As part of its new main line of action on national and regional policy learning, The Teacher Task Force is co-organising a series of workshops for the Latin America and the Caribbean region with CARICOM in cooperation with St Kits and Nevis and Brazil. The first workshop will be held on 13 July, followed by a second workshop in October/November. Between the two workshops, additional reflection by the TTF Secretariat and the regional Steering Committee members will take place to verify assumptions and refine regional policy learning needs for the second workshop.
In particular, the workshops aim to foster exchange and discussion in support of holistic and comprehensive teacher policy development as illustrated in the Teacher Policy Development Guide (TPDG) and its nine interconnected dimensions as a framework. This workshop will focus on common policy learning need related to teacher professional development and standards. Regional standard frameworks and how these can be translated into countries are critical to establish teacher education, teacher qualification, licensing of teachers, career structure and teacher motivation. In addition to this, countries demonstrated an interest in the pedagogical skills in hybrid and remote education of teacher education including innovative practices to share across countries. They also demonstrated learning needs related to social dialogue and school leadership.
Country focal points and deputies, including both country and organisational members, will be invited to the Latin America and the Caribbean regional workshop. Other key partners with regional remits will be consulted and invited to actively participate as they are familiar with regional policy learning needs.
For more information contact Thomas, Yael (y.thomas@unesco.org) or Soto Echeverri, Emilia (e.soto-echeverri@unesco.org).
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.
REPLAY IN ENGLISH, FRENCH AND SPANISH.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, UNESCO and Blackboard Academy, though funding and coordination by way of the German: Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the University of the West Indies, Caribbean Center of Educational Planning (UWI-CCEP), respectively, have joint efforts to improve teacher training in digital skills through three main components. First, in the Caribbean the project is based on a train-the-trainer model with resources to a self-sustained professional development program. The second component is in Peru, where the project aims to support the development of quality distance education for migrants and refugees, mostly from Venezuelan displaced families. The third component aims to scale up at a global level by connecting with other strategies to reinforce this programme.
This webinar will feature key elements of the project in the Caribbean to draw lessons from the regional experience and highlight the need and unpack the complexities of teacher training on the pedagogical use of ICTs. That experience will work as a starting point to connect the challenges of teacher training on ICTs at a global level, referencing the different needs and strategies implemented on ICTs.
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Photo credit: UNESCO Kingston