The Flemish education network GO! has announced plans to create teaching guides over the next school years to help teachers implement the new minimum learning goals in primary education more easily.
The Flemish Parliament approved the new minimum goals for primary education earlier this summer, replacing the previous ones, which dated back to 1997. These objectives outline the essential knowledge and skills that pupils in nursery and primary schools must acquire. While schools can already start using the new goals, they will become mandatory for the first three years of primary education from the 2026-2027 school year.
Koen Pelleriaux, CEO of GO!, described the reform as a significant change, given the abstract nature of the new minimum goals. He stressed that the burden of translating these complex standards into actionable plans should not fall solely on individual teachers.
To address this, GO! is developing teaching guides, or “lesson fiches,” for the first time. These one-page documents will provide clear instructions to help teachers prepare their lessons, including suggested vocabulary and recommended resources. The fiches aim to bridge the gap between the curriculum and lesson planning.
Experienced teachers are being enlisted to create these guides, but this comes with challenges, especially amidst the ongoing teacher shortage. Pelleriaux acknowledged the strain this project might temporarily place on participating educators. However, he emphasised that reducing the workload for teachers in the long term is the goal.
To mitigate the impact, GO! is offering teachers the option to take on these tasks as extra work, for which they will be compensated. Some may also increase their workload up to 140% by taking on this additional responsibility.
The network plans to draw resources from “inspiration schools,” a concept introduced by Flemish Education Minister Zuhal Demir. These schools, set to be selected early next year, will receive intensive support to pioneer the implementation of the new curriculum and inspire other schools to follow suit.
GO! has stressed that the teaching guides are not designed to impose rigid methods on teachers. Instead, they aim to provide a framework from which teachers can adapt and personalise their lessons. For example, a teacher who is stronger in languages than maths might use the guides more extensively for maths lessons while relying on their own expertise for language instruction.
The rollout of the new goals will primarily focus on introducing teachers to the updated curriculum this academic year. GO! aims to produce 1,500 teaching guides over the next two school years, starting with key subjects such as Dutch and mathematics, which are central to the revised framework.
The inspiration for these guides comes from England, where a GO! delegation participated in a study visit earlier this year to observe successful implementations of similar teaching resources.
