A strong voice - in brief
To be able to perform their jobs well, teachers need to feel they have a degree of control; not just over what happens in the classroom and the school, but also regarding education policy at the school, on the school board and nationally. Giving teachers a voice is essential in engendering their support and ensuring the practicability and quality of policy at all levels. At present, teachers are by no means always given that voice.
The Education Council recommends that government, teachers, school heads and administrators do more to give teachers a bigger say. It is important that teachers are systematically involved in the development of policy, including at national level. This will enhance the quality of education policy and strengthen the position of the teaching profession.
Background: Teachers do not automatically have a say
There is a consensus on the importance of giving a degree of control to teachers. Lots of different attempts have been made to give teachers a greater voice and strengthen the profession. Most of those attempts have failed; teachers today are still not systematically involved in the development of national education policy. It is often unclear for them when and how they can make a substantive contribution and what will be done with it. Teachers also by no means always have a meaningful say in policy that is formulated within the individual school or school board; there are wide differences between schools in how much input teachers have and how this is formally organised.
At the request of the Dutch House of Representatives, the Education Council examined the issue of how much input teachers in primary, secondary and senior secondary vocational education have in these areas. In its report, the Council looks back at earlier advisory reports on this topic and makes recommendations on how teachers can be given more input into their profession. The Council interprets this input more broadly than the concept of (co-)determination as defined in Dutch legislation.
Recommendation: Give teachers a stronger voice
The Council believes that teachers can and should be given a stronger voice, both at individual school and school board level and at national level. Good, practicable education policy is made with and supports educational practice. This cannot be achieved without actively involving teachers. They need to have a strong voice in all phases of the policy process; that will also strengthen the position of the teaching profession.
Teacher input is a result of interplay between government, school leaders and school boards. The Education Council recommends that all stakeholders do more to bring this about, in a way that adequately reflects the diversity of the teaching profession.
Recommendation to the government: Adopt a conscious and resilient approach
The Council advises the government to involve teachers directly in policy processes, and to create the conditions in which this can take place meaningfully. The present ad hoc approach needs to be replaced by a structural system, based on an educational policy agenda which states clearly where, when and how teachers will be involved in each component. Such an agenda would provide structure and make policy processes more systematic. Teachers must be able to find the information they need easily. They must also be able to add topics themselves if they believe that new policy is needed.
Earlier attempts to create a single professional organisation that represents all teachers have thus far failed. The Education Council urges the government not to wait and to shift the focus away from creating a single professional organisation which purports to speak for every teacher. Systematically giving teachers a voice is important, and is separate from the possible formation of a central professional organisation. Strengthening the existing field of smaller, diverse professional organisations, each with a differing outlook and focus, would mark a first step on the road to giving teachers a stronger voice.
Recommendation to teachers: Use the opportunities for input
The ability to have a say is not just something that is given, but also something which teachers have to use. That means feeling responsible for what happens in their own classroom, but also for developments at school level and at the level of national education policy. Teachers are continually confronted in their daily work with the consequences of decisions taken at national level and by school boards. Actively participating in those decision-making processes will enable their knowledge and expertise to be better represented. It will also help if teachers become members of one of the many teacher organisations and if teaching teams professionalise. By becoming organised and ensuring that their voice is heard, teachers can also offer a counterweight to policy which increases their pressure of work.
Recommendation to school heads and boards: Encourage and facilitate teacher input
It is the task of school heads and administrators to give teachers the space to have a voice, by facilitating and encouraging their active involvement and creating opportunities within the school for agreement on how teachers can contribute to the national context and decision-making and how the insights gained can be utilised within their own school. School heads and administrators can also facilitate teachers who wish to play an active role in a professional organisation, for example by subsidising their membership.
School heads and administrators can work with teachers to create a professional structure and culture in the school and school board in which teachers automatically have a voice. Teachers need support, especially in times of teacher shortages and high work pressure. The legal framework regulating the teaching profession is a key tool for achieving this.