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In both the Netherlands and Flanders, a downward trend in the academic performance of students is noticeable. The shortage of teachers, coupled with the high attrition rate of educators - primarily in the early years - and the risk of burnout, are structural issues with significant consequences in the teaching population. This fact makes it challenging to improve the downward trend in academic performance without efforts to enhance support for teacher professionalization and the skills of educators.
To effectively support students, it is important for teachers to continually develop themselves professionally. The digital transition presents both challenges and opportunities in this area. Teachers are challenged to adapt their practice to new ways of working and learning, and to assist students in developing new competencies, including digital skills. At the same time, there are opportunities to utilise new digital technologies to enhance the impact of teachers' professional development and align it better with their needs and work schedules, especially under the pressure of the teacher shortage.
The aim of this research is to support the governments of Flanders and the Netherlands in designing, developing, and implementing reforms in digital education. The forms of digital professional development considered in this research have one or more of the following objectives:
- supporting teachers in acquiring the digital competencies they need to effectively teach,
- assisting students in developing digital competencies as outlined in the curriculum, or
- fully utilising digital technologies to overcome access barriers and enhance the impact on the professional development of teachers.
