Transforming the education workforce: Learning teams for a learning generation

This education crisis is compounded by the need for education systems to respond to the often fast-changing environments around them. Globalization, technological change, and demographic shifts have led to growing inequality, especially within countries. Education systems need to support increasingly diverse student populations with wide-ranging needs and challenges. Environmental changes and shifting demands from the labor market require new skills and competencies from students. Advances in science and technology are providing innovative ways to facilitate student learning both inside and outside the classroom.

This report aims to balance evidence of what works from education, workforce effectiveness and innovation literature and thought leadership, and future trends with the current reality of many education systems. It takes a three-stage approach. First, it examines current challenges effectively (“strengthening the education workforce”). Second, it explores a shift to a team-based education workforce (“developing a learning team”). Third, it explores a more radical paradigm-shifting vision for the future (“transforming to a learning system”). These stages are not meant to be linear or prescriptive, since countries will likely interact with the stages according to their needs (see Figure 4 in Chapter 3). The approach is informed by and informs the EWI work in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Vietnam.