Key competences for teachers in a global world

Abstract

The aim of this study, developed in different European countries (Cyprus, Germany, Portugal and Italy), was to explore and compare teachers’ perceived professional competences and practice, with the students’ awareness of their teaching. The original Italian questionnaires, one for students and another for teachers, were translated into Portuguese. Nine secondary schools were selected to run the survey in Lisbon and its suburban areas. In this study, our aim was to measure the perception of both teachers´ and students´ regarding the teachers´ competences, as defined in the Common European Principles for Teacher Competences and Qualifications (2005). In this document, the key competences include the teacher´s ability to: work with others, with their fellow human beings; work with knowledge, technology and information and work with and in society. In Portugal, the students’ responses seem to show appreciation for their teachers’ professional competences in terms of knowledge, and also of their consistency and coherence; they consider that teachers respect them and allow them to state their opinions openly, but they also feel that the teachers are, somehow, distant (they don’t try to ‘put the student’s shoe’) and not open to new challenges, not committed enough to explore the learning opportunities outside the school walls. This indicates a need to include these competences in teachers’ professional development.