2.3. Initial Teacher Education and Continuing Professional Development of teachers

ATD quart monde is a French NGO involving individuals who experience or have experienced poverty.Among other initiatives, it works with ‘folk universities’ (universités populaires) in France, with the aim to generate and gather expert knowledge from its members - participants on a number of issues, including parenting and perception of school.

Berättarministeriet (The Storytelling Ministry) is a foundation that supports teachers and pupils in socio-economically challenged areas to develop language through storytelling. It is a private initiative that works in close collaboration with municipalities and schools and has been running for ten years.

It is undeniable that medical, psychological, social, educational and legal interventions are required in a number of cases of truancy and early school leaving, but research also shows clearly that in all cases, school and teaching staff can have a decisive influence. This document comprises a checklist for self-assessment of schools, 59 detailed recommendations for improvement of school attendance, pupil engagement and school culture, as well as proposals for behaviour agreements and examples of questionnaires for teachers and parents. The recommended measures are primarily directed at the target group of teachers, principals and parents. The document has been translated from the manual by Nairz-Wirth, Feldmann, Diexer (2012): Handlungsempfehlungen für Lehrende, Schulleitung und Eltern zur erfolgreichen Prävention von Schulabsentismus und Schulabbruch.

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UNICEF Serbia and the civil society organisation Centre for Education Policy with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development Republic of Serbia  implemented the project “Combating Early School Leaving in Serbia”.

This project aimed to contribute to decreasing drop-out and early school leaving of children and adolescents through development, establishment, and implementation of the school-based model for early identification of children at risk of dropping out and intervention in situations where dropping-out is taking place.

Combating drop-out and ESL in Serbia has been recognised as a policy priority area.  The Strategy for Education Development in Serbia 2020 (SEDS 2020) calls for the provision of high-quality education for all, an increase of students’ coverage and attainment at all levels of education by maintaining the relevance of education and increasing efficiency. The Strategy implementation is primarily focused on the development of human capital in Serbia, thus underlines importance of the inclusion of pupils from vulnerable and marginalised groups (Roma and children from poor families, children with disabilities and from rural areas etc.).

The E-COURSE project aims to improve the access, participation, and learning performance of newly arrived migrants and refugee children in primary school education in Germany, Greece, Italy, France, and Cyprus and at European level to promote their overall integration into the host societies.

The aim of the module on ‘Teaching bilingual children’ is to prepare all future teachers in Denmark to teach bilingual children. The module aims to prepare future teachers to identify educational challenges linked to second (state) language in the teaching of subject knowledge and to favour bilingual pupils' linguistic and academic development in linguistically diverse classrooms. The module on ‘General education/KLM' aims to prepare all future teacher in Denmark to be able interpret public school purposes, the development of professional ethics and to handle complex challenges in the teacher work in the context of cultural, value-based and religious diversity. It aims for future teachers "in a nuanced and reflective way, (…) to relate to ethical, political, democratic and religious challenges associated with education, parent involvement and school in a globalised society". Both measures are mandatory at all university colleges providing ITE in Denmark.

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The Joaquim Ruyra Elementary School is located in a disadvantaged suburban district of Barcelona. In the 2016-2017 school year, 92% students were immigrants representing 28 different nationalities (including Pakistan, Morocco, Georgia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, the Philippines, China, Bangladesh, Senegal, and the USA) or from minority background (Romani). The school has a 40% mobility rate.  

National and international press have referred to the school as the miracle school as it had achieved academic outcomes above the average in the Catalan standardised tests, outperforming elite schools in the Catalonia region.

All classes in the school feature group work 40% to 60% of the time. The groups mix students of different abilities, genders and nationalities.  The small groups are designed to ensure that no one is left out, and students are encouraged to participate actively.  Each group is facilitated by an adult (e.g. a classroom assistants, a parent).  Psychologists and special education teachers may also work in the classrooms, and they support volunteer parents, teachers and the students.  The extra support and student interaction are considered as essential for supporting and reinforcing children’s learning. 

Finland has been developing innovative teaching methods and procedures to cater for individual needs through the use of activity based learning, small group teaching, on-the-job learning and different learning environments to reduce dropout.

The main aim of the network is to prepare student teachers to teach in diverse classrooms. Specifically, the network aims to: - help student teachers develop intercultural sensitivity; - inspire ideas and promote the implementation of intercultural practices in schools; - act as a network for student teachers who are interested in inter-culturality and heterogeneity; - act as a forum for discussion and exchange about challenges and approaches in the teaching in diverse classrooms; - provide student teachers with specific knowledge and practical experiences. The group initiates the exchange of information and experience about teaching in intercultural settings, and organises support measures for refugees. The main target group of the network is student teachers, but practicing teachers and other relevant groups such as university staff are also targeted. The network was initially intended for student teachers with a migrant background, but it soon shifted its focus towards all students.