Teachers and trainers working in vocational education and training (VET) are key actors to ensure the quality of the professionals and meet to today’s demands. They play an essential role in the implementation of national and Europe reforms. In this sense the European Center for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) supports the development of EU policies that quality teachers and trainers through targeted and transversal activities.
Teachers and trainers’ professional development is a priority on the EU policy agenda. For achieve this, the Bruges communiqué (2010) invited Member States to invest in VET teachers and trainers by offering flexible training provision.
Cedefop pursuing this aim and works for achieve a better education in Europe. This Center European realized during 2016 two published: the thematic country perspectives, that shows the situation of the teaching professionals who work in initial VET in the different countries; and a briefing note of the ‘Professional development for VET teachers and trainers: a guarantee of quality in VET’. Also, in November 2016, organized a policy learning forum on supporting professional development of teachers and trainers for better VET. And provided their expertise to an ET2020 working group on VET (set up by the European Commission) that during 2016-2018 focused on professional development of teachers and trainers.
Keep up highest standards of quality
The aim of those actions are provide to all teachers and trainers the access to high quality initial and continuing professional development and support in order to contribute to:
- Implementing new VET curricula.
- Strengthening links between education and the labour market.
- Providing more and high quality apprenticeships and applied.
- Co-shaping quick and flexible responses to emerging needs.
Trainers in continuing VET
Also, Cedefop has studied competence development of those employees who work with adult learners in continuing vocational training (CVET) and in enterprises. The results were published in two reviews: ‘Trainers in continuing VET: emerging competence profile’ (2013), where explain this trainer profile; and in ‘Who trains in small and medium-sized enterprises: Characteristics, needs and ways of support’ that collect the result of a survey realized a company trainers and employers.
Previous work on trainers in VET
In the last years, Cedefop’s work has been focused on in-company trainers and with the Commission support have been produced guiding principles for professional development of trainers in VET:
- Trainers are lifelong learners.
- Companies’ support is crucial for trainers’ CPD.
- Trainers’ competence development benefits from a systematic approach and actualized.
- Supporting trainers in companies is a shared responsibility.
- The trainers in companies has to be empowered.
Another learning activities
Peer learning was the main method of learning and exchange of experience among the participating countries:
- Netherlands developed the review: “In-company trainers: competence requirements, certification and validation” (2012).
- Belgium prepared “Effective approaches and support for continuing professional development of in-company trainers” (2013).
- In coordination, France and Germany, collected the inform “Support for trainers’ competence development in small and medium-sized enterprises” (2013).