In the frame of the Creating New Learning initiative, the European Training Foundation (ETF) has opened a call to collect practices in the area of innovative teaching and learning. The call is open from 15 June to 22 July 2022 and aims to identify and valorise teaching practices that support new learning dynamics and that can serve as inspiration for teachers, trainers and policy-makers in the EU neighborhood and beyond.
We are looking for practices, approaches, courses, projects, that:
These practices can take place in different learning settings: initial vocational education and training, adult education, continuous professional development, higher education, informal learning, in-company training.
Why you should submit a practice:
Applying is easy and can be done through this online submission form. The form must be completed in English in order to allow international dissemination of the practices.
Applications must be received until the 22 of July 2022 (at 23:59 CET).*
For more information & in case of technical problems with the submission please contact us at: etf.educators-community@stepseurope.it.
UNESCO’s Section for Teacher Development and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 are organizing a workshop on adult educators and literacy practitioners: recasting the profession as part of the Seventh International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII).
The workshop will examine the working conditions and professional development of adult education teachers, particularly at the literacy and basic education level, and will identify key challenges to improve the quality of teaching and the social standing of the profession. The session will explore examples -from different world regions- concerning the institutionalization of adult education in teacher training and higher education institutions, and policy measures that have been implemented to harness the social standing, labor standards and professional development of adult education practitioners.
Recent studies and analyses of the impact of the COVID-19 on adult learning confirm that youth and adult literacy educators still find themselves in the most precarious position of any group of educators; they receive much less policy attention compared to schoolteachers; and are among the lowest paid teachers and receive the least training (UNESCO, 2020, p.2). In addition, in many world regions, adult educators are usually characterized by low -or a lack of- qualifications and specific training on the education of young people and adults who have been marginalized from basic education.
Against this background, and inspired by the renewed role of teachers depicted in the Futures of Education Commission Report (UNESCO, 2021) the panel will explore alternatives for the institutionalization and professional development of adult education teachers and will provide policy recommendations in order to recast the profession.
Guiding questions:
Format and languages:
The workshop will be fully in person. It will consist of a brief presentation of the current challenges facing adult education teachers followed by a conversation and examples of policies and education programmes aimed at improving the social standing and professional development of adult educators.
The discussion will have a global geographical scope with interpretation in English and French.
Speakers
The workshops will be moderated by Mr. Carlos Vargas, Chief of Section for Teacher Development at UNESCO and Head of Secretariat for the Teacher Task Force and it aims to bring together voices from universities, teacher education institutions, civil society, teacher organizations and regional intergovernmental organizations.
For more information please see here.
The session can be followed on-line here.
Please register here
In the lead-up to the Transforming Education Summit 2022 two public consultations are being organized as part of the Action Track 3 on “Teachers, teaching and the teaching profession”.
The first global consultation held on 24 May involved a discussion of the draft issues paper and focused on teacher shortages, working conditions and teacher preparation and training and development of teacher leadership.
The second consultation will dive deeper into these topics and focus on two questions:
Action Track 3 of the Transforming Education Summit on “Teachers, teaching and the teaching profession” will address the following key issues: (a) addressing teacher shortages; (b) improving working and professional conditions for teachers; (c) improving teacher preparation and training and (d) foster teacher leadership. It will identify successful policy interventions, compile a catalogue of good practices to inspire, and, crucially, to mobilize the global education community to make concrete commitments and to take action, building where possible on existing initiatives, partnerships and coalitions.
It is being led by representatives of two member states (Nigeria and Romania) and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 which has been officially designated as the co-lead stakeholder. The work of the Action Track is being supported by the UN Support team, comprised of the International Labor Organisation (anchor), and UNESCO (alternate), UNICEF, UNHCR, UNRWA and the World Bank.
This blog was written by Maria Teresa Tatto from Arizona State University and was prepared for the Secretariat of the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. It was originally published on the Futures of Education Ideas Lab on 23 May 2022.
Global disruptions – whether technological, economic, social or ecological – present a challenge to sustainable education. To meet the challenge, new thinking is needed on how to organize and deliver education. In response, the International Commission on the Futures of Education has produced a critical report, Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education, which brings together inputs from students, teachers, governments and civil society. With a spirit of optimism and possibility, the report calls on societies to act urgently to guide education transformation, now and into the future.
The report points out the transformative work of teachers in reimagining education. Teachers play a central role in the embodiment of pedagogy and curricula, as well as acting as mediators of educational opportunities toward inclusivity and sustainability. The report calls for reinforcing teaching as a profession and for teachers to ‘take up their roles’ by:
To support teachers in playing this key role, the report advocates for teacher development as a rich and dynamic continuum of learning and experiences. It calls for public solidarity on much-needed changes to the policies that govern the selection, preparation, career trajectories and organization of teachers and the teaching profession.
The reports’ priorities are commendable and urgently needed. However, some other considerations could provide additional nuance to the Commission’s report, if given greater weight. The report could note that teacher education curricula will need to be reformed, to align better with new expectations for teacher knowledge and roles. It is also important to recognize that teaching is intrinsically collaborative, and the role of students in this collaboration should be considered. And more thought needs to be given to what is required to properly equip teachers for a critical role in knowledge production and educational research.
The report rightly recommends that teachers should more often work in teams, to better engage in knowledge production, reflection and research, and further suggests that teachers should participate in public debate, dialogue and education policy. But to achieve this, a deeper cross-national examination of teacher education curricula may be required. This could help to unpack what learning opportunities exist in teacher education programmes that can support teacher agency and solidarity as a new foundation across a number of different geographies. Research can illustrate how, where and whether future and current teachers are prepared to engage deeply in this critical work during their initial teacher training, continuing professional development, and beyond. Promising examples include empirically tested approaches in developing contexts, such as the Escuela Nueva Activa (ENA) and other active learning models like flipped classrooms.
Moreover, given that teachers need to be ready to incorporate a variety of new competencies in their professional profiles, other forms of teacher support need increased attention. For example, to challenge the prescriptive lists of ‘must do’s’ that have in the past characterized top-down teacher policy, teachers must be enabled to use their voices, agency and social dialogue through their official representatives or unions. Teachers must increasingly become leaders as administrators and as professionals in pedagogical autonomy, research and public participation.
By definition, teaching has never been a solitary practice. Teachers typically not only collaborate with each other – they also do so with their students. Previous research shows that teaching is inherently interactive and collaborative with students. Not all teachers manage this resource effectively, but successful teaching requires alignment with standards of good practice such as ‘achieving and maintaining classroom order and purposeful activity, gaining pupils’ attention and interest, ensuring that pupils know what they are expected to do, that they understand the content of the lessons, etc.’[1] While recognizing the importance of teacher–teacher collaboration, the report does not consider students as a fundamental resource and leaves out the important finding that students can and often do teach and assess each other, improving academic achievement. Able teachers can use formative assessments to support this practice, thereby developing authentic learning communities in their classrooms. This aspect of education could become another dimension of the new social contract for education: supporting student agency in their learning and collaboration with teachers and other students in fostering better and wider learning networks.
Collaborative research on a global scale, in which teachers, teacher educators, and researchers in different disciplines explore diverse education models, is also essential and should be a first step to enact a new social contract for education. Action research in the classroom for agentic and effective change should be emphasized: this refers to evaluative, investigative and analytical research methods designed to diagnose problems or weaknesses and help educators to develop practical solutions. Meanwhile, teachers also need to be more involved in systematic academic research in order to maintain appropriate scrutiny and enable educators to influence policy. Since both types of research are essential to help practitioners—including teachers—to reimagine a better education future, building practitioners’ capacity to engage in action and systematic research is critical. These skills are different from those needed to ensure reflective teaching, but they will be no less essential to teachers’ professional work for developing flexible, context-sensitive teaching practices.
Photo credit: Davide Bonaldo/Shutterstock.com
Register here and join us for the launch of INEE's Guidance Note: Teacher Wellbeing in Emergency Settings.
This publication is part of a larger project funded by Education Cannot Wait, to develop a Teacher Wellbeing Toolkit in order to support EiE practitioners to meet the needs of teachers in their local context.
This INEE Minimum Standards-aligned Guidance Note is an opportunity to put teacher wellbeing at the center of our response and recovery efforts in conflict and crisis-affected settings. Not just because an investment in teachers is an investment in children and adolescents, but because at this moment in history teachers deserve our unparalleled attention as an end unto itself.
We invite you to engage in this session by learning about the development and content of the Guidance Note and participating in a Q&A discussion with our panelists:
The webinar will take place at 1pm UTC on Wednesday 1st June 2022. Click here to convert to your time zone.
For more information please contact Rachel Smith (rachel.smith@inee.org).
See the Consultation Report here
The 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report will examine education challenges to which appropriate use of technology can offer solutions, while recognizing that many of the solutions proposed may also be detrimental. The report will examine issues of access, equity, and inclusion in education, looking at ways through technology can help reach disadvantaged learners but also ensure more knowledge reaches more learners in more engaging and cheaper formats.
The report will also explore three system-wide conditions that need to be met for any technology in education to reach its full potential: ensuring that all learners have access to technology resources, protecting learners from the risks of technology through appropriate governance and regulation and supporting all teachers to teach, use and deal with technology effectively.
In a rapidly changing world affected by technology, and in the aftermath of the global COVID-19 pandemic, teachers face large and increasing demands to engage with technology in education and develop related competencies. As a result, this consultation, convened by the Teacher Task Force and the GEM Report, will look into the way that education systems can support all teachers to teach, use and deal with technology effectively.
Teachers face many barriers to the use of technology. Therefore, in order to identify the best ways to help teachers teach and use technology effectively, the discussion will focus on three key issues, including the lack of access, training and system support. Each area will be discussed on separate rooms:
Agenda
This event is by invitation only, if you wish to participate or need more information, please contact Soto Echeverri, Emilia (e.soto-echeverri@unesco.org).
In the lead-up to the Transforming Education Summit 2022, the first public consultation focused on the discussion paper prepared as part of the Action Track 3 on “Teachers, teaching and the teaching profession”.
The second consultation, on 14 June, will focus on the promising practices and potential new initiatives.
Action Track 3 is being led by representatives of two member states (Nigeria and Romania) and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 has been officially designated as the co-lead stakeholder. The work of the Action Track is being supported by the UN Support team, comprised of the International Labor Organisation (anchor), and UNESCO (alternate), UNICEF, UNHCR, UNRWA and the World Bank.