What are Working Groups?
As part of the Education and Training 2020 (ET2020) Open Method of Coordination, the Commission and Member States cooperate in the form of Working Groups. Working Groups are designed to help Member States address the key challenges of their education and training systems, as well as common priorities agreed at European Level.
The primary focus of the Working Groups is to benefit the Member States in the work of furthering policy development through mutual learning and the identification of good practices. Following their mandate, Working Groups must deliver outputs directly linked to the objectives of ET2020 and contribute to Europe 2020.
What has been done so far?
The ET 2020 Working Groups rely on the work conducted by eleven Thematic Working Groups between 2011 and 2013. These groups concerned:
- Primary and Secondary Education
- Higher Education
- Adult Learning
- Vocational Education and Training
- Transversal Key Competencies.
Each ET2020 Working Group has a specific mandate detailing the challenges the group needs ot address, the outputs to achieve, and the overall roadmap. To achieve this, more than 400 experts participate in peer-learning activities, such as country-focused workshops and webinars.
Building on the results of two previous Thematic Working Groups on Teacher Professional Development and Early school leaving, the group (see the mandate
(375 kB) 
and work programme(431 kB) ) will look at:
- ways to improve the effectiveness and quality of teacher education, with a view to equipping teachers with the competences required in changing work environments (see background note on Initial Teacher education(868 kB) );
- the collaborative approaches inside and around the schools that can support schools in their ambitions to provide educational success for all, and prevent and reduce early school leaving (see the background note(379 kB) and the final report(560 kB) on the case study on Belgium-Flanders and the city of Antwerp).
The group is composed of government representatives of nearly all Member States plus Norway, Liechtenstein, Serbia and Turkey, and of European social partners. By the end of 2015, the group is expected to deliver a “Next practice guide on improving Initial Teacher Education”. On ESL the group is expected to deliver a “Guidance Framework” and a “toolkit” for schools on collaborative practices to reduce ESL.
How does SIRIUS engage with the Working Group on School Policy?
Experts from the SIRIUS Network, including MPG Programme Director Thomas Huddleston, will be attending the upcoming meeting of the Working Group on School Policy in order to give their input on various aspects of school policy:
- Plenary session – Setting the scene: Education of Migrant and Minority Students
- Workshop 1 – Early School Leaving and Community Intervention
- Workshop 2 – Teacher Capacity and Multilingualism
Their input will be used in developing the above-mentioned framework and toolkit on collaborative practices to reduce ESL.
