Focus

uTeacher - teachers' professional profiles in ICT for Education

Teachers can be key players in the adaptation of European school systems to the knowledge society, provided that they are able to make effective and relevant use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the Internet in their practice.
The uteacher project aims to understand and define the professional profile of a teacher who is faced with the issues that the knowledge society poses to schools. This profile is captured in a "Common European Framework" which can be seen as a means of harmonising Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) across Europe.

Clear understanding of the actual professional profile currently assumed as a basis for ITE and CPD across Europe is a prerequisite for defining the Common European Framework. Such understanding can only be achieved through a participative process involving field experts from all
European countries. uTeacher has created a network of National Investigators who worked together to produce an overview of teachers' professional profile pertaining to ICT for education that is assumed as a basis for benchmarking in-service and preservice training and accreditation in the various European countries. This network, which can be considered a real community of practice, has worked cooperatively with the uTeacher partnership to produce the Common European Framework. The Common European Framework describing teachers' professional profile in ICT for the school of the knowledge society is a means for educational administrators, course designers, teachers, examining bodies, etc. to reflect on their current practice, with a
view to situating and coordinating their efforts and to ensuring that they meet the real needs of school in the knowledge society.

uTeacher has involved two main phases. Phase 1: production of an overview of teachers' professional profile in ICT for education that underpins national teacher training programs in Europe. This overview was published in a book entitled European Teachers Towards
the Knowledge Society, written cooperatively by the uTeacher partnership, along with the nineteen
European National Investigators. Phase 2: production of a common framework for teachers' professional development as a tool for improving teacher training in ICT for education across Europe. This framework was published in a book entitled A Common European Framework for Teachers' Professional Profile in ICT for Education. A hypermedia version was also produced. This Framework is the result of a cooperative process involving the uTeacher partnership and the network of National Investigators. A feasibility study has defined the conditions for developing a European organisation responsible for maintaining the Framework, providing a reference for the development of learning materials, and administering quality assurance.