Background

Issues of availability of and access to educational technologies, e.g., software and hardware, became pronounced when in-person classes were suspended and instructions were being delivered remotely. Headlines like “schoolchildren climbing trees to get signal for online classes” or “students trekking hills and mountains to attend online classes” filled newspapers during school closures due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers too were put in the spotlight of such news, particularly those who are teaching in disadvantaged schools.

These disadvantaged schools are at the lower end of disparities when it comes to access to ICT and digitalization. The pandemic heightened the digital divide that is contributing to the education crisis, half of the total number of learners – some 826 million students –  do not have access to a household computer and 43% (706 million) have no internet at home.

Objectives 

The 2021 High- Level Forum on Teacher Competencies in the Digital Revolution hosted by the Teacher Task Force, SEAMEO and UNESCO IITE aims to:

• Examine the solutions proposed by governments, teachers and school leaders to ensure learning continuity;
• Discuss national and regional solutions and an action agenda to address the barriers to inclusive education and digital divide;
• Share innovations during the pandemic in promoting learning continuity in disadvantaged schools that can be replicated or scaled up;
• Discuss policy reforms to enhance teacher competencies in the digital age.

The event will discuss practices to support teachers in implementing remote and virtul education in disadvantaged settings on three breakout rooms.

Expected outcomes

At the end of the High-Level Forum, the following outputs will be shared:

• An Action Agenda on improving teacher competencies in the digital revolution
• Collection of good teaching practices of new normal pedagogies and innovation for reaching the unreached and disadvantaged learners
• Collection of open educational resources on teaching tools for the marginalized learners

Participants and structure of the meeting

The High-Level Forum will invite members of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 and High Officials from SEAMEO Member Countries, Associate Member Countries, Affiliate members and SEAMEO Schools Network.

***

Registration link coming soon, please contact Ms. Rhea Rabin (rhea@seameo.org) and Ms. Uyen Ho Thuc Nguyen (jolin@seameo.org) for further details.

Photo credit: SEAMEO

Background

Issues of availability of and access to educational technologies, e.g., software and hardware, became pronounced when in-person classes were suspended and instructions were being delivered remotely. Headlines like “schoolchildren climbing trees to get signal for online classes” or “students trekking hills and mountains to attend online classes” filled newspapers during school closures due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers too were put in the spotlight of such news, particularly those who are teaching in disadvantaged schools.

These disadvantaged schools are at the lower end of disparities when it comes to access to ICT and digitalization. The pandemic heightened the digital divide that is contributing to the education crisis, half of the total number of learners – some 826 million students –  do not have access to a household computer and 43% (706 million) have no internet at home.

Objectives 

The 2021 High- Level Forum on Teacher Competencies in the Digital Revolution hosted by the Teacher Task Force, SEAMEO and UNESCO IITE aims to:

• Examine the solutions proposed by governments, teachers and school leaders to ensure learning continuity;
• Discuss national and regional solutions and an action agenda to address the barriers to inclusive education and digital divide;
• Share innovations during the pandemic in promoting learning continuity in disadvantaged schools that can be replicated or scaled up;
• Discuss policy reforms to enhance teacher competencies in the digital age.

The event will discuss practices to support teachers in implementing remote and virtul education in disadvantaged settings on three breakout rooms.

Expected outcomes

At the end of the High-Level Forum, the following outputs will be shared:

• An Action Agenda on improving teacher competencies in the digital revolution
• Collection of good teaching practices of new normal pedagogies and innovation for reaching the unreached and disadvantaged learners
• Collection of open educational resources on teaching tools for the marginalized learners

Participants and structure of the meeting

The High-Level Forum will invite members of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 and High Officials from SEAMEO Member Countries, Associate Member Countries, Affiliate members and SEAMEO Schools Network.

***

Registration link coming soon, please contact Ms. Rhea Rabin (rhea@seameo.org) and Ms. Uyen Ho Thuc Nguyen (jolin@seameo.org) for further details.

Photo credit: SEAMEO

Join us in this webinar series to learn how educators around the world have responded to the Coronavirus pandemic and other crises. Hear how teachers in varying settings have navigated extreme turbulence and uncertainty while finding creative ways to teach and support their students. Participants will have opportunities to reflect upon their experiences and contribute to this global discussion.

Please register for each session individually:

1. Ongoing Uncertainties: Reflections on a Turbulent Year – Thursday 1 July, 10am-12pm ET – For more information and to register click here.
2. Equity and Inclusion in the Face of Crisis – Thursday 8 July, 10am-12pm ET – For more information and to register click here.
3. Government Support for Teachers: What do We Have and What Do We Need? - Thursday 15 July, 10am-12pm ET – For more information and to register click here.
4. Looking Ahead: The Role of Teachers in Recovery and Preparedness - Thursday 22 July, 7pm-9pm ET – Please register here.

In our collective effort to achieve SDG 4, the voice of the teaching profession is key. In this webinar we will focus on the importance of cooperation between the authorities and teacher unions to provide quality education for children and students.

To secure quality education and professional issues, social dialogue is essential. The benefits of dialogue between authorities and the teaching profession, and how it contributes to quality education, will be highlighted. We will look closer into how dialogue strengthens the development and implementation of education plans and curriculums, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the social partners in the education sector.  

The webinar will draw on the lessons learnt / experience from the Norwegian Teachers Initiative.

Participants:
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education in Ghana
Dag-Inge Ulstein, Minister of Development Cooperation Norway
Mrs Philippa Larsen, President of Ghana Association of Teachers
Mr Borhene Chakroun (UNESCO/NTI)
Steffen Handal, President of Union of Education Norway

Moderator Bård Vegar Solhjell, Director of Norad

Please register here.

The webinar will focus on what needs to be done to improve teaching and learning in an inclusive way, and on the contributions of teachers as schools reopen following the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, it will focus on the practice of teaching staff and how it can be supported to find ways of ensuring that marginalized and vulnerable learners are included in schools, and to adapt content, pedagogies and assessment to be truly inclusive.

For this, examples of promising innovations from different regions of the world will be presented by practitioners.

The event will take place through the Zoom platform. For more information and registration, visit the event website: Ensuring inclusive teaching and learning for educational recovery : practical ways forward.

Background Information

The GEM Report, NEPCs, EASNIE and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 will convene an interactive webinar on the findings and recommendations from the 2021 Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Report on inclusion and education.

The Report provides comparative analysis on inclusion and education for all learners regardless of background or ability across 30 education systems. Teachers from across the region are key agents for change when it comes to inclusion in education. In total, 17 education systems across the region have legislation or policies that support the development of learning communities to widen teachers’ professional development opportunities and share experiences and effective practices to strengthen equity and inclusion.

Objectives of the event

The event will spotlight the activities of teachers as change makers across the region working to ensure that every child has the right to go to school and learn regardless of who they are and where they live.

The format will include a presentation of the new 2021 regional report as well as smaller group discussions, with a particular focus on the role of teachers as change makers within the classroom, school community and the teaching profession.

1. Teachers as change makers – will illuminate initiatives to foster an inclusive ethos in schools, including practices to elevate student voices for inclusion with a focus on engaging the most marginalized learners.
2. Working with parents and school communities - will discuss promising practices to establish partnerships between parents, communities and teaching staff to strengthen inclusion both inside and outside the classroom.
3. Strengthening inclusive practices within the teaching profession – will share insights into these regional learning communities and connect likeminded professionals to share experiences and effective practices to foster inclusion in education.

Please register here.

Agenda

Background Information

The GEM Report, NEPCs, EASNIE and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 will convene an interactive webinar on the findings and recommendations from the 2021 Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Report on inclusion and education.

The Report provides comparative analysis on inclusion and education for all learners regardless of background or ability across 30 education systems. Teachers from across the region are key agents for change when it comes to inclusion in education. In total, 17 education systems across the region have legislation or policies that support the development of learning communities to widen teachers’ professional development opportunities and share experiences and effective practices to strengthen equity and inclusion.

Objectives of the event

The event will spotlight the activities of teachers as change makers across the region working to ensure that every child has the right to go to school and learn regardless of who they are and where they live.

The format will include a presentation of the new 2021 regional report as well as smaller group discussions, with a particular focus on the role of teachers as change makers within the classroom, school community and the teaching profession.

1. Teachers as change makers – will illuminate initiatives to foster an inclusive ethos in schools, including practices to elevate student voices for inclusion with a focus on engaging the most marginalized learners.
2. Working with parents and school communities - will discuss promising practices to establish partnerships between parents, communities and teaching staff to strengthen inclusion both inside and outside the classroom.
3. Strengthening inclusive practices within the teaching profession – will share insights into these regional learning communities and connect likeminded professionals to share experiences and effective practices to foster inclusion in education.

Please register here.

Agenda

Despite the recent expansion of access to early childhood education (ECE) in every region of the world, quality of ECE remains extremely low, especially in LMICs. Thus, the continued scaling up of ECE globally presents both an opportunity and challenge in ensuring children are reaping the benefits and the promise of the early years.

The quality of teacher-child interactions in the classroom – otherwise known as process quality – is a critical aspect of ECE quality. The biggest bottleneck to improving process quality is the low capacity of the ECE workforce. Entry and training requirements for ECE teachers are often the lowest in education systems, opportunities for training are very limited, and ECE teachers receive little support to implement developmentally-appropriate pedagogical practices in the classroom. Measuring what currently occurs in the ECE classroom is an important first step towards better supporting ECE teachers.

The BBL will discuss the centrality of the ECE workforce in efforts to ensure access to ECE is scaled with an accompanying focus on quality. There will be an emphasis on the value of collecting data on teaching practices to drive policy dialogue in this area and inform interventions focused on improving professional development opportunities for ECE teachers. It will include a presentation on the World Bank’s new Teach ECE tool, a classroom observation tool aimed at measuring the quality of teacher-child interactions in ECE settings. The presentation will cover what the tool captures, available resources to support implementation, and initial data from pilot applications. The panel discussion will focus on best practices around measuring and supporting effective teaching in the ECE classroom, drawing on perspectives from the field, research, and policy.

Join via WebEx

Preparing teachers and educators for training the workforce of the future

Co-organised by the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, VVOB - education for development, Education International and UNESCO-UNEVOC, this session is part of the 14th edition of the European Development Days on the Green Deal for a Sustainable Future.

“The Green Deal for a Sustainable Future” critically depends on green skills - that is, skills for working in a green economy; and skills for helping to bring about a green, just economy - and on the teachers and trainers tasked with skilling youth for these transformations.

This session debates the following key questions:

• What are the “green skills” that current and future generations entering the world of work need to thrive in the green economy and handle the threat that climate change poses to economic stability and sustainability?
• What competencies and dispositions do teachers and trainers need to prepare learners for sustainable development and the green jobs of the future?
• Which enabling conditions need to be put in place to support teachers for enacting these transformations?

For more information click here.

On the occasion of Africa Day, ProFuturo is organising on 25 May the event The transforming power of e-ducation in Africa, a dialogue on the challenges and opportunities of education on the African continent. The meeting will be streamed on ProFuturo’s YouTube channel from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm (Spanish time). You will be able to enjoy the event in both Spanish and English thanks to simultaneous translation. In addition, there will be sign language translation in Spanish.

The meeting is co-organised by ProFuturo, Casa África, UNHCR, Empieza Por Educar, Entreculturas, Save the Children and World Vision, with the support of Planeta Futuro and Mundo Negro. The event will focus on Africa and the progress that has been made in the field of education in recent years. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the learning of millions of African children will also be discussed. 

The representatives of the participating organisations will analyse the challenges and opportunities for education in Africa today. Teacher training, access to education for refugee children, boosting digital education and enrolling girls in school will be among the issues on the table. 

The event will be supported by Planeta Futuro and Mundo Negro, who will reflect on how Africa is reported in Spain and how a comprehensive story, which also includes positive news, can help change our perception of the continent and contribute to its transformation. 

More info: https://profuturo.education/en/news/event-education-profuturo-africa-day-25-may/