Teachers and teacher professional development for new learning. Literature review

The present research report, framed within the “Creating New Learning” (CNL) initiative of the European Training Foundation (ETF), stems from the fact that the role of Vocational Education and Training (VET) educators is and should be changing in line with the rapid developments in the labour market, the introduction of new technologies, the new insights on how people learn and the growing emphasis on lifelong learning. The report is based on a systematic literature review that has screened a total of 222 scientific papers and reports produced from 2010 on, focussing both on teachers and instructors in formal VET as well as trainers and coaches in non-formal settings including the workplace. In order to better understand this change processes, the report provides insight from literature on four connected aspects: 1. How the roles and behaviours of educators are changing and/or need to change, so to be able to support learners to acquire labour market-relevant learning outcomes in an efficient and engaging way; 2. To what extent these changes are reflected in educators’ profiles and qualifications and competences frameworks; 3. Whether and how these developments are leading to changes in educators’ careers; 4. How educators’ professional development can best support teachers and trainers in their 
transition to new behaviours and roles.

As part of the CNL initiative the READY reference model has been developed, which aims to offer a structured way to identify the professional practices and development needs of 21st-century educators. The model, which can accessed here, will be relevant for educators as well as those working closely with educators.