This is the advice St. Claire Adriaan received from his mum who raised him in a marginalised community under the apartheid regime in South Africa.
As one of the first graduates of colour from what was then known as the University of Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela University) in South Africa, St. Claire has built his 35-year teaching career on the principles of restoration, inclusivity, and diversity. Today, he holds eight degrees, and is the head of Encore Junior/Senior School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Hesperia, California.
“The colour of my skin meant that I couldn’t attend certain schools or universities. I know what it’s like to be excluded and marginalised and I never want my learners to feel like they don't belong, that they are inferior, or that people from marginalised communities can’t achieve success.”
St. Claire’s approach to education is focussed on building positive relationships, and empowering learners from all walks of life. Having attained a master’s degree from the International Institute for Restorative Practices, he’s implementing these methods to help transform education.
The aim of restorative practices, according to the IIRP, is to “develop community and to manage conflict and tensions by repairing harm and building relationships.”
In 2008, St. Claire was appointed as head of Success Preparatory Academy in New Orleans. The school was in an impoverished neighbourhood and had the lowest student test results in the state.
Through St. Claire’s restorative approach, it was named one of the top 10 performing schools in Louisiana just three years later. He believes that the first step to turning a school around, is to employ passionate teachers.
“I hire teachers from diverse religions, race and sexuality because we serve a diverse range of learners. Having teachers from different backgrounds means there’s more opportunity to build relationships, be more empathetic, and become more successful mentors to our learners.”
This approach to equity and inclusion is supported by the 2020 Global education monitoring report which discusses how diverse teachers can serve as role models and have a positive effect on student performance, especially those from minority backgrounds.
“Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the learners were left with a lot of trauma,” recalls St. Claire. “And with that trauma came anger. So I had a muralist paint a big outline of the word UBUNTU on one of the school walls. Ubuntu is a South African philosophy about relying on each other to overcome difficulties. Whenever a learner was acting out, I gave them a paintbrush, and let them paint until the anger had subsided.”
St. Claire also invested in a school music programme to help learners express their feelings. “There’s nothing like a strong music programme to help learners change their mindset and attitude.”
Music has been shown to help students increase their performance in mathematics and languages. It also helps them develop perseverance and better study habits.
“We had affirmations every morning, where learners recited positive characteristics about themselves to remind them of who they are, their capabilities, and how their values should be lived out.”
[YouTube video of learners at the school reciting their affirmations]
“We also celebrated every milestone. Whether a learner improved from 95 to 97, or 35 to 37, we celebrated together. It’s not about the test score, it’s about getting better every day.”
When St. Claire moved from New Orleans to New York, he brought these interventions with him. In his new school, he also focussed on closing the ‘opportunity gap’. This is defined by the glossary of Education Reform as "the unequal or inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities.".
Making sure learners’ basic needs are met gives them the opportunity to thrive in the school environment.
“Some of the learners in New York were wearing the same clothes every day, so we installed a laundry at the school. We also had a clothing bank, and a food pantry for anyone who was in need.”
“When our learners are out in the world one day, they should feel like there’s a space for them in every situation. They should never feel like they ‘don’t belong’ just because of their background. So we bridge the ‘opportunity gap’ by taking them to restaurants, hotels, and on school trips which they might not experience outside of school.”
By employing passionate teachers, investing in cultural programmes, and building a diverse, inclusive and nurturing learning environment that focuses on restoration and affirmation, St Claire Adriaan's example shows us how teachers can develop powerful tools to transform the lives of learners, even in difficult circumstances.
Learn more about the #TeachersTransform campaign as part of the Transforming Education Summit.
Photo credit: St. Claire Adriaan
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:
To follow the symposium online please register here.
Expected outcomes of the symposium:
Responses and innovations to ensure comprehensive learning in Latin America and the Caribbean
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 Inclusion and Equity Thematic Group is organising two webinars on 19 October at 8.00 am and 17 November at 12.00pm (London time) prior to the Policy Dialogue on Innovation in Teacher Policy and Practice for Educational Recovery, to collect the perspectives of stakeholders, which we will both inform the design of the workshop and provide content for sharing during the workshop.
The Webinars and the Workshop will provide an opportunity for stakeholders from across all UNESCO regions to share their perspectives on the following questions :
Both webinars will last for one hour. We will present perspectives gathered during the webinars at the Policy Forum to assist policy makers understand the role of inclusion and equity in innovation in teacher policy and practice for educational recovery.
For more information please contact Purna Shrestha - Purna.Shrestha@vsoint.org.
Photo: Kenya, copyright VSO/Paul Wambugu.
The Inclusion and Equity Thematic Group is organising two webinars on 19 October at 8.00 am and 17 November at 12.00pm (London time) prior to the Policy Dialogue on Innovation in Teacher Policy and Practice for Educational Recovery, to collect the perspectives of stakeholders, which we will both inform the design of the workshop and provide content for sharing during the workshop.
The Webinars and the Workshop will provide an opportunity for stakeholders from across all UNESCO regions to share their perspectives on the following questions :
Both webinars will last for one hour. We will present perspectives gathered during the webinars at the Policy Forum to assist policy makers understand the role of inclusion and equity in innovation in teacher policy and practice for educational recovery.
For more information please contact Purna Shrestha - Purna.Shrestha@vsoint.org.
Photo: Kenya, copyright VSO/Paul Wambugu.
Authors: James O'Meara from ICET and Purna Shresta from VSO.
The Global Education Summit in July raised a record US$4 billion, which will help 175 million children learn. This stunning effort shows what is possible when governments work with the UN and other intergovernmental organizations, alongside development agencies and organizations from civil society and the private sector. Such cooperation will help us achieve the common objective envisaged in the fourth Sustainable Development Goal: ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Education that includes everyone and gives everyone a fair chance of learning is not possible without ensuring that everyone has access to quality teachers. It is crucial to implement policies and practices that promote inclusion and equity for teachers in every educational context, considering gender, socio-economic status, location, ability, and other factors that can lead to exclusion.
Ensuring that everyone has access to quality teachers requires significant levels of investment, especially in least developed countries and small island developing states. To ensure quality education for all by 2030, Sub-Saharan Africa – the region with the highest concentration of least developed countries – will need to recruit and prepare 15 million teachers.
Providing access to quality teachers for all requires:
Helping 175 million children learn moves us closer to the shared vision expressed in SDG4. The international education community will be able to maintain the momentum created by the Global Education Summit – and help to ensure quality teachers for all – at the 13th Policy Dialogue Forum and governance meetings of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, which will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, and online from December 1 to December 3, 2021. The meetings provide the ideal setting to come together again and invest in teachers now to ensure sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and prepare today’s learners for tomorrow.
The Inclusion and Equity in Teacher Policies and Practices Thematic group is launching a series of online discussions – synchronous (September 2021) and asynchronous (October and November). The discussions are designed to allow you to get involved with shaping policies and practices that promote fair opportunities for all teachers. By sharing your knowledge, you can help bridge the growing gaps in teacher recruitment, preparation and deployment, which have been exacerbated by COVID-19.
Your engagement in this inclusive policy dialogue will ensure teachers and their representative organizations have a greater voice in policy-making processes. You can participate in these discussions at a time and place convenient to you, increasing the diversity of perspectives on how to provide pathways into teaching for the underserved, vulnerable and underrepresented (including migrants, people with disabilities, indigenous people, ethnic minorities and the poor), closing the teacher numbers gap across the globe.
Details of the first synchronous session on September 24 will be posted on the TTF website. If you are already a TTF member, please visit the TTF website and join the Inclusion and Equity in Teacher Policies and Practices thematic group in the Member Space before the event so you can receive information on TTF events. If you are not a TTF member, please contact the coordinators of the thematic group: Purna Shrestha at purna.shrestha@vsoint.org or James O’meara at james.omeara@tamiu.edu.
Photo: The teacher and her students in a Rwanda primary school. Credit: GPE