teff Future Education Festival
The teff Future Education Festival #FEFestival was a Europe-wide celebration of innovation, collaboration, and forward-thinking in teacher education. Spread across all partner institutions of the Erasmus+ Teacher Academy Teacher Education for a Future in Flux (teff), the festival brought together
- pre-service teachers (= students studying to become teachers)
- in-service teachers (= teachers currently teaching at schools)
- teacher educators (= e.g. university lecturers, Ministry of Education staff, textbook publishers),
and all others passionate about shaping the future of education in Europe!
Designed as a dynamic mix of smaller and bigger events, the festival invited participants to explore the major challenges and opportunities facing European education today - across borders, across roles, and across learning formats!
How it worked
The #FEFestival included a continuously growing constellation of activities (check out the programme below!) which were all free of charge (even possible travel and accommodation costs may be covered by specific teff partners).
What made the festival special
The teff Future Education Festival was not just a collection of events — it was a truly European learning experience. Participants collaborated internationally, worked across professional roles, and engaged with peers who share a commitment to transforming and strengthening education in Europe. Together, we explored pressing issues, tested new ideas, and imagined what teaching and teacher education can become in a future marked by change.
teff FUTURE EDUCATION FESTIVAL - PROGRAMME
Jan 27: Kick-off @ the European Court of Justice (on-site)
When? | What & Who? | Where? |
Tuesday, 27 January, 2026
| teff partners will attend a hearing of the Court before meeting with its President, Prof. Koen Lenaerts. This will be followed by a presentation by Prof Kris Grimonprez on EU Citizenship and common values in the case law of the Court of Justice. | on-site European Court of Justice, Luxembourg |
Feb - Mar: teff Tuesday Sessions - EU Citizenship (online)
In each of these online sessions, one key theme in education was introduced to the audience. Following that, Prof Kris Grimonprez shared a relevant case of the European Court of Justice. These sessions encouraged educators to bring such cases, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, into their classrooms. This was a unique opportunity to learn about EU case teaching! | |
When? | What & Who? |
Tuesday, 24 February, 2026 4PM - 5.30PM (CET) | Focus: Digital Competences feat. Prof Kris Grimonprez, Tonje Hilde Giæver & Bård Ketil Engen (OsloMet) |
Tuesday, 3 March, 2026 4PM - 5.30PM (CET) | Focus: Well-being feat. Prof Kris Grimonprez, Dr. Jan Springob & Dagmar M. Benincasa (University of Cologne) |
Tuesday, 10 March, 2026 4PM - 5.30PM (CET) | Focus: Inclusion and Diversity feat. Prof Kris Grimonprez, Karen van der Eng (Utrecht University) & Lotte Geunis (KU Leuven) |
Tuesday, 17 March, 2026 4PM - 5.30PM (CET) | Focus: Sustainability feat. Prof Kris Grimonprez, Wilfried Admiraal (OsloMet) & Lotte Geunis (KU Leuven) |
Mar 25-26: teff Conference - Every Voice Matters: Diversity in Schools and Teacher Education (on-site)
Please find more information on the programme here!
March 26: International Teachers Meeting @Utrecht (on-site)
Parallel to the teff Conference in Cologne, teachers from across Europe met at Academie Tien in Utrecht (https://www.academie-tien.nl/), our wonderful partner school, to discuss challenges in schools in general and teaching in particular - and above all to look at examples of good practice in dealing with the many different facets and manifestations of diversity.
April 14 - 16: Staff Training Week @Kalmar, Sweden - Dealing with controversy in the classroom (on-site)
Staff training week 14-16th of April 2026, Kalmar, Sweden
Dealing with controversy in the classroom*
*This event was funded with support from the Erasmus+ project BAGSKOL: https://bagskol.hypotheses.org/
When: 14-16 of April 2026
Target group: Teacher educators at Higher Education Institutions (HEI)
Where: Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden.
What: In today’s increasingly diverse and interconnected societies, teaching in culturally heterogeneous classrooms has become a defining aspect of professional practice for educators across Europe and beyond. This complexity, however, also presents significant pedagogical and ethical challenges, particularly when addressing sensitive topics such as racism, gender roles, religious expression, heteronormativity and normative assumptions.
Our staff training workshop aimed to address this gap through international collaboration, drawing on a variety of disciplinary perspectives to better understand and respond to culturally complex teaching contexts. We invited teacher educators from HEIs in different countries to join us in a three days’ workshop aiming to prepare them in preparing students teachers to face classrooms challenges. The programme offered a mix of lectures, discussions, workshops and joint analyses of teaching strategies with a focus on case study methodology and the sharing of experiences.
April 28: teff Educathon: Well-being of future teachers and education professionals
When: 28 April 2026
Where: University of Florence, Italy
Target group: Student teachers and educators
What: Well-being of future teachers and education professionals
The Educathon is a marathon of ideas. This full-day event was designed to address the challenge of well-being by actively engaging future teachers and education professionals. The aim was not to provide ready-made solutions, but to foster critical awareness, shared frameworks of meaning, and practical strategies grounded in participants’ experiences.
The Educathon was an opportunity to:
- engage with a shared and pressing challenge
- connect with students future teachers and educators and teachers
- collaborate creatively to generate concrete responses to relevant educational issues
Participants worked in teams, reflect on real scenarios, and present their ideas in a final pitch session.