Casa do Professor is coordinating a project called LOOP – Scaffolding in Teachers Development: Mentoring and Mentors in Induction Programs, within the scope of the Pedagogical Innovation Center of Casa do Professor. According to the project’s coordinator, (…) it is “a project designed with the objective of valuing the work of teachers, not only in the initial phase of their career, but also at different stages of their professional life”.
Attract new teachers
The initiative meets the challenge of attracting new teachers to the career, associated with the low demand for courses in teaching. At the same time, the majority of the teaching class is over 50 years of age, while less than 1% of teachers are under 30 years of age. According to recent data from the National Education Council, by the year 2030, more than half of teachers (57%) will retire. Other European countries, such as Germany, Italy and Greece, partners in this project, have an average age of teachers higher than that of the OECD (44 years).
The support that LOOP intends to promote over the next three years «also covers school leaders, foreseeing the promotion of structuring activities, the development of resources and the promotion of community learning networks, a transforming intergenerational vision for the education system. This intervention will materialize in different dimensions, highlighting the access to Mentoring programs, with the objective of responding to the needs of teacher communities,
through the implementation of personalized training models”.
One of the initiatives planned for 2023 is the holding of an International Conference in Braga, the event to disseminate the project’s results, in which the partners that integrate the LOOP project will participate: Colégio João Paulo II (Portugal), CESIE and IPSSEOA Pietro Piazza School (Italy), National Capodistrian University of Athens and 1st Peiramatiko Gymnasio Athinas Greece (Greece) and the Carl von Ossietzky School Center (Germany).
SOURCE: Diário do Minho | printed and online newspaper | Portugal