Projekte

TESTEd

About TESTEd

Teachers are faced with a growing demand and responsibility to address cross-cutting challenges and ensure high-quality education so that pupils from different backgrounds become politically mature European citizens, who can adapt to future societal changes.

Although initial teacher education and in-service teacher education has started to include cross-cutting issues in their courses, there is no systematic European Syllabus which focuses on these topics. Instead, universities and training institutes place different foci according to their fields of expertise, thus creating a highly diverse teacher education landscape in which pre-service and in-service teachers have to rely on coincidental learning opportunities or independent studies to further their competencies.

The ERASMUS+ Teacher Academy “Towards a European Syllabus in Teacher Education” (TESTEd) recognized these challenges and aimed to address them with the express goal to promote the integration of the following cross-cutting issues in teacher education:

Education for a Sustainable Development (ESD)
Democratic education and fostering active citizenship
Diversity and equality of gender and sexual identity
Multilingualism
Digitalization of learning environments

The promotion of these cross-cutting issues in teacher education was aimed at supporting and training teachers to (a) reduce inequalities in education and foster inclusivity, (b) foster competences in students to become responsible, critically thinking citizens and (c) support the green and digital transition in line with EU key recommendations on the twin transition. Furthermore, as these cross-cutting issues interconnect and affect each other, TESTEd also aimed at raising awareness for teaching practices and methodologies that respect the interplay of the different cross-cutting issues, not simply reducing their complexity but promoting phenomenon-based, multi-perspectival approaches that support problem-solving competences and systems thinking.

TESTEd worked in five areas:

Through an international virtual lecture series, delivered through lecturers from all participating universities, teacher students were introduced to the five cross-cutting issues. The lecture series was followed by a hybrid international Makerspace. In the Makerspace student teachers work in groups with input from experts and teachers to produce teaching material and lesson plans for the integration of cross-cutting issues in classrooms fostering transfer and showcasing concrete application of knowledge. Two lecture series and Makerspace events were delivered over the course of the project.

In-service teachers were offered a virtual CPD course with synchronous and asynchronous elements to promote their competences in teaching the cross-cutting issues. The CPD courses were structured in three phases with an international phase promoting exchange between the teachers, a transfer phase, in which teachers applied their new knowledge to carry out a learning module at their school and a multiplier training to support teachers in school development. The CPD offer was accompanied by a teacher portfolio.

The TESTEd consortium engaged in research activities disseminating insights and findings to a scientific community.

A joint research paper was produced focussing on the integration of ESD in ITE at five different European universities as an example of cross-cutting issues being integrated in teacher education. Furthermore, student teachers also participated in a student research exchange, in which they visited partner universities and schools in the consortium to produce case studies comparing the implementation of cross-cutting issues in school in different countries.

Partners

Main deliverables

The European Syllabus supports teacher educators and teachers in developing skills in five cross-cutting areas: education for sustainability, democratic education and active citizenship, diversity and gender equality, multilingualism, and the digitalization of learning environments. It aims to strengthen teacher education and continuous professional development to meet the demands of a changing world.

As the cross-cutting issues and their role in education systems are in constant flux, the Syllabus is published as a dynamic, living Wiki that can be changed and added to in the years to come. Please follow this link to reach the Wiki.

Furthermore, the Syllabus is available as a PDF-Brochure.

Please cite as follows: TESTEd Consortium (2024). The European Syllabus - Integrating cross-cutting issues in teacher education.

Bochure: Download (CC BY-ND 4.0)

This policy paper advocates for the integration of five cross-cutting issues — sustainable development, digitalization, democratic education, multilingualism as well as diversity and equality of gender and sexual identity — into European teacher education. Key recommendations focus on improving both initial teacher education (ITE) and continuous professional development (CPD). Policy recommendations were developed in the context of the ERASMUS+ Teacher Academy “TESTEd” as a joint effort of the project’s beneficiaries: Ruhr University Bochum, University College Cork, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Univerdad de Sevilla, University of Oulu and the AKADEMIE of Ruhr University.

Please cite as follows: TESTEd Consortium (2024). Policy Paper – Recommendations for the integration of cross-cutting issues in teacher education. https://doi.org/10.13154/294-12014

Full paper: Download (CC BY-ND 4.0)

The TESTEd discussion paper aims to show the implementation of cross-cutting issues in teacher education across the TESTEd project.

It presents the ideas behind the TESTEd project and the development of a European Syllabus in Teacher Education focussing on the implementation of cross-cutting issues. It then shows how the project integrates the Syllabus in initial teacher education. Finally, the discussion paper gives an outlook on the next steps in the TESTEd project, namely the integration of the Syllabus in Continuous Professional Development courses and its extension to good practice examples from teacher education in Europe.

Please cite as follows: TESTEd Consortium (2023). Discussion Paper – On the implementation of cross-cutting issues in teacher education. https://doi.org/10.13154/294-10561

Full paper: Download (CC BY-ND 4.0)

The TESTEd project offered a research exchange programme for student teachers to visit one of the five partner universities, enabling students to study the education systems of the host countries, engage in comparative educational research and explore one of the TESTEd cross-cutting issues further. The resulting research papers are compiled into volumes edited by the Universidad de Sevilla (Javier Martos, Carmela Simmarano, Rosa Maria Coronel Ortiz, Bettina Kaminski, et al.)

Student research paper anthology - Volume I (published: 17.12.2024)
Student research paper anthology - Volume II (published 30.04.2025)
Master thesis "Exploring Student Teachers’ Perceptions of Global Citizenship and its Influence on Future Teaching Practices"
Master thesis "Exploring the Perceptions and Understanding of Environmental Sustainability Among Education Students at the University of Oulu: A Phenomenographic Study"

The peer-reviewed research article ‘Teaching for Tomorrow: A Qualitative Exploration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Initial Teacher Education Across Five European Universities” published in the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (IJSHE) presents an explorative qualitative study examining the current integration of ESD into Initial Teacher Education (ITE) at universities in Finland, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain.

Drawing on policy analysis and interviews with teacher educators based at universities, the research highlights both systemic barriers and emerging opportunities for embedding sustainability in teacher education. The findings reveal that the implementation of ESD in teacher education across Europe remains fragmented and is often optional.

However, the study also identifies promising examples of innovation, ranging from curriculum mapping with the sustainable development goals to challenge-based learning approaches and real-world pedagogies.

Importantly, the article connects these insights to our broader mission of the TESTEd syllabus. The proposed framework aims to harmonise ESD competences and support teacher educators across Europe in preparing future teachers for sustainability-focused, transformative learning.

The Paper is online here.

Over the course of the TESTEd project, we developed OER to help promote a more open and inclusive education system and support other educators in integrating cross-cutting issues in their teaching. OER are learning, teaching and research materials that reside in the public domain or are under an open license, that permits no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others (further information: here).

The TESTEd OER are available in an open Moodle course.

The TESTEd project ran from June 2022 to May 2025. As an ERASMUS+ Teacher Academy, it was co-funded by the European Union with 1.37 Mio. Euro.

Picture of the TESTEd consortium

Kick-off summer school in Braga (Portugal), Sept. 2022

TESTEd Mitglieder arbeiten in einer Gruppe zusammen

The consortium at work, Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), April 2025

Winter School in Sevilla (Spain), March 2024

Panel Discussion on Recommendations for the Integration of Cross-Cutting Issues in Teacher Education, April 2025

Keynote Präsentation auf der TESTEd Konferenz

Keynote Presentation at the Closing Conference at Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), April 2025

Consortium at the Closing Conference at the Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), April 2025

Partners

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.