European Trade Union Committee for Education

ETUCE believes that collaborative school leadership that engages teachers and other school actors (eg. parents, students, support staff) in democratic decision-making to establish shared visions and set common goals is key in the green and digital transition of the education systems and education institutions.  Collaborative school leadership plays an essential role in improving the status and attractiveness of the teaching profession and in supporting quality recruitment and retention practices. Social dialogue and collegial governance are crucial elements to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of leadership.  The active involvement of teachers and union representatives in the development and reform of educational policies is crucial for fostering a democratic culture within schools.

In order to make the teaching profession more attractive and to ensure good working conditions, teachers and education trade unions’ involvement in democratic school leadership is core. The ETUCE Policy Paper on School Leadership emphasises the importance of the role of teachers as leaders, contributing to positive school environments marked by peace, tolerance, equity, inclusiveness, and cooperation. School leaders and teachers are not merely administrators but pedagogical leaders and are instrumental in fostering collaboration for effective teaching and learning.

To promote a democratic culture in schools, ETUCE places strong emphasis on the active involvement of teachers and trade union representatives in shaping educational policy. Important topics including health and safety, training, and discrimination at work are now covered by collective agreements. Even though some education trade unions experience good social dialogue, many express dissatisfactions indicating a notable deterioration. To strengthen social dialogue, ETUCE emphasises the significance of unconstrained trade union activity without concern for retaliation, sanctions at work, or the establishment of "yellow unions", the ones created and/or controlled by the company/organisation or employer themselves.

In order to ensure collaborative school leadership, it is important to create space and time for effective communication. However, school leaders are overloaded with heavy workload and face other challenges, including unfair salaries, vaguely defined responsibilities, a lack of continuous professional development, the undervaluation of their profession by society and keeping up with the digital and green transition. Another challenge is the insufficient involvement of teachers and trade union representatives in shaping and reforming educational policies and programmes, critical for improving working conditions. These obstacles result in a lack of attractiveness of teaching and school leadership profession and school leaders shortages.

One of the types of collaborative school leadership is collegial governance in higher education and research. Teachers’ involvement in collegial governance is important and can have a positive impact on topics such as budget allocation at the institutional level, curricula development, institutional strategies/priorities, professional issues of the staff. According to the survey, 63% of education trade unions are generally unsatisfied with the level of collegial governance in higher education and research. Consequently, ETUCE expects that the Bologna Process countries in their upcoming Tirana Ministerial Communique will prioritise the involvement of staff in decision making and the improvement of collegial governance.

ETUCE actively works on school leadership as one of the co-leaders of consortia with other relevant stakeholders, including the new Education Leadership Network Europe (ELNE).  The consortium, focusing on themes such as learning communities, inclusive schools, sustainable education and school democracy, has the potential to shape European education policies to enhance the overall quality of education for both teachers and students.