Change and innovation in the educational policies and strategies for human resources development

The education and training process has become a priority of the EU Council's policy in the broader context of economic and social policies requiring a workforce that is highly skilled, adaptable and able to effectively use its knowledge and the new technology. The knowledge-based society, founded on dynamic learning processes, will depend on professionals highly skilled in different contexts (learning in formal environments, lifelong learning, e-Learning, inclusive education), teachers' professional development becoming the subject of expansion, diversification and fast professionalisation. The educational reality shows that the strength and quality of an organization or company do not depend primarily on the number of its members. Quantity does not necessarily produce quality. What actually matters is represented by the individuals' competences and their degree of convergence with organizational goals and the types of activities. The increasing degree of civilization depends on every individual's will to change their own environment, thus generating a profound change. The educational system is no exception to these social regularities, requiring the teacher's dedication and that of other educational staff willing to change something, the moral purpose by itself being insufficient and in need of social actors whose qualifications recommend them in view of obtaining individual and institutional performance. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.