Teachers, school leaders, and education stakeholders are invited to apply for Semester 2 of the Academy courses offered by the Global Institute for Shaping a Better Future, taking place from 11 June to 11 July 2025. These free, fully funded courses, workshops, and fellowships are designed to support educators in reimagining classrooms, schools, and education systems to better equip students to lead positive change in their communities and beyond.

These offerings may be of particular interest to members of the Teacher Task Force network, especially those seeking to strengthen teacher development, leadership, and system transformation efforts. Of note this semester are:

• Teacher Coaching as Collective Leadership (Morayma Jimenez & Smitha Ganesh, Teach For All)

• Humane Education: Solutionary Frameworks for Teachers and Systems Change Agents (Dr. Julie Meltzer & Rene Neune, Institute of Humane Education)

• Unlocking Secrets of System Leaders (Radha Ruparell, Alex Beard & Jared Hove, Teach For All)

The Academy offers a unique opportunity for teachers and teacher educators to deepen their practice, exchange with peers worldwide, and explore innovative approaches to teaching and learning that drive system-wide change.

Key dates:

• Applications for courses close on 11 July 2025.

• Workshops have staggered registration, opening one month before they begin.

For more information, click here, or contact globalacademy[at]teachforall.org.

The Teacher Task Force is pleased to announce that the global celebrations of World Teachers’ Day 2025 will take place on 3 October 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in conjunction with the Pan African Conference on Teachers’ Education (PACTED 2025), under the theme Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession.

Celebrated annually since 1994, World Teachers’ Day commemorates the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers—the international standard setting out teachers’ rights, responsibilities, and working conditions—as well as the 1997 Recommendation on Higher-Education Teaching Personnel. The day honours the transformative role of teachers in shaping education and reflects on the support they need to fully realise their potential.

The celebrations will the occasion to launch the Teacher Task Force & UNESCO Institute for Statistics fact sheet highlighting promising approaches showing how collaboration may support teaching quality, increase teacher retention, enhance learning outcomes and empower teachers to contribute as agents of change in their schools and communities. Read the fact sheet here.

World Teachers’ Day is convened by the Teacher Task Force members UNESCO, the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF, and Education International (EI).

• Read the fact sheet
• Register to attend online
• Read the co-coneveners' joint message
• Download this year's poster in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian
• Share the social media messages with new data
• Consult the official UNESCO World Teachers' Day webpage to access the updated agenda and learn more about UNESCO's work on teachers.

The Teacher Task Force is pleased to announce that the global celebrations of World Teachers’ Day 2025 will take place on 3 October 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in conjunction with the Pan African Conference on Teachers’ Education (PACTED 2025), under the theme Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession.

Celebrated annually since 1994, World Teachers’ Day commemorates the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers—the international standard setting out teachers’ rights, responsibilities, and working conditions—as well as the 1997 Recommendation on Higher-Education Teaching Personnel. The day honours the transformative role of teachers in shaping education and reflects on the support they need to fully realise their potential.

The celebrations will the occasion to launch the Teacher Task Force & UNESCO Institute for Statistics fact sheet highlighting promising approaches showing how collaboration may support teaching quality, increase teacher retention, enhance learning outcomes and empower teachers to contribute as agents of change in their schools and communities. Read the fact sheet here.

World Teachers’ Day is convened by the Teacher Task Force members UNESCO, the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF, and Education International (EI).

• Read the fact sheet
• Register to attend online
• Read the co-coneveners' joint message
• Download this year's poster in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian
• Share the social media messages with new data
• Consult the official UNESCO World Teachers' Day webpage to access the updated agenda and learn more about UNESCO's work on teachers.

The Teacher Task Force will take part in the inaugural international conference Global Perspectives in Teacher Education: Challenging the Standard Education Model, hosted by Leeds Beckett University's Carnegie School of Education in collaboration with the British Educational Research Association.

The Teacher Task Force Secretariat will contribute to the programme through two sessions:

• A presentation on the 2024 Global Report on Teachers: Addressing Teacher Shortages and Transforming the Profession, sharing the report’s major findings, data insights and policy recommendations.

• An interactive session that will contribute to the development of the upcoming 2026 Global Report on Teachers.

The conference, taking place from 26–27 June 2025 in Leeds, UK, will bring together educators, researchers, policy experts, and practitioners to explore the global impact of teacher education systems, with themes including sustainability, inclusion, diversity, curriculum reform, and global citizenship. The event aims to support the achievement of the Education 2030 goals by fostering international collaboration and generating innovative responses to the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.

The Teacher Task Force’s contributions will highlight how global evidence and shared learning can inform national and international efforts to strengthen teacher policy and build more equitable, resilient, and future-ready education systems.

More information and registration
👉 Register here
📍 Leeds Beckett University, UK
📅 26–27 June 2025

On the occasion of the second International Day of Play, Right To Play International are hosting a virtual mini-summit exploring the power of play to support children’s learning and well-being at all ages and stages.

This online experience will include energizing play activations, as well as insights from a range of play specialists. Keynote and expert panels will include community-based practitioners, local actors, and young people themselves who will share their knowledge on topics including playful parenting, play in the early years, play-based teaching and learning, as well as play-based psychosocial support in both development and humanitarian contexts.
 

• When: Tuesday, June 10th, 2025
• Time: 8am EST - 10:30 EST (a health break will occur mid-event)
• Where: Zoom

Please register here by 12pm EST, Monday, June 9th.

Confirmed moderators and speakers include:

Tricia Young (she/her), Director - Moving Minds Alliance
Ardine (she/her), Child Campaigner Bali - Children & Youth Advisory Network (CYAN) and Save the Children Indonesia
Ramya Vivekanandan (she/her), Senior Education Specialist/Thematic Lead for Teaching & Learning - Global Partnership for Education
Ellen Fesseha (she/her), Play Specialist - Right To Play International
Michael Kassa, PhD (he/him), Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Science & Mathematics Education -  Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia  
Michelle Cruickshank (she/her), Child Development Lead - Grand Challenges Canada
Rebeca (she/her), Chair - Child & Youth Advisory Board (CAYAB) and Child & Youth Friendly Governance Project
Hollyn Romeyn (she/her), Regional Education Adviser East and Southern Africa - Norwegian Refugee Council
Dr. Beide Melaku (he/him), Associate Professor, Applied Developmental Psychology - Kotebe University of Education in Addis Ababa
Rev. Sr. Secunda Kobusingye (she/her), Head Teacher, St Joseph's Kyabirukwa School, Host Community of Nakivale Settlement, Isingiro District, Uganda
Ms. Spera Atuhairwe (she/her), Country Director, BRAC Uganda
Lobaba Gasamelsayed (she/her), MHPSS Coordinator- Save the Children International Sudan
Racha Nasreddine (she/her),  Country Director -  Right To Play Lebanon

On the occasion of the second International Day of Play, Right To Play International are hosting a virtual mini-summit exploring the power of play to support children’s learning and well-being at all ages and stages.

This online experience will include energizing play activations, as well as insights from a range of play specialists. Keynote and expert panels will include community-based practitioners, local actors, and young people themselves who will share their knowledge on topics including playful parenting, play in the early years, play-based teaching and learning, as well as play-based psychosocial support in both development and humanitarian contexts.
 

• When: Tuesday, June 10th, 2025
• Time: 8am EST - 10:30 EST (a health break will occur mid-event)
• Where: Zoom

Please register here by 12pm EST, Monday, June 9th.

Confirmed moderators and speakers include:

Tricia Young (she/her), Director - Moving Minds Alliance
Ardine (she/her), Child Campaigner Bali - Children & Youth Advisory Network (CYAN) and Save the Children Indonesia
Ramya Vivekanandan (she/her), Senior Education Specialist/Thematic Lead for Teaching & Learning - Global Partnership for Education
Ellen Fesseha (she/her), Play Specialist - Right To Play International
Michael Kassa, PhD (he/him), Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Science & Mathematics Education -  Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia  
Michelle Cruickshank (she/her), Child Development Lead - Grand Challenges Canada
Rebeca (she/her), Chair - Child & Youth Advisory Board (CAYAB) and Child & Youth Friendly Governance Project
Hollyn Romeyn (she/her), Regional Education Adviser East and Southern Africa - Norwegian Refugee Council
Dr. Beide Melaku (he/him), Associate Professor, Applied Developmental Psychology - Kotebe University of Education in Addis Ababa
Rev. Sr. Secunda Kobusingye (she/her), Head Teacher, St Joseph's Kyabirukwa School, Host Community of Nakivale Settlement, Isingiro District, Uganda
Ms. Spera Atuhairwe (she/her), Country Director, BRAC Uganda
Lobaba Gasamelsayed (she/her), MHPSS Coordinator- Save the Children International Sudan
Racha Nasreddine (she/her),  Country Director -  Right To Play Lebanon

The Teacher Task Force is pleased to announce its participation in the upcoming webinar “Adult Educators as Lifelong Learners and Facilitators of Lifelong Learning,” hosted by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) within the framework of the joint research project Teachers as Lifelong Learners, in collaboration with Shanghai Normal University. The webinar will take place on 25 June from 13:00 to 15:00 CET.

Carlos Vargas, Head of the Teacher Task Force Secretariat and Chief of UNESCO's Section for Teacher Development, will join the event to speak on the topic of global teacher policies and the question of adult educators, drawing on the Teacher Task Force’s extensive work advocating for teacher policy development worldwide.

In today’s rapidly evolving societies, educators - especially adult educators - face a multitude of shifting demands. They not only facilitate knowledge acquisition, but also support learners’ personal development, encourage critical thinking, and adapt to diverse needs and contexts. This webinar will offer a space to rethink the role of adult educators through the lens of lifelong learning, and to explore how policies, technologies and training can better support their professional development.

Objectives of the webinar include:

• Exploring practical strategies and innovations that empower adult educators to be both users and facilitators of lifelong learning;

• Discussing the implementation and impact of global and national policy initiatives related to adult education;

• Identifying opportunities for adult educators to engage in continuous professional learning, including through the use of emerging technologies.

Programme Highlights:

• Opening remarks and personal testimony from an adult educator

• Presentation of UIL’s thematic paper on adult educators as lifelong learners

• Intervention by Carlos Vargas on global teacher policies and adult educators

• Case studies and research from Latin America, Kenya, and India

• Moderated Q&A and closing reflections

This webinar will bring together policymakers, researchers and practitioners to share insights and innovations that elevate the status and capacity of adult educators in lifelong learning ecosystems.

Click here for more information and to register.