Since 2017, the Teacher Task Force thematic working group on ECCE Teachers and Facilitators has brought together partners, experts and country representatives with a particular interest in developing the ECCE workforce.

The World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education represents a unique opportunity for the thematic group to meet and bring together members and non-members to strategize on key areas of work for the forthcoming biennium, agree upon key advocacy themes and actions in light of deliberations coming out of the Conference to promote the ECCE workforce at the national, regional and global level.

The event aims to be an interactive discussion between those present, which will include the members and non-members of the TTF thematic group on the ECCE workforce.

Agenda

For more information please contact Emilia Soto (e.soto-echeverri@unesco.org). 

The symposium will focus on “Reimagining education for a better impact on learning outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa”. This crucial and foundational theme may be approached from multiple entry points, such as curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, teachers, inclusion, equity, policymaking, and practice. Papers for presentation will be based on the sub-themes below:

• Proven innovations in improving learning and teaching in Sub-Saharan African contexts;
• Quality teacher education and professional development programs and support mechanisms, as measured by learning outcomes;
• The quality of national curriculum and assessment (formative, diagnostic, and summative), as measured by student learning;
• Addressing diversity, inclusion, and equity through proven strategies that raise outcomes for marginalized learners such as girls, students with disabilities, and socially or economically disadvantaged students;
• The link between languages of instruction (mother tongues, minoritized languages, French, English, Portuguese, etc.) and learning outcomes;
• Remedial or alternative strategies that raise student learning outcomes after disruptions from emergencies, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, and other health and social crises;
• Research to inform leadership, governance, and policy on students’ learning outcomes.

To follow the symposium online please register here.

Expected outcomes of the symposium:

1. National and international education stakeholders will use KIX-supported research to frame debates about sustainable, inclusive, and equitable scaling in education in developing contexts.
2. Country representatives will strengthen their knowledge and skills, including those that consider GESI to strengthen national education systems.
3. Country representatives will actively participate in the hub, contributing to its governance and agenda, and share relevant knowledge from their context with their hub and other country representatives in the region, including GESI-related challenges.

This United Nations Transforming Education Summit panel discussion will highlight the role of teachers and students as critical enablers of transformation both within and beyond the classroom. Featuring representatives from Education International,  Teach For All, Global Students Forum, and Global Campaign for Education. More information here.

The session will be in-person in the United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room 7, and can be followed online through this link.

Useful links:

• Full official programme of the Transforming Education Summit 
• #TeachersTransform campaign, led by the Teacher Task Force in collaboration with the Action Track 3 co-leads, Nigeria, Romania, the International Labor Organisation (anchor), UNESCO (alternate), UNICEF, UNHCR, UNRWA and the World Bank.

Speakers:

• Ms Alexandra Seybal, GSF and Organizing Bureau of European School Student Unions (moderator)
• Ms Antonia Wulff Director of Research, Policy & Advocacy, Education International (Europe)
• Ms Daniela González Castro, Teach For All Global Network Ambassador and teacher (Mexico)
• Ms. Paola Parra Leggs, Teach For All Youth Ambassador and 2020 Student Leadership Advisory Council Member (Mexico)
• Mr. Refat Sabbah, President, Global Campaign for Education (Middle East)
• Ms. Winnie Nyandinga, Global Student Forum Representative and Vice President - Commonwealth Students Association (Africa)

This United Nations Transforming Education Summit session on Solutions Day aims to recognize and respond to the significant challenges faced by teachers working in crisis contexts by developing a Sector-wide Action Plan to support teachers in the delivery of quality, inclusive education to all children and youth.

The session will be in-person in the United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room 11. Click here to watch the livestream.

Useful links:

• Full official programme of the TES Solutions Day 
• #TeachersTransform campaign, led by the Teacher Task Force in collaboration with the Action Track 3 co-leads, Nigeria, Romania, the International Labor Organisation (anchor), UNESCO (alternate), UNICEF, UNHCR, UNRWA and the World Bank.

This United Nations Transforming Education Summit session on Solutions Day will explore teacher leadership, autonomy, and innovation as key enablers of widespread transformation, affecting not only teachers, teaching and the teaching profession, but as a catalyst for accelerating global progress.

• The session will be in-person in the United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room 1.
• Watch the event online here.

Useful links:

• Full official programme of the TES Solutions Day 
• #TeachersTransform campaign, led by the Teacher Task Force in collaboration with the Action Track 3 co-leads, Nigeria, Romania, the International Labor Organisation (anchor), UNESCO (alternate), UNICEF, UNHCR, UNRWA and the World Bank.

Speakers:

• H.E. Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Education, United Arab Emirates
• H.E. Mrs Angelina Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education, South Africa
• Mr Tinti Enoch Rabotapi, TTF Co-Chair / Chief Director at the Department of Basic Education, South Africa (moderator)
• Mr Tom Vandenbosch, Global Director of Programmes, VVOB-education for development
• Ms Rebecca Pringle, President of the National Education Association, United States
• Dr Hassan Obaid Al Mheiri, Assistant Undersecretary for Licensing and Quality, Ministry of Education, United Arab Emirates
• Mr Johannes Schwartzkopff, young teacher, Teach for All Network
• Ms Lykke Storgaard, student, Teach for All Network
• Ms Keishia Thorpe, 2022 Global Teacher Prize winner
• Mr Agustin Porres, LATAM Regional Director, Varkey Foundation, and co-Coordinator of the TTF Thematic Group on School Leadership
• Mr Borhene Chakroun, Director, Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, UNESCO

Attend:

• The session will be in-person in the United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room 1.
• Watch the event online here.

This United Nations Transforming Education Summit session on Solutions Day will be a call for action for the transformation of teaching by developing comprehensive teacher policies through social dialogue. 

• The session will be in-person in the United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room 3.
• Watch the event online here.

Teachers, trainers and other education personnel are generally considered the single most influential variable in an education system for achieving learning outcomes. The achievement of SDG 4 and the transformation of education will depend heavily on teachers and education personnel that are empowered, adequately recruited, well-trained, professionally qualified, motivated and supported within well-resourced, efficient and effectively governed systems.

National teacher policies that are formulated and adopted through participatory processes that capture the voice of teachers, education personnel, and other stakeholders are a key strategy for countries to ensure a high-quality and sustainable education workforce. Ensuring that the needs and aspirations of teachers are included through social dialogue at every step of teacher policy formulation can ensure that teachers’ perspectives and expert knowledge form the basis of decision making, and, ultimately, lead to quality teaching and learning.

Drawing on experiences by countries and by previous teacher policy and social dialogue initiatives carried out by multilateral agencies, the co-leads of Action Track 3 on teachers, teaching and the teaching profession are proposing a global call for action to develop and support national teacher policies through social dialogue. The areas of action would support countries to:

The areas of action would support countries to:

• Map and identify challenges and opportunities in developing a quality education workforce, such as training bottlenecks, refugee and crisis contexts, career counselling, housing, gender issues, violence and harassment, wages and social protection;
• Formulate innovative policies to train, recruit, deploy and professionally develop teachers, trainers and other educational personnel to achieve national education goals;
• Formulate policies to ensure quality teaching in crisis contexts and in relation to refugees;
• Develop innovative policies to train education personnel in relation to current priorities, including labour market access, gender equality, crisis and conflict, digital competencies and environmental sustainability;
• Establish robust social dialogue mechanisms to ensure participation of education personnel and their representative organizations and other relevant stakeholders in education policy-making;
• Anchor achievements in education workforce development through national financing and continuous professional development strategies.

Useful links:

• Full official programme of the TES Solutions Day 
• #TeachersTransform campaign, led by the Teacher Task Force in collaboration with the Action Track 3 co-leads, Nigeria, Romania, the International Labor Organisation (anchor), UNESCO (alternate), UNICEF, UNHCR, UNRWA and the World Bank.

Speakers:

• Ms Alette van Leur, Director Sectoral Policies Department, International Labour Organization (ILO)
• Mr Oliver Liang, Head of Unit, Public and Private Services Sector, International Labour Organization (ILO)
• Dr Heike Kuhn, Head of Division ‘Education’, BMZ, Germany
• Dr Ligia Deca, Presidential Adviser, Presidential Administration of Romania
• H.E. Jaime Perczyk, Minister of Education, Argentina (tbc)
• H.E. Li Andersson, Minister of Education, Finland
• Hon. Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education of Ghana (tbc)
• Dr Abdulsalam Mohammed Al-Joufi, Advisor, Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States
• Ms Susan Hopgood, President, Education International
• Ms Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO
• Dr Khalifa Al Suwaidi, Board of Trustees, Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance
• Prof Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission of Nigeria
• Ms Mary Maker, Teacher

Attend:

• The session will be in-person in the United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room 3.
• Watch the event online here.

During the Transforming Education pre-Summit at UNESCO HQ, in Paris, join us for a panel discussion which will explore a new global initiative to support the transformation of teaching by means of participatory policymaking and teacher professional development. It will examine what works and what needs to happen to support comprehensive policy development and implementation, including financing.

The transformation of education requires an empowered education workforce which are professionalised, trained, motivated and supported. This entails having an adequate number of qualified teachers who are provided with quality initial training and continuous professional development throughout their careers; the improved status and working conditions of teaching personnel, including the recognition of their leadership and potential for innovation. 
This ambition will not be realized without comprehensive teacher policies which are developed with teachers and their representative organizations, which are fully costed and part of education sector plans.

Speakers: representatives of Ministries of Education, representatives of Nigeria, Romania and South Africa,  as well as the ILO, the World Bank, Education International, UNESCO and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. 

Consult the full pre-TES programme here: https://transformingeducationsummit.sdg4education2030.org/TESPreSummitProgramme

For more information and registration, see here.

This roundtable on higher education teachers is part of the World Higher Education Conference 2022, to be held in Barcelona on 18-20 May. The discussion will be led by UNESCO PLS and ILO focusing on the challenges of the teaching profession for reinventing higher education.

This 3rd World Higher Education Conference will bring together all relevant stakeholders to define and prepare their roadmap for a new era of higher education systems and institutions. This roadmap will be responsive to the challenges faced by humanity and the planet, as a result of diverse forms of crises, with special attention to the global disruption created by COVID-19. Furthermore, higher education must anticipate and prepare for its role in societies that goes beyond the next decade, inspired by the Futures of Education initiative, mentioned above.

It aims at breaking away from the traditional models of higher education and opening doors to new, innovative, creative, and visionary conceptions that not only serve current agendas for sustainable development, but also pave the way for future learning communities that overcome barriers, speak to all and are inclusive of all lifelong learners.

Post-Pandemic Education

How has teaching been affected?

Responses and innovations to ensure comprehensive learning in Latin America and the Caribbean

Register here.

The pandemic and school closures have resulted in an unprecedented loss of learning, which is one of the key challenges that the region is beginning to face in the short term, and which educational communities are already addressing as education systems begin to return students and teachers to schools. 

In this sense, the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange Hub of Latin America and the Caribbean - KIX LAC-, an initiative implemented by SUMMA, the first Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean in partnership with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States - OECS -, with the support of the Global Partnership for Education - GPE - and the International Development Research Centre - IDRC, meets with high-level professionals and/or academic experts to discuss strategies, research and innovations to address the challenges of comprehensive learning recovery from a global, regional and national perspective. 

From a global perspective, the conference will provide the perspective of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the scenarios that are envisioned for future education, as well as concrete experiences to respond to the challenges imposed by the pandemic. This will be complemented by the work that SUMMA and OECS are carrying out in collaboration with the countries and different educational leaders in the region.

Specifically, the conference will present the progress and results of different projects implemented by non-governmental institutions that are part of the KIX ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean, addressing the following educational priorities: strategies to promote gender equality and prevent gender-based violence in rural schools (CLADE Network), literacy and reading supports in primary schools (World Vision Canada), distance and blended learning models (Ceibal Foundation), teacher professional development systems (SUMMA - FIT-ED), use of data to improve educational equity and inclusion (UNICEF), common scale assessment of early mathematical learning (PAL Network), peer mentoring of teachers and school leaders for equitable rural education (Education 2020 Foundation), teacher training and scalability of educational innovations (Université d'État d'Haïti).

See the agenda and more information here.

Interpretation in English, Spanish and French will be available.

The Centre for International Teacher Education (CITE) and the SARCHI Chair for Teaching and Learning are organising an International Symposium on Reimagining teachers, teaching and teacher education policy in the Global South: Current experiences and future implications.

The aim of the symposium is to:

• provide a platform for dialogue and debate about teacher education in the Global South
• consider a future teacher education agenda in and of the Global South

Speakers include:

• Prof Crain Soudien (Centre for International Teacher Education, South Africa)
• Prof Padma Sarangapani (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India)
• Dr Yohanna William (University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
• Prof John Nyambe (University of Namibia)
• Dr Kristina Stutchbury (Open University, UK)

For more information, please contact Dr Marcina Singh, singhm@cput.ac.za.

Please register here.