The attrition of non-university teaching professionals has become an international concern. A UNESCO report shows that between 2015 and 2022, the rate of primary school teacher resignation, particularly in the first five years of service, doubled worldwide, and 44 million teachers will be needed by 2030 (UNESCO, 2022). Previous studies (Wang, H., et al., 2008) and European projects (PROTEACH Project, 2020) show that effective mentoring from the universities helps students to integrate theory and practice and feel like part of the academic community, with positive effects on permanence. The Erasmus+ DIGITALTA project was designed to address teacher attrition as a serious problem for public training policies in Europe and demonstrates the impact institutions can make on society through collaborative research.
A community of learning to reduce teacher attrition in Europe
The challenge of teacher attrition in Europe highlights the need for a pedagogical strategy focused on engagement in higher education (HE). Research has shown that newly qualified teachers (NQTs) often face difficulties transitioning from initial training to professional life, due to lack of resources, limited mentoring, and insufficient opportunities for reflective practice (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011; Hobson et al., 2009). Addressing these challenges requires institutional strategies that foster engagement, collaborative learning, and professional identity development.
Co-funded by the European Union, the project DIGITALTA tries to build a bridge between initial training and professional life of teachers from Europe, thanks to the engagement of a consortium of universities and continuous training institutions from Belgium, Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland and Spain. Participant institutions found similar needs in relation to initial and continuous teacher training, highlighting especially the difficulty for the transition from initial training to teaching in schools, demonstrated by a problematic teacher attrition. This attrition is especially evident in participating countries: Czech Republic (31% teacher turnover), Belgium (26%), Poland (25%), Spain (22%), and Ireland (19%) (Federicova, 2020).
From 2022 to 2025, our team of researchers built a pedagogical model based on the needs identified at the national level. We designed and piloted a digital platform especially focused on supporting newly qualified teacher training (NQT: teacher training student and recently graduated teachers).
The project involved more than 17.000 participants in pilot and communication activities, and as of July 2025 the community of learning is formed by 1280 registered teachers.
In many cases, NQT teachers are overwhelmed by the lack of resources, space, time, and the need for support to reflect on their daily activities. The DIGITALTA team developed this learning community to support students and newly qualified teachers to engage in collaborative critical reflection on teaching practices. In this way, researchers have sought to avoid conformity to dominant school practices (De Roiste et al., 2012), and engage participants in an enriching socialization process, which promotes the improvement of their practices.
A platform for teacher’s reflective practice
The pedagogical approach of the DIGITALTA model is based on the consideration that learning is derived from four main aspects: meta-reflected and situated learnings, but also collaborative and connected learnings. Consequently, our techno-pedagogical team developed four main modules for teacher support, based on the reflexive practice methodology (Dewey, 1997; Schön, 1983; Saric and Steh, 2017):
(1) “My experience”: a first module designed for platform participants to share their challenges and issues faced in the classroom. It provides a platform for them to articulate their specific teaching difficulties, seek advice, and receive support from other professionals within the learning community. Users can create posts, engage in discussions, and collaborate to find effective solutions.
(2) “My Cases”: this module serves as a database of real case studies that teachers can use for their reflection process. It provides a repository of practical scenarios and challenges encountered by experienced teachers in various educational settings. Users can access these cases, analyse them, and engage in discussions to deepen their understanding, gain insights, and develop effective teaching strategies.
(3) “Tutors and mentors”: aimed at participants, providing them with an avenue to reflect on their teaching issues and challenges. They can seek assistance and guidance from experienced professionals across different education levels. This module facilitates one-on-one or group interactions, enabling pre-service teachers to receive personalized mentoring and support to enhance their teaching skills.
(4) “Resource repository”: finally, this module allows sharing helpful resources with other professionals in a learning community. The repository is being built thanks to users’ experiences: from the main page, participants can visit the “Resources” section to explore a diverse range of resources available on the platform, from lesson plans and teaching guides to research articles and multimedia materials.
Filters and search functionality are available to narrow down the search and find resources relevant to user teaching context, subject area, or professional interests. The platform offers a structured approach for NQT to engage in self-reflection about their teaching practices, thanks to meta-reflection on practice. The proposed reflective process is framed, among other things, around a cyclical process that encourages in-service teachers to draw on experience (What? So what? Now what?).
Toward the future: a new initiative for teachers’ well-being
After almost 12 months of piloting, the DIGITALTA project finished in June 2025, and the project team started to think about project sustainability. There is a wealth of scientific evidence that has pointed to the community as a factor in reducing teacher attrition. By creating spaces where educators can exchange context-specific strategies, the platform fosters both inclusivity and adaptability. Ultimately, DIGITALTA became a digital environment for teaching community care.
The platform seeks to strengthen teachers’ abilities and skills as well as their overall well-being. We are convinced that promoting strong mental and physical health is not only essential for the development of our professional skills, but also constitutes the greatest value of this initiative: providing concrete tools to build healthier, more sustainable, and more humane educational environments.
Therefore, the teacher well-being program will be launched in October 2025 for Teachers’ Day, and is part of a collaboration agreement between the European University of the Atlantic and the Social Action Department of the Iberoamerican University Foundation (FUNIBER), as well as the DIGITALTA project partners. This is a comprehensive approach focused on professional care to increase teacher well-being and reduce teacher attrition, building a link between theory and practice. At the same time, it allows for strengthening the teacher’s identity, a key element to avoid dropping out. The program is part of the findings, developments, and sustainability strategy of the DIGITALTA project, as a continuation and transfer of the EU-funded results to society.
In addition to the institutional commitment we made through the research, development, and promotion of the initial and continuous teacher education, we understand that this new challenge must be sustainable and collectively supported as a shared responsibility for social well-being and better education for all. Resources such as EU funding make it even more possible for institutions to collaborate on research and solutions to positively impact society.
Source: https://www.aceeu.org/news/spotlightarticle/id/96
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