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 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.
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.
Please register here.
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.
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.
Please register here.
TEAM is central to my philsophy of teaching and learning. Through 18 years of teaching, I have found TEAM supports learners develop a sense of belonging to their learning community, which is essential for their social, emotional, and cognitive flourishing.
During the COVID-19 crisis maintaining TEAM has been an essential aspect of ensuring ongoing education provision.
TEAM at a Distance
With the onset of the COVID-19 crisis school staff were quick to mobilize. It was an ‘all hands on deck’ approach to support the transition to distance learning. In the first instance, all children were issued Chrome books to take home for the duration of the crisis, and staff development sessions enabled teachers to make the transition to online learning using Google Classroom. These sessions began in a face-to-face environment and transitioned to online as the ‘Stay at Home’ orders were issued. The strength of our professional community emerged in these early days, as colleagues supported one another making the transition, learning new instructional tools, and discussing how to support learning at a distance. From the Suite of Google Apps, teachers adopted Google Classroom, Google Meet, and JamBoard. Within Google Classroom, Google forms are used for quizzes; videos and interactive online activities from Educational support sites like EdPuzzle, Legends of Learning, ABCYa, and YouTube support learners engage with content.
Weekly Google Meet staff meetings have been an asset – promoting teacher and staff well-being, through opportunity to de-stress, share worries and successes, get Education updates, and to reboot for the week to come. These have highlighted for me, the importance of maintaining a strong professional community connection in order to ensure continued teaching and learning.
Professional development (PD) has been available in-school and at district level. Our school Director of Technology and Media, and the district level Technology Integration Specialist have provided 1:1 and small group instructional support on various technologies via ZOOM and Google MEET. I have benefitted directly, learning how to use Flipgrid, Screencastify, and Google Slides to integrate stop animation into my programming.
A strength of this PD support has been the openness to individual interests. My interest in establishing a District-wide Professional Learning Community Forum has been readily embraced by the District Tech., who acted immediately, setting it up for elementary teachers. Teachers can access the space to support one another through professional discussion and shared practice-related experiences.
I have used technology to develop TEAM-like connections with parents. A key part of TEAM has been working with parents to help them become comfortable and connected with the new learning environment. ‘Google Class tours’ using Google Meet, regular emails, and timely Google Meet drop-in sessions allow parents to connect with me to provide feedback, ask questions, and to troubleshoot dilemmas. Parents have become ‘class members’ to Google Classroom and ClassDojo, where they can track their children’s activity and see a portfolio of their children’s work. Strong parent-teacher-child partnerships have been a tremendous asset to the success of online learning.
Developing an online TEAM with the children has been essential to ensure their ongoing learning. Routine has been an important element. Children use Google Classroom to access their daily schedule, and lesson activities. We meet every morning for our Morning Meeting, which involves many of the same routines that defined our first 30 minutes of ‘normal’ in-class activity. Adding to this, ClassDojo has been an invaluable resource to maintain a focus on working together. I can take attendance, share videos that support Social Emotional Learning topics; use positive incentives; and create student portfolios. All of these features mirror routines the children had in the classroom, which has supported maintaining their class-connectedness.
As a school, we have developed a Daily News programme, written and hosted by our P.E. teacher. This program continues the routines that defined the beginning of our in-school, school day including birthday announcements, certificate awards, prayers and Pledge lead by 6th Graders via video recording. The Daily News hosts photos that children send in, showcasing activities they have participated in and work that they have completed. It is a valuable sharing time that consolidates our connectedness as a community.
This crisis has certainly challenged my creativity, innovation, and flexible approaches to practice. It has underscored the importance of continued professional learning. Adopting a distance learning approach with children has demanded complex thinking – trying to ensure the social, emotional aspects are included; trying to be sure the children are connected as learners; and trying to introduce new concepts with tools that don’t always support practices essential for children’s learning, takes resilience, constant reflection, and a willingness to ‘have another go’!
Wendee White
5Th Grade Elementary School Teacher, Syracuse, NY, USA
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This piece is part of the Teacher Task Force’s #TeachersVoices campaign, created to bring forward the experiences of teachers working every day to ensure their students continue to benefit from a quality education despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To participate, go to our dedicated webpage.
Greetings to you all from Turkey. My name is Nurten Akkuş. I am a Global Teacher Prize Top 10 Finalist. I am a preschool teacher –my students are between the ages of 3 and 6. I work in a socio-economically disadvantaged area, where I seek to change and improve people’s lives with education. I attach great importance to paying attention to the individual characteristics of my students. We have made our class and school suitable for the development of my students. We enjoy education by having fun and discovering together. Before the coronavirus entered our lives, we had a great school environment. However, suddenly we had to move this educational environment that we created to digital media.
The virus first reached our country in early March. Everyone was in panic as the world woke up to the epidemic and thousands of people died. Our health ministry and state administrators gave out information about precautions to take. The schools were on vacation. People in our country were called on to “stay home” to try to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
Around the world, we are having a very difficult time. Schools are closed in many countries. We cannot teach face to face. But we are teachers. Our students and their families are always very important to us. It was very difficult to explain this situation to all our students, because we loved learning and school with our students. Families and children were very worried about the virus. I wanted to reduce anxiety before we began teaching online. I had to increase their motivation.
First of all, I talked to the families. I told them that although we need to pay attention to the news, excessive anxiety will be negative in children. I did family education online. We constantly communicate with the groups we have created with them.
Then I spoke to my students online. It was a different experience for them. I told them how we should pay attention to cleaning, and what the virus is, in a simple way suitable for age groups. I asked the children to make part of their home an activity centre. They made their home environment fun.
A great system was made by our Ministry of National Education. Distance education was supported with TV channels. Online training content, game activities and books were prepared. We have set up an online classroom with this system. We share our daily activities there. We also share the daily education flow with the families and enable them to participate in these activities. We carry out many activities with our students such as art, science, plant breeding, vital skills training, free activities, drama, design, mathematics and language education. Through this process, psychological support has been provided for students and families in our country.
All teachers are constantly communicating with their students in Turkey. Distance education methods and educational content are further developed by our Ministry of National Education. Despite the fact that my students are young, they are obliged to learn via distance learning methods. Families and teachers take an active role in the distance education process. I have given lectures in Turkey and many different countries. But I am giving online conferences right now. Teachers always believe that face-to-face education is very important. This is absolutely true, however, teachers now think that given the critical situation in the world, opportunities for distance education should be well known.
The Varkey Foundation, which works to build the capacity of teachers, offers a great chance for teachers to meet online to discuss methods in different countries of the world.
In a very short time, we have become used to living with digital life and learning. Of course, we miss being with our students and our school. They also miss us. However, my students’ health is very important. And they should not miss out on their education. I hope this epidemic ends as soon as possible in both my country and the rest of the world, so that all people in the world are healthy and that all children can go back to school.
Nurten Akkuş
Nurten Akkuş was one of the finalists of the Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Prize.
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This piece is part of the Teacher Task Force’s #TeachersVoices campaign, created to bring forward the experiences of teachers working every day to ensure their students continue to benefit from a quality education despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To participate, go to our dedicated webpage.