The Teacher Task Force network, represented by the Secretariat, Germany, Indonesia, India, Republic of South Africa and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is present at the 2024 G20 Education Working Group Sherpa meeting, hosted by Brazil.

The focus of the intervention will be on the critical findings from our latest Global Report on Teachers, which highlights the urgent need to address teacher shortages worldwide, with 44 million primary and secondary teachers needed by 2030 to address primary and secondary universal education.

The focus will be on the G20 country examples with good practices that contributed to addressing teacher shortages, including:

• More competitive teacher salaries
• In-service training
• Induction programs
• Communities of Practice (CoPs)
• Support for rural teachers
• Improved working conditions
• Promoting gender equity

UNESCO is taking part in various G20 moments - Sherpas meet to discuss the progress of the various G20 processes, such as the working groups and Engagement groups. They also oversee the negotiations and provide strategic advice on preparations for the Leaders Summit. Read more about UNESCO engagement in the G20 here.

The UNESCO and Teacher Task Force Global Report on Teachers will be presented on Thursday 9 May at the 11th Conference and 13th Roundtable of the African Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA) in Lusaka, Zambia.

Jointly hosted by the Ministry of Education of Zambia and the Teaching Council of Zambia, the conference is scheduled to run from 6 to 11 May, uniting key stakeholders, policymakers, and educators for crucial discussions on  Africa's educational future.

Carlos Vargas, Head of the TTF Secretariat and Chief of UNESCO's Section for Teacher Development, will present the Global Report on Teachers during a dedicated session on the conference's third day. This will be followed by a presentation of the Recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, and a moderated panel discussion, where participants will explore the implications of these policy tools within the context of the African Union's Year of Education and the forthcoming Continental Education Strategy for Africa.

• Click here to download the full conference announcement from the AFTRA website
• Click here to register for the conference (advance registration is required)

His Excellency, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia, will be present as the Special Guest of Honour during the conference. Joining him will be Hon. Douglas Siakalima, MP, Minister of Education, Zambia, serving as the Chief Host, and Dr. Ebby Mubanga, Registrar of the Teaching Council of Zambia, as host.

About AFTRA

AFTRA, the African Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities, comprises Ministries of Education, National Teaching Councils, Teacher Unions, Teacher Education Institutions, and international organisations associated with the regulation of teaching. AFTRA is also the Africa Regional Branch of the world body, International Forum of Teacher Regulatory Authorities, IFTRA (www.iftra.org). It is further the Co-Chair of the African Union Teacher Development Cluster, Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2016-2025), and member of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. It has a special working relationship with African Union Commission, UNESCO-IICBA, UNESCO Regional offices in Africa, Education International Africa Region, and many others.


Photo: The Minister of Education, Zambia chairing the Planning Committee which included members of the AFTRA Executive Board.

Co-hosted by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Global Gateway High-Level Education Event, which will take place on 11 April 2024 in Brussels, aims to highlight EU's role in transforming global education and bridging skills gaps.

The event will gather political and business leaders, decision makers, CSOs and youth representatives to showcase how EU international partnerships contribute to transforming education and addressing skills gaps across the world. The event will be co-hosted by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Explore the event page to find out about the programme and regular updates until the day of the event.

Registration: We kindly ask you to register for the event by filling in this form by the 26th of March.

Onsite attendance is limited by the venue's capacity and requires prior approval; we advise waiting for the confirmation email before making any travel arrangements. 

We will also welcome guests to attend the livestreamed event online.

Co-hosted by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Global Gateway High-Level Education Event, which will take place on 11 April 2024 in Brussels, aims to highlight EU's role in transforming global education and bridging skills gaps.

The event will gather political and business leaders, decision makers, CSOs and youth representatives to showcase how EU international partnerships contribute to transforming education and addressing skills gaps across the world. The event will be co-hosted by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Explore the event page to find out about the programme and regular updates until the day of the event.

Registration: We kindly ask you to register for the event by filling in this form by the 26th of March.

Onsite attendance is limited by the venue's capacity and requires prior approval; we advise waiting for the confirmation email before making any travel arrangements. 

We will also welcome guests to attend the livestreamed event online.

Join the Teacher Task Force and UNESCO for two panel discussions at the CIES Conference 2024. The event is open to CIES members only. Consult the official webpage here.

Framing the future of teacher wellbeing in low-resource and crisis contexts: definitions, measures and motivations

11 March , 8:00 to 9:30am Hyatt Regency Miami, Floor: Third Level, Stanford

Teacher occupational wellbeing (TWB)—“how teachers feel and function in their jobs” (Falk et al., 2019)—is a critical and urgent issue. In the best of times, teaching is a demanding profession (Greenberg, Brown and Abenavoli, 2016), but after the global school closures precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching has become one of the most stressful professions (Steiner and Woo, 2021). This stress can lead to burnout and professional attrition (Borg, Riding and Falzon, 1991; Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2018). Low levels of teacher wellbeing have been associated with higher rates of turnover in the profession, as well as absenteeism (Ingersoll, 2003; Albulescu, Tuşer and Sulea, 2018). On the other hand, high levels of wellbeing for teachers are associated with teachers staying longer in the profession because of increased self-efficacy and job satisfaction (Collie, Shapka and Perry, 2012; Zee and Koomen, 2016). This is especially important in light of global teacher shortages. By some estimates, the global education community will need to recruit about 24 million primary school teachers by 2030 to meet the growing need for classroom instruction and learning, with 14% of this recruitment being for new teaching positions and the rest needing to fill gaps being left by teachers who retire or leave the profession (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2016). This teacher shortage is especially acute in Sub-Saharan Africa where 70% of countries face current teacher shortages, a trend that will continue unless there are dramatic system-level changes to teacher hiring and retention policies and practices (Ibid).

While there has been a growing body of research on teacher wellbeing, what it means, and how it functions, there is a dearth of knowledge of what teacher wellbeing actually looks like for educators in low-resource and fragile contexts (D’Sa et al., 2023; Falk, Shephard, & Mendenhall, 2022; Kirk & Winthrop, 2013; Wolf et al., 2015). More importantly, there is a need to more fully understand how teachers in these contexts understand their own wellbeing and the factors that support or hinder it. Indeed, several recent efforts to provide a framework for TWB (Brandt & Lopes Cardozo, 2023; Falk et al., 2019; McCallum et al., 2017; Viac & Fraser, 2020) have used a multidimensional perspective that has focused on external and internal factors in the settings and systems around the teacher. But these different factors can manifest differently, and affect teachers differentially, depending on the social, cultural, and historical context within which teachers work. Indeed, factors at different levels of the ecological system “can increase a teacher’s risk for negative wellbeing outcomes or their propensity toward positive wellbeing outcomes depending on the context in which the teacher lives and works.” (Falk et al., 2019; p.10). Hence, understanding not just what factors affect teachers but how they manifest and interact with each other in different contexts is important if we are to constructively address teachers’ wellbeing in low resource and crisis contexts. This is especially important as teachers continue to be on the frontlines of delivering life-saving and sustaining knowledge and skills to children and youth in complex and uncertain times, often protesting the status quo to re-imagine a more just and inclusive future for their learners. Teachers take on this work with limited support and in increasingly politically-charged and contested environments.

This panel aims to deepen our understanding of TWB in low-resource and crisis contexts to better comprehend how teachers make meaning of TWB, how different assets and factors around teachers affect their wellbeing, and how to address TWB in a manner that respects the agency of teachers in the process. Spanning Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and South America and the Caribbean, the four papers examine how policies and practices of teacher management and teacher professional development alongside teachers’ lived experiences in their schools and communities influence their professional wellbeing. The papers draw on qualitative and quantitative methodologies to privilege teachers’ perspectives and promote their experiences as essential evidence in better understanding, and ultimately supporting, teacher wellbeing in low-resource, forced displacement, and conflict-affected contexts.

The first paper in this panel focuses on teacher management policies concerning teacher salary and benefits in South Sudan and Uganda. Drawing on nearly 200 interviews with refugee and national teachers in both countries, this paper demonstrates how low and irregular salaries exacerbate the challenges teachers’ face meeting their own and their families’ basic needs and contribute to teachers’ declining status in society. While this drives many teachers to leave the profession, others persist in the profession due to their strong vocation and desire to give back to their communities. In the second paper, we pivot our focus to examine the ways in which teachers’ work can serve as a protective factor for their wellbeing in contexts of forced displacement. Drawing from a mixed methods study with 555 refugee teachers in Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh), this paper illustrates how the support and respect teachers receive from their community due to their role as educators enhance their sense of professional wellbeing. Designing contextually-relevant measures of teacher wellbeing is the focus of the third paper, which compares teacher’s conceptions of TWB across four different contexts and discusses how these differences and similarities are incorporated in the measurement of TWB in Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, and Liberia. The last paper then focuses on the relationship between teacher professional development (TPD) and teacher wellbeing. Exploring the implementation of a TWB intervention in Uganda, this paper demonstrates how to design a TPD intervention in partnership with teachers in Uganda, including the methods used to ensure that the intervention is relevant and responsive for teachers’ needs.

Let’s talk about transforming teaching through social justice: insights from the UN High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession

13 March, 1:30 to 2:30pm, Hyatt Regency Miami, Floor: Third Level, Ashe Auditorium

Speakers: Carlos Vargas - Chief, UNESCO’s Section for Teacher Development and Teacher Task Force Secretariat, David Edwards (Education International), Amita Chudgar, Martial Dembele, Beatrice Avalos and Jordan Naidoo.

Around the globe, education systems are facing major challenges regarding the recruitment and retention of teachers. This Dialogue panel discusses the nature of this global crisis in education, focusing attention specifically on the Transforming Education Summit (TES) convened by the United Nations Secretary-General, in September 2022. The Secretary-General’s vision statement at the TES made clear that a fundamental change was needed regarding the role and the treatment of teachers. It is in this context that a High-Level Panel (HLP) on the Teaching Profession was established to produce a new vision and a set of recommendations on the teaching profession for the benefit of teachers, students, parents, and education systems worldwide. This Dialogue IV panel brings together colleagues who were closely involved with the HLP since its inception, and members of the expert group whose knowledge and expertise informed the HLP deliberations. These groups of colleagues will each share unique insights emerging from the process of convening the HLP, the deliberations of HLP, and the resultant report and recommendations.

As part of the International Educa 2024 conference organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland, Teacher Task Force and UNESCO are participating in a panel discussion on Transforming the Teaching Profession.

Register here: https://educa.messukeskus.com/?lang=en

The panel will address the global status of the teaching profession, based on key results of UNESCO’s first-ever global report on teachers. The report has a special focus on teacher shortages. Teachers are the key in strengthening quality and inclusion of any education system, but what strategies and practices could be applied in efforts to ensure that the teaching profession becomes and/or remains attractive?

The panel addresses following questions:

• What does UNESCO & Teacher Task Force data tell us about the global trends and challenges in the field of teaching profession?
• What key measures have countries taken to combat teacher shortages? Some illustrative examples
• How can we strengthen international collaboration between policy makers, teacher training institutions, and international organisations, to deliver the promise of SDG 4 to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030?
• What messages should we convey to the UN Summit of the Future (September 2024), concerning the teaching profession?

UNESCO and the Teacher Task Force will be represented by Carlos Vargas, Chief of Section for Teacher Development, Head of the Secretariat for the International Taskforce on Teachers for Education 2030, UNESCO.

More information:

• Upcoming Teacher Task Force & UNESCO Global report on teachers
• International Educa 2024 conference

30 November - 12 December 2023

Consult the list of UNESCO education events tackling teacher capacity-building and greening teacher training.

UNESCO is actively involved in accelerating climate change education and will showcase its efforts at the global stage during this year's United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 30 November to 12 December 2023. This international event provides a valuable platform for securing commitments and actions from countries regarding climate change education. 

 hroughout the 13-day event, UNESCO will co-host a series of events highlighting the essential role of education in getting every learner climate-ready. In collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Education UNESCO as secretariat to the Greening Education Partnership will establish the first historical Greening Education Hub, featuring over 200 sessions organized to promote concrete actions and solutions through education. Youth members of the Partnership will also play a leading role in the dialogue and paving the next steps. 

Objectives 

• To mobilize and strengthen political commitment on greening education; 
• To share good practice and solutions on climate change education; 
• To generate opportunities for synergetic action on greening school, curriculum, the capacities of teachers and systems and communities. 

The following is an overview of UNESCO-related events taking place at COP28. 

Greening Education Hub

30 November-12 December, Green Zone, Expo City, Dubai, UAE 

The inaugural Greening Education Hub, known as the Greening Education Hub: LEGACY – إ ث from the Land of Zayed, will be set up in the green zone. The hub is hosted by the UAE Ministry of Education, co-organised with the Greening Education Partnership, supported by its UNESCO secretariat. The space and the corresponding events will emphasize education's pivotal role in addressing the climate crisis. 

The hub is designed around the four action pillars of the Greening Education Partnership: greening schools, greening curriculum, greening teacher training and education system's capacities, and greening communities. 

The programming will include:  

• National programming, showcasing the work undertaken by UAE government and national partners to greening education in UAE.   
• International programming, showcasing international activities undertaken to green education globally.  

The Greening Education Partnership Annual Meeting – 3-part event

8 December 2023, Green Zone, Expo City, Dubai, UAE  

• High-level session on greening education 

On the occasion of Youth and Education Day, UNESCO in partnership with the Ministry of Education of UAE will organize a session focusing on youth-based action to green education.  Key stakeholders will engage in discussions on accelerating green education across the world. The objective of this event is to secure political support and strengthen the global commitment on the common agenda for education and climate change at COP28 and beyond.  

During the event, The Declaration on the Common Agenda for Education and Climate Change at COP28, which was drafted on input from the GEP members countries, will be presented. It aims to strengthen and renew the country commitments and actions at COP28 and beyond on the role of education in adapting and mitigating climate change and the need for more investment to accelerate greening education globally.  

• Technical meetings on boosting Greening Education Partnership 

The high-level session will be followed by technical concurrent sessions on boosting the objectives of the Greening Education Partnership and accelerating action on the four pillars. Members working on each pillar will gather to discuss next steps and activities for achieving the Partnerships’ mission. 

• Working group meetings on way forward and action through the four pillars  

9 December 2023, Green zone, Expo City Dubai, UAE

This session will focus on reflections on the achievements of the member groups working on the four pillars and discuss the way forward, highlighting elements in the annual report and key data and evidence from the baseline survey report. 

Greening schools: Where do we go from here? - Post-COP28 UNFCCC- UNESCO webinar

12 December 14:00-15:00 UTC+1 

This session marks the end of the second season of UNFCCC-UNESCO webinars. It will review COP28, discussing what we've learned, achieved, committed to, and where we go next in promoting climate change education, with a focus on greening schools. 

In the previous webinars, we explored how schools can go "green" by incorporating Education for Sustainable Development into their teaching, facilities, governance, and community engagement. Building on the commitments made at COP28 by governments and others, the discussion will revolve around how to encourage cooperation across different sectors and among various stakeholders, bridging governments and society to support global efforts in making education and schools more environmentally conscious. 

This session will tackle these questions: 

• What did we accomplish in making schools more eco-friendly during COP28? 
• What's the plan for turning these commitments into action? 

Visit the official page including all the information.

Addressing global teacher shortages: Dignifying, diversifying and valorizing the profession

Read the final report 

Replay the Opening and Closing ceremonies, as well as all the plenary sessions

Consult the full resource pack from the Forum

Read the Global Report on Teachers - Addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession

Read the Recommendations of the UNSG High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession 

Read the event concept note

Consult the practical information if you are participating in person

Consult the programme for the event

The 14th Policy Dialogue Forum was held from 26-28 February 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Co-hosted by the Teacher Task Force and the Ministry of Basic Education of the Republic of South Africa, the Forum focused on the theme ‘Addressing global teacher shortages: Dignifying, diversifying and valorizing the profession’. It brought together over 400 participants from across the globe, including policymakers, educators and education stakeholders, to discuss common challenges causing teacher shortages, effective policy solutions, and future transformative strategies to elevate the status of teaching profession.

Central to the Forum’s agenda was the official launch of the first Teacher Task Force & UNESCO Global Report on Teachers - Addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession. Highlighting a need for 44 million additional teachers by 2030 to achieve universal primary and secondary education, the Report emphasizes the urgency of the challenge and offers actionable, data-driven solutions. Watch the launch of the Global Report on Teachers here.

The Forum also featured the launch of the Recommendations of the UNSG High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, which presents a roadmap for transforming the teaching profession and meeting the needs of the future, aligned with the Global Report on Teachers.

Read more about the 14th Policy Dialogue Forum.

Organized since 2010 by the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, the Policy Dialogue Forum is a global platform for education stakeholders, which aims to foster advocacy, knowledge exchange, peer learning and monitoring of progress towards target 4.c of SDG 4 on teachers and teaching. Read the report from the last Policy Dialogue Forum here.

Addressing global teacher shortages: Dignifying, diversifying and valorizing the profession

Read the final report 

Replay the Opening and Closing ceremonies, as well as all the plenary sessions

Consult the full resource pack from the Forum

Read the Global Report on Teachers - Addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession

Read the Recommendations of the UNSG High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession 

Read the event concept note

Consult the practical information if you are participating in person

Consult the programme for the event

The 14th Policy Dialogue Forum was held from 26-28 February 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Co-hosted by the Teacher Task Force and the Ministry of Basic Education of the Republic of South Africa, the Forum focused on the theme ‘Addressing global teacher shortages: Dignifying, diversifying and valorizing the profession’. It brought together over 400 participants from across the globe, including policymakers, educators and education stakeholders, to discuss common challenges causing teacher shortages, effective policy solutions, and future transformative strategies to elevate the status of teaching profession.

Central to the Forum’s agenda was the official launch of the first Teacher Task Force & UNESCO Global Report on Teachers - Addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession. Highlighting a need for 44 million additional teachers by 2030 to achieve universal primary and secondary education, the Report emphasizes the urgency of the challenge and offers actionable, data-driven solutions. Watch the launch of the Global Report on Teachers here.

The Forum also featured the launch of the Recommendations of the UNSG High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, which presents a roadmap for transforming the teaching profession and meeting the needs of the future, aligned with the Global Report on Teachers.

Read more about the 14th Policy Dialogue Forum.

Organized since 2010 by the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, the Policy Dialogue Forum is a global platform for education stakeholders, which aims to foster advocacy, knowledge exchange, peer learning and monitoring of progress towards target 4.c of SDG 4 on teachers and teaching. Read the report from the last Policy Dialogue Forum here.

Click here to watch the recording of this event.
 

In an unprecedented joint event, UNESCO is joining forces with the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (TTF), the Varkey Foundation, and Dubai Cares to bring a spotlight on teachers.

UNESCO and TTF will launch the highlights of the first Global Report on Teachers during the award ceremony of the Global Teacher Prize which this year is held in collaboration with Dubai Cares.

The initial segment will introduce new research addressing teacher shortages, offering a preview of the full report. This comprehensive report will showcase in-depth data and perspectives on the global challenges that teachers face, alongside actionable recommendations to enhance teacher recruitment and retention. The presentation will be followed by a ministerial panel addressing some of the critical issues affecting teacher shortages and the policy solutions to address this global phenomenon.

In the second part, the Varkey Foundation will present the Global Teacher Prize 2023, honouring exceptional educators in partnership with UNESCO and Dubai Cares. Established to commend an extraordinary teacher who has significantly impacted the profession, the Prize highlights the crucial role teachers play in society. The event will showcase the prestigious USD 1 million prize winner, alongside the other nine finalists chosen from a pool of over 8,000 nominations and applications spanning 121 countries.

In order to join this General Conference side event, register here.

Agenda:

Explore further:

• Webpage of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 & UNESCO Global Report on Teachers
• UNESCO work on teachers
• Global Teacher Prize
• UNESCO event webpage

Photo credit: UNESCO/Kilayé Bationo