Outcomes of a European Survey Kerstin Wittig, Chair of Formal Education Working Group, DARE Forum Warsaw, 14 December 2011

Background Context of the Survey Survey on DE in ITE, IST – main findings DE in Initial Teacher Education – a closer look Conclusions and Outlook

Development Education Forum (CWG) Development Awareness Raising and Education Forum

Development Awareness Raising and Education Forum (DARE) Advocacy Youth & Children Formal Education [former: School Curriculum] Communication/ Code of Conduct Quality & Impact

Development Education and the School Curriculum in the European Union – 2006 Development Education and the School Curriculum in the European Union – surveys carried out by the DARE Forum, looking at if – and how DE is integrated into schools across Europe Huge progress between 2006 and DE much more prominent in schools, more NGOs involved, relations between NGOs and relevant Ministries improved. Main weakness identified: Limited availability and insufficient levels and quality of initial teacher training and in-service teacher training

Survey on DE in ITE and IST: Aims of the Survey: To identify responsible authorities for ITE in each member state To analyse how ITE and IST works in terms of credits, authorities, teaching degrees To explore the status of DE in ITE and IST in the member states To collect and share best practices on DE in ITE/ IST To look at opportunities for DE in ITE in the coming years

Survey conducted through online questionnaire Sent to all national platforms – completed by 21 countries: 11 EU-15 countries 10 EU-12 countries = countries that participated = countries that did not participate

Responsible Authority for ITE In 10 of the countries, ITE falls under the MOE In 14 countries, Universities are responsible for ITE in Czech Republic, Ireland, Estonia, Luxemburg and France, both MOE and Universities are responsible Teacher Degrees In 16 of the 22 countries, teachers obtain subject- specific degrees, however in 8 of these countries, an additional qualification is required, which falls under the responsibility of the relevant educational authority.

In-Service Training IST is offered almost equally by the MOE and by independent bodies – however, in most cases, the training centres are officially recognised, or fall under local authorities. In Poland, In-Service Trainings are offered by Regional In-Service Teacher Training Institutions, in addition to the Ministry-run country- wide training. In Bulgaria, Training Centres for Pre- and In-Service Teachers offer Trainings. In addition, various NGOs offer trainings on project-basis In France there are specific local authorities, academies that offer IST – but the quality is not standardized.

Accreditation System 13 of the countries (62%) have a credit system where teachers collect credits for their trainings, irrespective of whether these are offered by the MOE or independent bodies. For example in Italy and Cyprus, NGOs can offer In-service trainings to teachers, but they are not officially recognised by the educational authorities.

7 countries have a National DE Strategy that includes ITE – this is 1/3 of all participating countries! 2 more countries (Luxemburg and Latvia) have a national DE Strategy, however it does not refer to ITE = DE Strategy with ITE = no DE Strategy

Overall, only 8 countries report that DE is officially included in ITE (6 of them EU-15) (38%) It may not be calledDevelopment or Global Education, but yet cover the same issues and methodologies = DE included in ITE = DE not included in ITE

In Austria, DE exists in the Initial Teacher Trainings in the form of intercultural learning. In Belgium, it depends on the colleges, and takes place in collaboration with NGOs. Some of the colleges organize regular Project Days or Weeks that link to DE and/or Solidarity Education. In Finland, it depends on the University. The University of Oulu has developed an entire teacher training programme focusing on DE In Ireland, at elementary teaching level, all colleges offer a module on DE.

In France, teachers starting their teaching career have the opportunity to apply for global educational exchange projects, taking part in a teacher exchange on a global scale. Through this initiative, teachers discover other school systems and curricula, and to open their classroom and mind to global issues such as Development Education, Sustainable Development Education, International Citizenship. In Wales, Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship is officially included in ITE and IST, and is part of school inspections.

Although DE is not formally part of ITE, pre-service teachers may still come across a Global Dimension: In Cyprus, DE is not formally integrated, but there is overlap in content, many issues are covered. The new curriculum is skills- and value-based and much closer to DE without mentioning DE. In Czech Republic, DE is not officially integrated, but NGOs collaborate with some of the universities and offer courses to students In Italy, although DE is not officially included, Training of International Solidarity and Education for Sustainable Development is offered for example by the Piemonte Region and NGOs, in collaboration with the schools in the region and Torino University and targets teachers, students and pre-service teachers

Overall, the responsibilities for ITE and IST are very diversified across Europe and even within individual countries – which makes it more difficult to advocate for a Global Dimension/ Development Education within ITE Even though a lot of good examples are found across Europe on how DE can be integrated into ITE measures, many of these success stories depend on the initiatives of individuals, specific universities, training centres or NGOs. There is a general weakness of a systemic approach to DE in ITE as well as IST (and the whole school), along with a lack of quality standards

Overall, DE in ITE seems to be more prevalent in the EU-15 countries, however new initiatives and content-overlaps can be found in 6 of the 10 new member states as well. The Platforms of 15 out of the 21 countries state a positive outlook for the next 5 years in terms of promoting and advancing Development Education within ITE. This is supported by Ministerial Decisions, Curriculum Reforms and more of the authorities being aware of DE. More political will and greater awareness about the benefits of DE to the education as a whole may be required – based on strong collaboration of NGOs, local/ regional authorities, universities, in-service teachers and educational authorities.

Thank you very much for your attention! Contact Details: Kerstin Wittig Head of Global Education Unit Future Worlds Center – Cyprus DEEEP website: