The discursive positioning of teacher education in the Flemish teacher shortages policy debate

Praise, blame, tensions, and contradictions

Bibliographic Data

ID21496512
AuthorsEline Vanassche (0000-0003-0553-4258, KU Leuven Kulak, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume48
Issue1
Pages9-25
Publication date2025-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Teacher Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0261-9768 • E-ISSN: 1469-5928
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02619768.2024.2407961
OpenAlexW4402831928
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited34

In recent discussions on teacher shortages in Flanders, the spotlight increasingly turns to teacher education as a crucial (f)actor in addressing the issue. This study uses positioning theory to examine the spaces and possibilities offered to teacher education in the Flemish policy debate on teacher shortages. Drawing on data from seven parliamentary hearings on the issue in 2020 and 2021, the analysis reveals an intricate push-and-pull relationship where teacher education is both praised and blamed, trusted and mistrusted, for its contribution to teacher quality and supply. This dynamic is explored further in three central tensions: diversifying the teacher workforce or increasing selectivity; tighter regulation or deregulation of the processes and outputs of teacher education; and educating for uniformity and consistency or encouraging diverse approaches in teaching. These findings highlight the need for policy to decide between policy options for teacher education, acknowledging both its potential and limitations

Blame · Economic shortage · Flemish · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Political science · Praise · Sociology · Teacher education · Dutch Social and Cultural Studies · Education in Diverse Contexts · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access