The partners aimed to organise their schools and change their didactic approach in such a way that pupils would take responsibility in the organisation and for their own learning process. Specifically, they wanted to learn about: - New forms of management and management skills in order to better develop the school as a learning organisation - Aspects of collaborative leadership of school leaders, teachers and pupils in practice; - Supporting the professional development of school leaders and teachers in order to renew and improve the quality of education so that pupils become better learners; - Organising the school more as an effective learning organisation; - To improve the participants' courage to speak foreign languages and their courage to attend activities in foreign languages through international courses/job shadowing; - To increase participants' awareness and understanding of other cultures, countries and languages in Europe by giving them the opportunity to build up networks of international contacts and thus to participate in the life of society in all its facets, as well as of European citizenship and European languages. Participants' awareness and understanding of other cultures, countries and languages in Europe by enabling them to build up networks of international contacts in order to participate in all aspects of social life and to develop European citizenship and identity; - To strengthen the capacities, attractiveness and international dimension of schools Specifically, they wanted to: 1. bring about a paradigm shift: Teachers generally have a positive attitude towards pupils. However, frictions remain. By taking part in an international project with colleagues, the participants could see and experience how work can be done differently inside and outside the classroom walls. Good practices could also be brought back to their own schools in terms of infrastructure and organisation. 2. shared leadership: staff members and pupils, together with the management team, must actively contribute to the development of the school policy, both in terms of the learning process and of the school organisation. 3. Promoting self-directed learning: By visiting schools that are already well on their way, the participants experience the advantages this offers. 4. Exploring alternative evaluation: Evaluation is essential to achieve shared leadership. Linking to targets was not yet sufficiently established at the schools.
The partners indicated that the current professionalisation in Flanders was insufficient, both for the theoretical basis and for the practical examples to effectively realise 'stimulating pupils to take responsibility for their own learning process'. They also wanted to acquire international expertise on 'shared leadership' and get to know international practices. As there is insufficient effective professionalisation in Flanders, the consortium partners decided to seek expertise within Europe via Erasmus+ and to focus on collaborative leadership and on the core business of schools, namely learning (both the professional learning of school leaders and teachers and the learning of pupils). By job-shadowing in schools abroad that are known for their application of shared leadership, teachers, principals and members of middle management wanted to learn how the school organisation can evolve into a permanent learning organisation and how to give more responsibility to students in their lessons.