Sapere aude — dare to know.
Kant wrote it in 1784 as the motto of the Enlightenment. But it feels more urgent than ever in 2026. Because in a world changing at breathtaking speed — driven by technology, AI and shifting societal expectations — the question is no longer simply what teachers need to know. The question is whether they dare to keep searching. Dare to doubt. Dare to learn.
That is what Cloud 2 is about.
Who are we?
Cloud 2 is the EAPRIL community focused on the professional development of educators. We bring together researchers and practitioners who share one central question: how do teachers continue to develop — not only in what they can do, but in who they are as professionals? Our community connects teacher educators, school coaches, researchers and teachers from across Europe, each approaching this question from their own context.
Making meaning as a craft
The theme of EAPRIL 2026 — Making meaning: The craft of collaborative construction of understanding — speaks directly to what Cloud 2 has long been working on. Because professional development is not a matter of transferring knowledge or ticking off competences. It is a craft. It is shaped through experience, judgement, collaboration and reflection. And like any craft: you do not learn it from a manual, but by doing — together with others, in practice itself.
This is true for students. But it is at least as true for teachers.
What we gathered in Malta
During the EAPRIL conference 2025 in Malta, Cloud 2 organised a spotlight session that sparked rich conversation. Participants from different countries shared their research questions, doubts and experiences. What stood out: there are big, shared questions — but few clear-cut answers. And perhaps that is exactly as it should be.
The conversations kept circling around a number of central tensions:
How are preservice teachers' content knowledge and personal development related? Identity, self-efficacy and practical teaching experience proved deeply intertwined — but how to deliberately harness that connection in teacher education remains an open question.
What is a fair balance between competences and identity in professional development? Which strategies actually work, and how do they relate to existing models of teacher development?
Do teachers want what they need? Teachers choose their own workshops, coaching or courses — but does what they want align with what they actually need? And need for what, exactly — what is the ultimate goal?
How can initial teacher education and continuing professional development be meaningfully combined so that everyone learns — including the students? And what forms of support are needed to make that happen?
How do you build an open learning culture? Not as an abstract ideal, but concretely: with attention to participation, impact and policy.
How can teacher talents be used optimally? So that schools can be organised in ways that truly support student development.
These questions are not new. But they sound different in 2026 than they did five years ago. The world is changing rapidly — technologically, socially, culturally. And education is moving with it, even if that movement is not always smooth.
What we will do in Cork
In Cork, we will pose a question that builds on everything we gathered in Malta — and that strikes at the heart of the conference theme:
What competences does the teacher need for today and tomorrow — and how do we construct that understanding together?
In our spotlight session we will focus on the process of collaborative curriculum design to find an answer to this question. By studying how teachers engage in this design process, participants gain insight into teacher learning, the support structures that strengthen it, and the ways in which teachers refine their personal theories of action while keeping learners’ needs at the center. Because educational design research frequently accompanies collaborative curriculum design, the session also highlights research approaches that simultaneously advance practical outcomes and scientific understanding- so called two‑way methods that intentionally foster teacher development while generating transferable knowledge. The session itself adopts a light two‑way structure: it offers inspiration, exchange, and methodological insights, while also gathering participants’ perspectives through a warm‑up poll, plenary discussion, and exit poll. These contributions will help shape the ongoing Cloud 2 agenda.
The thread connecting Malta and Cork
In Malta, we heard that professional development is not straightforward. That what teachers want to learn and what they need do not always coincide. That identity and competences are inextricably linked. And that context — school, training institution, policy — determines whether professional development truly takes root.
In Cork, we go a step further. We ask not only what teachers need, but how we can construct that understanding together — in the spirit of the conference theme. Because meaning is not made alone. It is made together, through doing, through stumbling, through trying again.
And perhaps that is the most important competence for the teacher of tomorrow: not knowing the answer, but daring to ask the question. Not knowing how, but staying curious about how it could be better.
Sapere aude — dare to know. You do not need to know yet. But together, we can find out.
We hope to see you in Cork — 24–26 November 2026!
Nanke Dokter & Sylvia Schouwenaars, coordinators Cloud 2
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About Nanke Dokter & Sylvia Schouwenaars
Cloud 2 Coordinators