School Leadership
ETUCE: Participates in the implementation process of the EU 2020 and Education and Training 2020 flagship initiatives, among others, via active representation in Open Method of Coordination Working Groups of the European Commission; Monitors EU initiatives on linking education and employment, skills and jobs, learning and job forecasting and on youth employment. Participates in setting up and monitoring the implementation of EU policy on all prioritised areas of education, for instance learning mobility, teaching languages, entrepreneurship education, maths and science education, education for sustainable development, etc. Advocates the provision of quality education and monitors the set-up of quality assurance mechanisms at European and national levels; Carries forward and seeks new opportunities for cooperation with other unions and professional organisations working on education, such as the EFEE; ETUC, EPSU, ESU, ATEE, etc
ETUCE not only represents teachers, but also school leaders via its member organisations.
ETUCE takes a broad view of school leadership, encompassing, not only the head or principal of the learning institution, but also other individuals with leadership roles such as deputy principals, departmental/subject heads, senior teachers and other individuals entrusted with leadership responsibilities. ETUCE believes in distributed leadership, shared or collaborative leadership involving teachers and the whole pedagogical community. Through such collaborative leadership, school principals can work with the whole pedagogical community to develop a shared vision for the school, to set the school goals and to work systematically towards their fulfilment.
School leaders play a vital role in the provision of quality education and in ensuring equity and equal educational opportunities for all learners. School leaders must create conditions for effective teaching and learning in their institutions by providing the necessary resources, support and motivation for their teachers and students. School leaders can help to create and maintain a positive school climate and a culture of peace, tolerance, equity, inclusiveness, cooperation, hard work in their institutions for the benefit of the whole school community. It is also important to establish a positive learning environment.
Projects
European Education Policy Network
The European Education Policy Network on Teachers and School Leaders is a Europe-wide network of several organisations (policymakers, practitioners, researchers and stakeholders) to promote co-operation, policy development and implementation at different governance levels, and to support the European Commission’s policy work on teachers and school leaders.
This network is building on existing activities developed at European level, especially initiatives and projects supported through European Union programmes in the field of education. The coordinator of the 4-year project that started in January 2019 is the European School Heads Association, in strong cooperation with the European Sectoral social Partners in Education – ETUCE and EFEE - and currently includes 27 partners from 17 countries.
EEPN project 1st year (2019) on career development of teachers and school leaders
The first year of the project has been dedicated to desk research on career development of teachers and school leaders.
The desk research reports have focused on the following topics:
- How to make teacher and school leader careers more attractive in different European countries;
- Efficient education and continuous professional development for teachers and school leaders;
- Teacher recruitment, retention and motivation in Europe;
- Best EU projects for teachers' and school leaders' more attractive career paths;
More information about the project and the reports are available via the following website: https://educationpolicynetwork.eu/publications/
Please find the Newsletter of the project here
The final conference of the first project year which was held in Jyväskylä (Finland) on 18 November, 2019. The participants were educational policy makers, teachers, school leaders, education social partners, educational stakeholders, and researchers.
The 1-day conference discussed the draft Policy Recommendations which summarised the topic of the first year of the project and the messages of the desk researchers: career development of teachers and school leaders.
ETUCE takes a broad view of school leadership, encompassing, not only the head or principal of the learning institution, but also other individuals with leadership roles such as deputy principals, departmental/subject heads, senior teachers and other individuals entrusted with leadership responsibilities. ETUCE believes in distributed leadership, shared or collaborative leadership involving teachers and the whole pedagogical community. Through such collaborative leadership, school principals can work with the whole pedagogical community to develop a shared vision for the school, to set the school goals and to work systematically towards their fulfilment.
The outcomes of the 1st year project can be found at the project website and here below:
Policy recommendations on effective career paths for teachers and school leaders
Agenda of 1st Annual conference
Research on Good Practices: Practitioners and Parents
Research on Good Practices: Policy Implementation
Research on Education: School Leaders
Research on EU Funded Projects
Research on Education: Teachers
Highlights Report summarising the findings
Synergies Report introduces the partnership
State of affairs report on distributed school leadership policies
EEPN project 2nd year (2020-2021) on teaching and school leadership in the digital area
The project partners focused on teaching and school leadership in the digital area in 2020 by developing desk research and organising a conference on this topic. The activities of the 2nd year of the project were extended until October 2021 due to the COVID-19 measures.
ETUCE contributed to and supports the following desk researches developed within the activities of the 2nd year of the project:
- Digital technical tools, skills and competences supporting teaching and learning
- Collaborative learning and collaborative school leadership in digitalization
- Digitalisation supporting literacy and multilingual competences
- Active citizenship skills and active digital citizenship skills in a digital age
The final conference, to be co-organized by the European School Heads Assosication (ESHA) and the project leaders on 24 September 2021 will present the outcomes of the project, including a list of policy recommendations.
More news on the second year of the project
Read the EEPN Newsletter Year 2 - January 2021
Read the EEPN Newsletter Year 2 - July 2021
EEPN project 3rd year (2022) on teachers and school leaders towards a sustainable whole school approach for quality and inclusive education.
The project partners met for the annual State of Affairs meeting on 21-22 March to discuss the future of the network and the sustainability of the project. Furthermore, the network welcomed 4 new partners and 2 new countries this year, thus in Year 3 the EEPN is a network of 33 partners from 21 European countries. ETUCE contributed to and continues to support the following desk research developed within the activities of the 3rd year of the project:
- Teachers’ and school leaders’ competences and support for effective blended learning.
- A whole school support and networking to ensure school success for all.
- A whole school approach for sustainable development, with a particular focus on the role and competences of school leaders to support the implementation of it.
- Schools as learning communities to support teachers’ and school leaders’ professional learning and well-being.
The annual conference of the 3rd year of the project took place on 3-4 November in Dublin, Ireland.
More information on the activities of the 3rd year of the project can be found here: Year 3 of the European Education Policy Network - European Trade Union Committee for Education (csee-etuce.org)
Read the EEPN Newsletter Year 3
EPNoSL
ETUCE was a member of European Policy Network on School Leadership (EPNoSL), which aims at improving policy and practice on school leadership in Europe (2011- ).
Policy
ETUCE Working Group of school leaders and trade union experts on School Leadership (2010-2012) produced ETUCE Policy Paper on School Leadership (2012).
ETUCE working Group produced ETUCE Survey Report: School Leadership in Europe: issues, challenges and opportunities (2012). The aim of this survey was to map out the school leadership situation in Europe, with a view to identifying examples of good practice and challenges faced by school leaders. The survey was limited to case studies in 11 countries, spread out across Europe, namely, Germany, Finland, France, , Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom.
Events
The Final conference of the project: "Professional Autonomy, Accountability and Efficient Leadership" took place on 13 November, 2014 in Amsterdam. The project is also supported by the Local Government Association of the UK, the Ministry for Education and Employment of Malta, and the General Trade Union for Education of the Netherlands (AOB). Based on the outcomes of these discussions and the results of the Peer Learning Visits, the Project Steering Committee members presented possible topics for a joint European Sectoral Social Dialogue (ESSDE) in Education outcome. The Secretariats of EFEE and ETUCE will follow-up this debate by preparing an ESSDE Joint Declaration on School Leadership.
ETUCE organised a European – Global Conference on School Leadership on 23-25 May 2012, in Dublin, Ireland. The conference aimed at exchanging views on how to improve quality in school leadership during the economic and financial crisis. The 75 participants, school leaders, trade unionists, presidents of trade unions organising school leaders, and guest speakers represented 15 European and 8 Asian, African, Australian and Latin-American member organisations.