The online submission form for the collection of good practices to support the work of the Transforming Education Action Tracks is now available. The deadline for the first round of submissions is 20 May 2022, however subsequent rounds of submissions will be available.
Please submit your best practice here. Guidelines on how to do it can be consulted here.
The Transforming Education Summit (TES) in September 2022 provides a unique platform and opportunity to reimagine education for the 21st century and to mobilize greater political ambition, actions, and solidarity towards achieving SDG 4. The TES Thematic Action Tracks, in particular, spotlight areas requiring greater stakeholder attention and actions and can accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda and/or transform education.
While the national consultations workstream supports the development of a shared vision of the futures of education, the good practices collected through the Action Tracks workstream will identify evidence-based examples of successful policy interventions and programmes, including those addressing COVID-19 pandemic-related educational disruption as well as pre-existing educational equalities learning crisis, with a view to drawing lessons learnt and key drivers for transformation. Their value lies in communicating elements of already transformed education landscapes to decision-makers. Practical solutions that work in different contexts will be brought into the spotlight, particularly programming and financing approaches with transformative results for marginalized groups, along with evidence on how these might be taken to scale. It is hoped that such efforts will inspire the reapplication of experiences across countries.
This form is being used to seek good practices in the area of Teachers, teaching, and the teaching profession, which is the theme of Action Track 2 of the TES. The Action Track will explore the particular issues of teacher shortages, qualifications, and emerging professional development needs, status and working conditions of teachers and education personnel, educational leadership, and innovation.
For more information about the Transorming Education Summit, please see here.
Watch the replay here.
Ensuring qualified and motivated teachers in every classroom is the single-most important school-based determinant of quality education and learning outcomes. However, around the world, not only are there not enough teachers, but large numbers have not received sufficient training and lack minimum qualifications. The COVID-19 crisis also shone the light on the need for sustained and increased domestic and international financing and investment in teachers and teaching as the basis of education systems. Teachers must be better prepared to ensure that a generation of learners is not lost.
The side event will present new findings from research carried out by the Teacher Task Force addressing the following questions:
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This event is organized on the sidelines of the Global Education Summit: Financing GPE 2021-2025 in the framework of the Teacher Task Force #InvestInTeachers campaign.
English, French and Spanish interpretation will be provided.
Register here: https://unesco-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0kcuitrD4vGNNKdYt3tvuShdYXBW8hib1K
Teachers are the backbone of education systems and the key to reaching learning goals, regardless of context and situation. Within the COVID-19 crisis, they are on the front line in ensuring that...
This blog has been co-authored by Prof. Sarah Younie, CEO, MESHGuides, and April Williamson, Director of Global Projects, Digital Promise, co-leads of the Teacher Task Force Thematic Group on Digital Education and Artificial Intelligence.
Teachers are at the heart of every education system, but in many parts of the world, they lack access to quality training and professional development. According to UNESCO and the Teacher Task Force, an estimated 44 million new teachers will be needed by 2030 to achieve the SDG 4 targets. Addressing this global teacher shortage requires a holistic approach, including training and accreditation systems that build professionalism and effectively support and develop teachers throughout their careers. Yet in many contexts — particularly those affected by crisis, limited infrastructure, and scarce resources — conventional training models fail to reach those who need them most.
The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the urgent need to equip large numbers of teachers with both foundational and 21st-century skills that are critical for lifelong learning and resilient societies. Teachers must be qualified, supported, and motivated — not only to provide quality teaching today, but also to prepare students for inclusive and increasingly digital societies. This is especially urgent in low- and middle-income countries, where scalable, low-cost, and rapidly deployable solutions are needed to meet the need for large-scale, high-quality, and effective training.
In this context, low-tech and mobile approaches — such as messenger-based training — are proving to be both relevant and cost-effective. Designed to function on basic phones with minimal bandwidth, these tools offer flexible, scalable, and accessible learning opportunities that meet teachers where they are. By leveraging tools that are already used by teachers, low-tech solutions can minimize, and even reduce, workload.
A number of members of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (Teacher Task Force, or TTF) have been at the forefront of implementing such approaches. The TTF Thematic Group on Digital Education and AI, co-led by MeshGuides and Digital Promise, hosted a webinar, “Low-Tech, High Impact: Training Teachers Where They Are”, to highlight perspectives and lessons learned from two of these scalable, mobile-based teacher training solutions: the Future Teacher Kit and ProFuturo.
The Future Teacher Kit (FTK) is a mobile-based training approach tailored to reach teachers in a range of settings, including remote and crisis-affected areas. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) developed the Future Teacher Kit in collaboration with UNESCO and more than 1,500 teachers. The webinar highlighted perspectives on FTK implementation and impact from the Ministry of Education of Ecuador and the Jamaica Teaching Council, as well as GIZ, UNICEF and UNESCO.
“We know today that education systems owe teachers – not the other way around.” - Eilean von Lautz-Cauzanet, GIZ
The FTK is an adaptive, scalable professional development solution designed to prepare educators for a rapidly evolving educational landscape by improving access, fostering communities of practice, and supporting education system resilience. It uses low-tech tools with high impact, such as messenger services, to reach teachers in low-connectivity areas. Through ambassador-led, participatory communities of practice, it promotes collaboration, intrinsic motivation, and self-paced learning, while strengthening teacher networks and institutional capacity.
UNICEF joined the FTK partnership in 2024, contributing its strong expertise in digital teacher development. UNICEF has developed the Superstar Teacher Toolbox, a tool to support educators to use mobile messaging for learning, including two practical guides on digital skills and mobile pedagogy. Its content has been integrated into the FTK, leveraging the UNICEF RapidPro platform for text-based delivery. This partnership is enhancing the FTK’s scalability and pedagogical quality.
“The Future Teacher Kit reignited my love for teaching. It reminded me that I could grow, even in a digital world. It wasn't just training—it was transformation.” - FTK Cohort Participant
As a leader in digital teacher training, ProFuturo shared complementary experiences and practical lessons from their work in low-resource contexts. ProFuturo is an education innovation programme based on technology, founded in 2016 by Telefonica Foundation and “La Caixa” Foundation.
Learning and teaching are two essential processes in today’s society. To address them holistically, ProFuturo has developed the Global Framework for Educational Competence in the Digital Era. This framework supports lifelong learning, especially for teachers, and invites the educational community to reflect on the meaning of learning and teaching in the digital age, and on the teacher’s pivotal role in both. Their teacher training approach is based on an ongoing competence cycle that involves:
Through implementing their solutions with 1.8 million teachers in 30 countries, ProFuturo has identified a number of key lessons. Educational change is a cultural and systemic process centered on teachers, making their training essential for improving quality. This focus on teachers ensures high-quality training delivery, while flexibility and preparedness allow effective responses to diverse situations and challenges.
Recognizing limits and managing expectations, alongside sustaining continuous innovation and strong collaboration, allow organizations like ProFuturo to address the complexity of training teachers across extremely diverse contexts.
“Strategic partnerships enable the sharing of resources and expertise, ensuring that the program is well-supported and aligned with global educational initiatives” - Mila Tonarelli, ProFuturo
After the webinar, participants were surveyed to gather perspectives on teacher training strategies and needs in their own contexts. The following common themes emerged:
Based on the discussion, it’s clear that this is a common priority. There is a need for low-tech and mobile teacher training and ongoing professional development across all education systems. This initial webinar and blog are the start of a series of professional conversations in which the Teacher Task Force members dive deeper into the challenges, solutions, and best practices.
Future Teacher Kit
ProFuturo
Hero photo credit: BMZ, GIZ, UNESCO, UNICEF.