institutions to manage an effective shift towards digital education.

To contribute to the first strategic priority of the Digital Education Action Plan, the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem, by building capacity and critical understanding on how to exploit the opportunities offered by digital technologies for teaching and learning at all levels and for all sectors and to develop and implement digital transformation plans of educational institutions.

To support the purposeful use of digital technologies for teaching, learning, assessment and engagement. This includes the development of digital pedagogy and expertise in the use of digital tools for teachers, including accessible and assistive technologies and the creation and innovative use of digital education content. Particular attention will be given to promoting gender equality and addressing differences in relation to the access and use by under-represented groups.

Use of the European frameworks on digital competences of educators, citizens and organisations is encouraged.

Further reference: Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027)9.

Common values, civic engagement and participation, notably:

To train and equip (future) teachers.

To promote active citizenship and ethics in their teaching, and foster the development of social and intercultural competences, critical thinking and media literacy.

To offer opportunities for children/students’ participation in democratic life, social and civic engagement notably through formal or non-formal learning activities.

To raise awareness on and understanding the European Union context, notably as regards the common EU values, the principles of unity and diversity, as well as their cultural identity, cultural awareness and their social and historical heritage.

Further reference: Council Recommendation on promoting common values, inclusive education, and the European dimension of teaching10.

For more information, please consult the latest version of the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2024: The Erasmus+ Programme Guide | Erasmus+ (europa.eu).

[1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019G1118%2801%29

[2] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/44115/st08269-en20.pdf

[3] https://ec.europa.eu/education/resources-and-tools/document-library/eea-communication-sept2020_en

[4] https://ec.europa.eu/education/education-in-the-eu/digital-education-action-plan_en

[5] For the purpose of this call, the term "teacher" is to be understood in an enlarged way, including trainers and Early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff.

[6] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32018H0607(01)&from=EN

[7] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022H1209%2801%29&qid=1671106078506

[8] https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9242-2022-INIT/en/pdf

[9] https://education.ec.europa.eu/focus-topics/digital-education/action-plan

[10] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32018H0607(01)&from=EN

Eligibility