This chapter explores the aspiration of enabling teachers to thrive, as identified across future scenarios in Austria, Flanders and Wales. It presents four ideas for the Future of Teaching that offer practical entry points for reimagining teacher growth: Supporting intellectual fulfilment, diversifying career pathways, responding to student diversity, and fostering local partnerships. These ideas reflect a shared vision of a profession where teachers feel valued, supported, and empowered throughout their careers.
Co‑constructing Visions for the Future of Teaching
Abstract
Across Austria, Flanders, and Wales, one message echoed clearly: For education systems to thrive, teachers must thrive – both as individuals and as members of a broader professional community. This aspiration was at the heart of many of the future scenarios co-created during the Future of Teaching studies. Stakeholders across all three systems imagined teaching careers that are not only sustainable, but fulfilling, adaptive, and rooted in professional growth.
In all three country studies, participants called for a move away from one-size-fits-all approaches to teacher careers. They envisioned more flexible, differentiated pathways that reflect teachers’ evolving identities, motivations and life stages. This aspiration was closely linked to calls for richer professional development, stronger support across career phases, and recognition of diverse teacher profiles entering and staying in the profession.
Beyond individual development, stakeholders also emphasised the importance of collective growth – from collaborative learning cultures within schools to professional ecosystems that empower teachers to shape their roles, share expertise, and contribute to system-wide improvement.
This chapter builds on the cross-country analysis introduced earlier, diving deeper into the aspiration of career fulfilment. Here we unpack what it means in practice and how education systems can create the conditions for teachers to grow – not just to cope, but to flourish.
Note: This illustration is intended to provide a concrete example of a fictitious, but evidence-based, teacher persona.
Source: For description of the persona, see Chapter 3 in OECD (2024[1]), Constructing Scenarios for the Future of Teaching in Flanders, https://doi.org/10.1787/b5bd68c4-en.
Career fulfilment requires systems that move away from traditional, standardised approaches to teaching careers toward more dynamic, responsive models of professional life. Such systems recognise teachers as learners, designers and decision makers throughout their careers.
This means offering meaningful, relevant and continuous professional development – aligned with teachers’ experience levels, professional goals and contexts – and rethinking professional development not as a compliance exercise, but as a source of individual and shared growth. It also means fostering professional cultures that value experimentation, creativity and problem-solving, where teachers are trusted as professionals who can adapt and design learning experiences.
Diverse, evolving career pathways are equally important. Whether through lateral roles, leadership tracks, mentoring or second-career entry points, participants in all three countries envisioned a profession that offers room to grow and stay, responding to teachers’ changing lives, interests and strengths.
Box 3.1 highlights how the notion of teacher growth was imagined by study participants in Austria, Flanders and Wales – showing how a shared aspiration can reflect local priorities, partnerships and institutional cultures. In Flanders, the focus is on the possibilities from interdisciplinary partnerships that can support teacher growth. In Wales, the scenario explores the possibility of what it might look like if teachers were staffed as a school team with greater opportunities to build on passions and interests both individually and collectively. In Austria, the focus is on the important role that school leadership and the education sector can play to support teacher growth.
Flanders: What if… Working and learning together was at the heart of professional identity and development?
The ideas for transformation in this scenario emphasise the value of cross-sectoral partnerships and the need for professionals with collaborative skills as well as the importance of investing in school leadership to support these partnerships. The focus is on developing collaboration skills for current and future professionals in the education sector to benefit from cross-sectoral/ interprofessional collaboration in their work. As interdisciplinary approaches become core to most professions, in response to contemporary and future challenges, professionals need skills to collaborate effectively with others.
Wales: What if… educators have flexible, diverse, and evolving pathways for lifelong learning and benefit from an enviable and fulfilling career?
In this scenario, teachers experience a career shaped by flexibility and ongoing professional development, allowing them to pursue personal interests, experiment with new teaching approaches, and continually adapt to changing educational needs. Lifelong learning is embedded into their roles, with opportunities for horizontal and vertical career progression, ensuring that educators remain engaged and inspired throughout their careers. Schools provide an environment where teachers collaborate across school networks and beyond, forming partnerships with higher education institutions and external organisations to co-create innovative practices. These collaborations offer educators the chance to engage in joint research, develop their leadership skills, and expand their professional expertise.
Teachers are supported by a dynamic professional learning community, where they can access tailored development opportunities that reflect their individual career goals. Digital tools, including AI, play a significant role in reducing administrative burdens, freeing up time for educators to focus on their core work: teaching and learning. As a result, teachers can shape their own career pathways, balance personal and professional commitments, and contribute meaningfully to their schools' development.
Austria: What if… confident school leaders allow teachers to experience collaboration as an integrated and valued part of their professional identity?
A transformative idea in this scenario pictures policy makers as promoters and investors in leadership within schools. Policy makers can support school leaders through co-development of approaches that can guide the development of new processes from theory into practice. This includes researching impact through the lens of equity to ensure new approaches enhance this.
Another related idea within this scenario is that teacher education contributes to teacher leadership development and school leadership throughout teachers' careers. There are mutual benefits to be gained from the broader educational sector being involved in supporting the development of teacher and school leadership, particularly through school-university partnerships.
Source: (OECD, 2024[1]), Constructing Scenarios for the Future of Teaching in Flanders, https://doi.org/10.1787/b5bd68c4-en; (OECD, 2025[2]), Constructing Scenarios for the Future of Teaching in Wales, https://doi.org/10.1787/2e0ac4e6-en; (OECD, 2025[3]), Constructing Scenarios for the Future of Teaching in Austria, https://doi.org/10.1787/73545285-en.
To move from shared aspirations to meaningful change, education systems need tangible entry points – concrete aspects of teaching that can be developed, supported and reimagined. This section draws on the study participants’ visions and identifies a set of ideas for the Future of Teaching that capture how the aspiration of career fulfilment can be brought to life in practice. Each idea has been developed based on the “What if…” statements and Ambition Loops used for the construction of the scenarios across the three systems.
For each idea, a set of Actions for the Future is highlighted in bold within the text. These actions represent practical next steps that education systems can take – informed by research, promising practices and the insights of the scenarios – to turn long-term aspirations into near-term progress.
Together, the ideas distil key themes related to teacher growth that appeared consistently across the scenarios in Austria, Flanders and Wales. They offer a focused lens on specific areas where systems can act – by designing better supports, creating new opportunities, or removing barriers – to enable teachers to flourish both individually and collectively.
For this aspiration, four ideas for the Future of Teaching are proposed. Together, they reflect the professional conditions that stakeholders envisioned as central to career fulfilment: Intellectual and emotional fulfilment, career flexibility, cultural responsiveness, and strong local partnerships. While each can be pursued individually, their combined development can contribute to more vibrant, equitable, and future-ready education systems.
Idea for the Future of Teaching 1: Teachers feel nurtured intellectually and can develop their passions to deliver high quality teaching
Teachers thrive when they are intellectually engaged and have the opportunity to grow in ways that align with their professional strengths. Across the scenarios in Austria, Flanders and Wales, stakeholders consistently envisioned a future where teachers feel respected not only as practitioners but as reflective professionals – supported to develop their unique contributions within and beyond the classroom.
To make this vision a reality, education systems need to move beyond narrow, compliance-based models of professional development. Instead, they should offer tailored, meaningful and continuous learning opportunities, grounded in teachers’ everyday experiences and career stages (Suarez and McGrath, 2022[4]). This means creating time and structures for professional learning communities (PLCs) within and across schools, supporting teacher-driven development by allocating resources to pursue special interests or areas of expertise, and establishing partnerships with higher education and other sectors to co-design research and learning opportunities. Supporting teachers in developing their unique skill sets fosters a collective professional identity, encouraging them to see their contributions as integral to the broader teaching profession (Kelchtermans, 2009[5]; Suarez and McGrath, 2022[4]). Research highlights the benefits of a diversified teacher workforce – both for individual teachers’ professional careers and identity and for the collective capacity of schools and the profession as a whole (Clemson et al., 2020[6]; Harris and Muijs, 2002[7]; Bristow, 2021[8]; Suarez and McGrath, 2022[4]).
When teachers experience a sense of autonomy in choosing their development paths and applying their professional judgement in the classroom, they are more likely to remain engaged and committed (Backers, Tuytens and Devos, 2020[9]; Spruyt et al., 2023[10]). Autonomy also allows teachers to innovate, adapt to diverse student needs, and feel ownership over their work (Beaufort Research and NFER, 2019[11]).
At the same time, autonomy must be balanced with collaboration. Research shows that working with colleagues through mentoring, interdisciplinary projects, and team teaching strengthens professional ties and drives collective problem-solving (Mombaers, Vanlommel and Van Petegem, 2020[12]; Bristow, 2021[8]; Wang et al., 2020[13]). Research indicates that collaborative structures and participatory decision-making processes enhance teacher motivation, retention, and professional development (Beaufort Research and NFER, 2019[11]). Teachers who collaborate effectively often draw on peer mentorship and shared resources to tackle complex challenges, resulting in professional growth (Bristow, 2021[8]; de Jong, Meirink and Admiraal, 2019[14]).
School leaders play a critical role in creating the conditions for this balance. They are key enablers of teacher agency, ensuring staff have the freedom to explore and specialise, while also nurturing a collaborative culture (Beaufort Research and NFER, 2019[11]). Establishing certain structures, such as frameworks for interdisciplinary work (Nilsson Brodén, 2022[15]; McGrath, 2023[16]) and professional learning communities, are particularly valued by teachers (Harris, Azorín and Jones, 2021[17]; Kools et al., 2020[18]). A potential collaboration with other school leaders working in similar contexts might provide the chance to enlarge and enrich these learning communities.
Note: This illustration is intended to provide a concrete example of a fictitious, but evidence-based, teacher persona.
Source: For description of the persona, see Chapter 3 in (OECD, 2025[2]), Constructing Scenarios for the Future of Teaching in Wales, https://doi.org/10.1787/2e0ac4e6-en.
Source: What should the teaching profession look like in the future Top Class, the OECD education podcast, https://soundcloud.com/oecdtopclasspodcast/what-should-the-teaching-profession-look-like-in-the-future (accessed 5 March 2025).
The OECD education podcast “Top Class” (2023[19]) captures reflections from Professors A. L. Goodwin and M. Snoek on the future of the teaching profession. It emphasises the need for trust, shared responsibility, and distributed leadership to enable teachers to develop their expertise and collaborate meaningfully. Creating time for professional dialogue and recognising teachers as trusted experts are central to building intellectually engaged, empowered teaching communities.
Idea for the Future of Teaching 2: Teacher career pathways are traced according to personal and professional aspirations
Teachers thrive in systems that recognise that professional growth is not a one-size-fits-all journey. Across the scenarios in Flanders and Wales in particular, the call for diversified, flexible career pathways featured prominently. Stakeholders imagined a teaching profession that values both the stability of the classroom and the richness of multiple career options – enabling teachers to grow through roles that align with their strengths, life stages and aspirations.
Creating such a profession requires moving beyond traditionally linear trajectories. Instead, systems should support a range of horizontal and vertical opportunities (Keller-Schneider, Zhong and Yeung, 2020[20]; Rinke, 2008[21]), including mentorship programmes tailored to specific pedagogical strengths or subject expertise and expanded horizontal and middle leadership roles. Flexible secondments and sabbaticals aligned with career stages can also give teachers space to explore new interests, refresh their practice, and bring back new ideas to their schools. This shift reflects growing recognition that the ability to self-direct one’s professional journey is fundamental to sustaining motivation and individual and collective professional identity (Clemson et al., 2020[6]; Harris and Muijs, 2002[7]; Bristow, 2021[8]; Suarez and McGrath, 2022[4]).
In Austria, the MEGA Education Foundation (Bildungsstiftung) has a mission to strengthen the connection between schools, society and businesses. Its Seitenwechsel program gives teachers the opportunity to work in a company for one year. After that, they return to school for another year to share their new experiences in the classroom. This dual-phase structure ensures that teachers not only gain firsthand industry experience but also receive support to integrate these insights into their teaching practices. The programme is open to teachers from different school types. Selection is based on a comprehensive application process that considers both the teachers’ interests and the needs of participating companies.
Through Seitenwechsel teachers gain valuable practical experience and learn skills that are important in today’s job market. These new insights improve their teaching and help students learn in a more hands-on and interdisciplinary way. Many teachers also report that after returning from their time in a company, they feel more respected and appreciated by their students. At the same time, companies benefit from the exchange by learning how to better connect with young people.
Seitenwechsel’s impact goes beyond individual teachers. It helps schools become more open learning environments connected to their communities and shows how education can extend beyond the classroom, using external expertise to address both academic and social challenges. More broadly, including periods of work outside of school and creating stronger links between education and other fields could make the teaching profession more dynamic and better connected to society.
Source: Adapted from original contribution by Camilla Seilern, MEGA Bildungsstiftung
In practice, this means giving teachers time, space, and choice to pursue new responsibilities or deepen their expertise. An example for this is an initiative in Austria, Seitenwechsel (switching sides), that offers teachers the opportunity to work in a company for one year (see Box 3.2). Learning with other professions offers motivated teachers opportunities for reflection, innovation and partnership-building that can strengthen professional identity and inform new approaches to teaching.
Removing organisational barriers – such as rigid staff structures or narrow definitions of seniority that limit how talent is recognised and developed – is another step towards career fulfilment (Hellebaut et al., 2023[22]; OECD, 2021[23]). Leadership plays a central role here. School leaders and human resources (HR) teams need to actively identify and support diverse career interests, while also reimagining staffing models to accommodate temporary, part-time, or rotational roles that can stimulate professional growth (Mombaers, Vanlommel and Van Petegem, 2020[12]).
Policies and school-level strategies can include the development of middle leadership roles (Lipscombe, Tindall-Ford and Lamanna, 2021[24]), such as pedagogical coaches; mentorship networks that recognise peer expertise; or secondments and sabbaticals that give mid- and late-career teachers opportunities to refresh and reflect. Importantly, career diversification should not be limited to advancing into management. In Singapore, there are three distinct pathways for classroom teachers to advance, including the “Teaching” track that allows classroom teachers to further develop their pedagogical capability, with four progressive levels from senior teacher, through lead teacher, master teacher to principal master teacher. Teachers on this track stay in the classroom and mentor new teachers and/or those looking for pedagogical support (Ministry of Education Singapore, 2026[25]). There is a specific track for classroom teachers wishing (and with identified potential) to take on leadership roles and also a “Specialist” track for those wishing to pursue research.
As in any successful enterprise, the strategic development of the education sector requires a clear vision and systematic planning. For Austria’s more than 120 000 teachers, the newly developed Human Resources Strategy (HR Strategy) forms the basis for the strategic control of HR management by the Ministry of Education and the education directorates of the federal states. The HR Strategy serves as the guiding document for all departments responsible for implementation: Head teachers, school quality management, employees of the education directorates, universities, teacher training colleges, and the Ministry of Education. Its purpose is to support and strengthen teachers throughout their careers and to ensure the teaching profession remains attractive and sustainable.
Where a well-thought-out HR strategy can provide support: The education system operates in the labour market. To successfully recruit staff, it is crucial to establish a modern employer brand that represents its own values and culture. Beyond that, the HR strategy focuses on creating prospects for new and existing teachers and implementing modern, transparent personnel management that offers professionalism, fairness and support.
It accompanies Austrian teachers along an employee lifecycle from their training to their entry into the teaching profession, their professional and personal development within the profession and their retirement from active service.
HR work under the framework of the HR strategy should be reflected in positive effects such as greater satisfaction and motivation among existing teaching staff, improved long-term planning of personnel requirements, increased loyalty to the employer through individual personnel and career development, the further expansion of a supportive working environment and the promotion of targeted cooperation between the professions at the school site. This should also help to strengthen teachers in their work and subsequently improve the public perception of the education system and the profession within society.
The challenges faced by the Austrian education system: After analysing international and national studies, survey results and evaluations, factors (demand and supply of teachers, pedagogical resources and their use, digitalisation & AI, migration as well as all-day school types and school autonomy) were identified from which the greatest challenges can be derived from a current perspective:
Filling predicted needs with new teachers
Changing professional and social challenges at schools
High physical and psychological strain on teaching staff
Largely lacking development prospects for teachers
Achieving the vision: In order to achieve the ideal state of the education system (including a sufficient number of well-trained, motivated and healthy teachers, professional teaching, reduced administrative burden on teachers, equal opportunities for all pupils in the daily learning process as well as up-to-date curricula and the promotion of the collaborative profession of teachers), fields of action were defined which form the basis for strategic goals:
1. needs-based training and employment of qualified teachers
2. development prospects for teachers
3. efficiency and service-orientation in administration
4. competences for successful teaching in practice and professional deployment of staff
5. cooperation and mental health of teaching staff
6. school as a living environment
Strategic goals were developed on the basis of these fields of action. These can be regarded as critical to the success of the implementation of the HR strategy. Measures, key figures, time periods and addressees (persons responsible for implementation) are defined within the respective strategic objectives. Examples of strategic objectives include needs-based regional training through joint planning between universities, teacher training colleges and education directorates on the basis of current demand forecasts, as well as strengthening initiatives in the school system to reduce stress and promote the health of teaching staff.
In order to take account of the constantly changing factors influencing the education system, an evaluation of the overall document is planned every five years.
Source: Original contribution from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education
By fostering diverse, personalised career pathways, schools can build a more vibrant and resilient profession – one where teachers feel ownership over their development, and where a range of skills, profiles and experiences contribute to collective growth. This also helps attract and retain teachers from different backgrounds, creating a workforce better equipped to meet the needs of an evolving education landscape.
Idea for the Future of Teaching 3: Teachers reflect students’ diverse needs and backgrounds
Teachers thrive when they can draw on their identities, passions and professional judgement to engage with the diverse needs of their students. Across the country scenarios, stakeholders envisioned schools as inclusive communities – supported by teaching teams whose varied backgrounds, interests and strengths mirror the complexity of the learners they serve.
A more diverse teacher workforce – in terms of culture, language, life experience and educational pathways – can help build stronger connections with students, particularly those from underrepresented or marginalised backgrounds. Teachers who reflect the lived experiences of their students are often better positioned to act as role models, foster belonging, and build trust (Keane, Heinz and Mc Daid, 2022[26]) (Sleeter, Neal and Kumashiro, 2014[27]; Ferrero, 2025[28]; Goldhaber, Theobald and Tien, 2019[29]).
Across OECD education systems, teacher shortages, shifting labour markets and growing expectations for workforce diversity have driven the expansion of alternative pathways into teaching. These routes are designed to complement traditional initial teacher education by enabling faster and/ or more flexible entries into the profession, particularly in hard-to-staff subjects and regions. Schweickert and Torres (2026[30]) provide an international perspective on alternative pathways into teaching, examining their drivers, potential benefits and challenges. They further introduce an analytical framework that classifies alternative pathways to facilitate mapping and comparing programmes across systems.
Key features of alternative pathways: Alternative pathways vary widely but can be meaningfully compared using four core criteria: training modality (accelerated academic or employment-based), programme oversight (higher education institutions or alternative providers), entry requirements (such as subject expertise, pedagogical experience or foreign licensure), and licensure outcomes (full or restricted teaching licenses).
Opportunities and benefits of alternative pathways: Evidence shows that well-designed alternative pathways can expand teacher supply, attract candidates from diverse professional, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and recognise prior experience, reducing duplication and barriers to entry. Employment-based and accelerated routes are particularly effective in responding quickly to workforce needs while increasing system flexibility and resilience.
Challenges and enabling conditions: At the same time, alternative pathways pose challenges related to preparation quality, workload, attrition risks and equity in teacher deployment. Shortened or employment-based routes require strong induction, mentoring and ongoing professional learning, as well as clear standards, robust governance and sustainable funding. Strategic workforce planning is essential to ensure these pathways strengthen teacher preparation systems over the long term, rather than functioning as short-term or emergency responses.
Source: (Schweickert and Torres, 2026[30]), Alternative pathways into teaching: Broadening access and expanding diversity, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 342, https://doi.org/10.1787/80bfc617-en.
Careful consideration of diversifying routes into teaching, including for those already working within schools, but without teaching qualification or responsibilities, may play a role in realising this idea. Staff working in schools as teaching assistants, trainers or coaches understand the school context and may well represent the community the school serves (see Box 3.4).
Bringing this vision to life means considering diversity and strengths in teacher allocation and team composition, so that schools can adapt to evolving student needs. Continuous open dialogue about students’ needs would be needed, ensuring that the strengths of the overall teaching staff are actively harnessed. This may require redesigning learning environments and curricula to reflect the realities of a diverse teaching workforce, supported by more sophisticated HR systems and strong leadership (Keane, Heinz and Mc Daid, 2022[26]).
Such autonomy also fosters the space, freedom and confidence of teachers to experiment and innovate, enabling them to tailor their approaches to the diverse needs of their students (Beaufort Research and NFER, 2019[11]). This idea recognises that diversity is an asset – and when paired with teacher agency, collaboration and leadership, it becomes a powerful driver of more equitable and responsive education.
Note: This illustration is intended to provide a concrete example of a fictitious, but evidence-based, teacher persona.
Source: For description of the persona, see Chapter 3 in (OECD, 2025[2]), Constructing Scenarios for the Future of Teaching in Wales, https://doi.org/10.1787/2e0ac4e6-en.
Idea for the Future of Teaching 4: Significant partnerships are established close to the school context to meet student and teacher needs and interests
Teachers thrive in ecosystems that extend beyond the school walls. Across the scenarios in Austria, Flanders and Wales, stakeholders imagined schools as hubs of collaboration – embedded in local communities and connected to broader networks of expertise. This vision points to the importance of building meaningful partnerships that support teacher growth, strengthen professional identity, and enrich learning for all. Box 3.5 highlights one example.
The Matthew effect describes a phenomenon in which those who already have advantages keep accumulating more, while those who start with fewer resources fall further behind. In education, this can show up in several ways. For example, students who struggle may receive fewer opportunities for growth, while high-performing students receive more. The same dynamic can play out at the school level: well-funded schools can innovate more easily, while under-resourced schools struggle to keep up.
However, the Matthew effect is not only about disparities between individual students or between schools with very different resources. It can also emerge, e.g. between schools that are already part of innovation networks and those that are not. Often, it is the same schools that participate in educational calls and innovation projects repeatedly, while others never engage, further deepening the divide in terms of professional development, research-driven practice, and ultimately, student outcomes.
Leerpunt’s Evidence-Based Approach to Breaking the Cycle
Leerpunt is an independent evidence knowledge broker established by the Flemish government in 2022. As organisation, we actively try to counteract this self-reinforcing cycle by promoting evidence-informed innovations that encourage equitable participation across the educational landscape. With these strategies, we attempt to ensure that all schools, regardless of prior engagement with innovation, have access to support, funding, and opportunities to learn from successful practices. To this end, Leerpunt has developed a multi-faceted approach:
1. Leveraging Evidence to Support Bottom-Up Initiatives
Leerpunt supports bottom-up education initiatives. Rather than imposing a top-down approach, we want to enable schools to develop their own evidence-informed projects based on their specific needs and contexts. Schools are encouraged to use existing research to inform their proposals, ensuring that innovation is not based on assumptions but on practices with a proven impact.
A key element of this approach is the evaluation process. Throughout the project, as Leerpunt we actively support schools in assessing their initiatives to ensure they are achieving the intended impact. This ongoing evaluation allows for real-time adjustments, increasing the likelihood of success and scalability. Schools receive structured feedback and guidance to refine their projects, making the outcomes more robust and transferable to other educational contexts.
2. Expanding Participation: Reaching Schools Outside the Innovation Cycle
As knowledge broker, we know that innovation in education often concentrates in a small group of highly engaged schools. These schools have the experience, networks, and needed confidence to repeatedly apply for funding, creating an unintended Matthew effect in which they keep advancing while other schools remain uninvolved. To break this cycle, as Leerpunt we introduced specific conditions within their calls for proposals:
Mandatory Partnerships with New Schools: Schools that have successfully participated in previous innovation projects must actively involve at least one other school that has not previously engaged with such initiatives. This ensures knowledge, experience, and best practices are shared beyond the usual network, expanding innovation's reach and reducing educational inequalities.
Structured Dissemination of Findings: Schools are required to include a dissemination strategy in their proposals, detailing how they will share their results with a broader audience. This requirement ensures that effective innovations do not remain isolated within a handful of institutions but instead benefit the entire educational sector. By making research findings and best practices widely available, other schools can adopt or adapt successful approaches even if they did not participate in the original project.
3. Training and Support for Underrepresented Schools
Another major hurdle to innovation equity is that some schools lack the expertise and confidence to seek funding and participate in innovation networks. Schools that are less equipped to conduct research-oriented teaching activities generally do not submit their applications at all. To address this, we offer a targeted training webinar for schools that have not previously applied for innovation funding.
In this webinar we focus on:
How to develop a strong, evidence-informed proposal.
Understanding the innovation funding landscape.
Building partnerships with experienced schools.
Using evaluation methods to track impact.
By equipping schools with the skills and knowledge they need, as Leerpunt we try to lower barriers to entry and ensure a more diverse range of participants in innovation projects.
Conclusion: A Systemic Approach to Equity and Innovation
Leerpunt's approach to countering the Matthew effect in education tackles the problem from different angles. We use evidence to develop bottom-up initiatives, require established innovative schools to work with less-involved schools, and offer special training to schools that have not been involved in such activities before. Our funding calls also emphasise sharing what has been learned with other schools.
Educational innovation should not be exclusive to schools that have already mastered how to play the game. That is precisely the Matthew effect we are trying to avoid.
Source: Original contribution by Pedro De Bruyckere – Head of Leerpunt, Flanders, Belgium.
Turning this vision into reality requires mapping local ecosystems of potential partners to identify opportunities that are relevant, reciprocal and rooted in shared goals. Collaborations can take many forms: Partnerships with higher education institutions to support ongoing professional development (OECD, 2023[31]); engagement with cultural institutions to co-create learning experiences (OECD, 2022[32]); or joint initiatives with industry, health or civic organisations to respond to emerging societal challenges (Facer and Buchczyk, 2019[33]). Initiatives such as the Partner School Programme at the University of Vienna demonstrate how school-university collaborations can be structured to include community-based research, project-based learning, and service learning, all of which strengthen teachers’ professional identity while addressing practical challenges in schools (Resch, Schrittesser and Knapp, 2022[34]).
These partnerships are mutually beneficial, as universities gain insights from teachers’ lived experiences while teachers access evidence-informed practices that enrich their professional growth (Oates and Bignell, 2022[35]). Similarly, the concept of a “learning city”, where schools collaborate with community organisations (e.g. galleries, museums) to expand educational experiences, illustrates how connecting with external expertise can strengthen both teacher practice and student engagement (Facer and Buchczyk, 2019[33]).
For partnerships to succeed, they must be relevant, reciprocal and resilient. This means building trust, co-planning with shared goals, and creating structures that outlast political cycles or leadership changes (Glover et al., 2023[36]) (Nilsson Brodén, 2022[15]). Crucially, these partnerships should not place additional burdens on schools.
For partnerships to succeed, they must be supported by policy frameworks that reduce administrative burdens and sustain long-term collaboration. Governments and local authorities can play a vital role in facilitating connections, reducing administrative obstacles, and providing clear mandates and sustained support (OECD, 2025[37]). Leadership within schools is equally important. School leaders are key to brokering relationships, aligning partnerships with school priorities, and building a collaborative school culture (de Jong, Meirink and Admiraal, 2022[38]) that enhances teachers’ core work (Kohlloffel and Monchietto, 2023[39]).
This Idea recognises that teachers’ professional growth and students’ learning are strengthened when schools are part of a wider web of support. When partnerships are anchored in local needs and professional purpose, they help position teaching as a collaborative, outward-looking profession – equipped to navigate complexity and shape the future.
Note: This illustration is intended to provide a concrete example of a fictitious, but evidence-based, teacher persona.
Source: For description of the persona, see Chapter 3 in OECD (OECD, 2025[3]), Constructing Scenarios for the Future of Teaching in Austria, https://doi.org/10.1787/73545285-en.
The aspiration of career fulfilment is a necessary foundation for the future of education. Across Austria, Flanders and Wales, stakeholders consistently highlighted the need to support teachers as whole professionals, with space to grow intellectually, develop meaningful careers, and contribute to their communities.
The four ideas for the Future of Teaching presented in this chapter translate this aspiration into tangible entry points for change. Each is supported by Actions for the Future, concrete steps that education systems can take to help teachers flourish – from creating time and structures for professional learning communities, to building partnerships that expand opportunities and strengthen professional identity. Together, they offer a roadmap for transforming teaching into a profession that offers intellectual fulfilment, career flexibility, cultural responsiveness, strong local connections.
Ultimately, realising this vision requires long-term commitment from leaders, schools and policy makers alike. It calls for a profession built on trust, collaboration and relevance – with teachers who are empowered to lead, learn, and shape the future of education.
Austria’s new Berufsbild, developed in a collaborative effort between the Federal Ministry for Education and various researchers, sets out a forward-looking vision of what teaching in the 21st century requires. The profile responds to a long-recognised challenge: Public perceptions of teaching are often shaped by personal memories or stereotypes, while teachers themselves experience a complex, demanding role that extends far beyond classroom instruction. The Berufsbild seeks to offer a shared, up-to-date understanding of the profession that can guide future developments in teacher education, recruitment, professional learning and strategic workforce planning. It also offers current and prospective teachers a clear picture of the opportunities and responsibilities the profession entails. Above all, it positions teachers as key actors in shaping Austria’s educational future and recognises the professional judgement, expertise and commitment that their work requires.
The document is not intended to describe the current state of teaching, but rather a desired future state. It places the profession within a rapidly changing societal context marked by demographic shifts, digital transformation, cultural diversity and evolving expectations of schools. By doing so, it identifies the dispositions and areas of practice that teachers will need to navigate these developments with confidence and professional autonomy.
A distinctive feature of the Berufsbild is its emphasis on fundamental professional dispositions. These include (1) a commitment to democracy and scientific literacy, (2) an open and pro-European orientation, (3) sensitivity to cultural and linguistic diversity, (4) a reflective approach to digital technologies, and (5) a mindset geared towards sustainability. Clear, shared dispositions enable teachers to respond to diverse situations with confidence and to navigate change with professional judgement.
The Berufsbild is further organised around four interconnected areas of practice: (1) developing oneself and one’s practice; (2) shaping school life and school development; (3) supporting and accompanying students; and (4) teaching and learning. Across these domains, the Berufsbild highlights the central role of collaboration, shared responsibility and continuous learning. It stresses that teaching is not a solitary endeavour but part of a collective effort within schools and across the education system.
Across these areas, the document also maps the many tasks teachers carry out, such as diagnosing learning needs, creating supportive learning environments, engaging with families, participating in quality development, and working with other professionals in and beyond the school. While not every teacher will undertake every task to the same extent, the profile provides a common frame that supports differentiation and diverse career pathways within the profession.
Source: Adapted from Federal Ministry of Education (2025[40]), Berufsbild für Lehrerinnen und Lehrer [Career Profile for Teachers], https://www.bmb.gv.at/dam/jcr:a9eeaf90-e67a-4a09-a115-b93babcb9f40/berufsbild_lehrer_in.pdf (accessed on 16 December 2025).
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