The Teacher Task Force and the World Bank are joining forces to see how data can benefit the development of teacher policies.

Using the Systems Approach for Better Education Results for Teachers (SABER-Teachers) tools and guidelines, the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (Teacher Task Force) is collaborating with the World Bank to carry out a stocktaking review of the requirements of the teaching profession in 25 countries. The study covers the following regions of the world: Europe (France, Ireland, Slovenia, Norway, Turkey, Croatia), Arab States (Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Algeria), Sub-Saharan Africa (DR Congo, Mauritania, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana), Latin America and the Caribbean (Haiti, Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil), Asia (India – Karnataka, Lao PDR, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand).

The review was guided by the following questions: what is the minimum level of academic qualification required to become a teacher? What are the main tasks performed by teachers? What system is put forward to guide salary packages, deployment and transfer of teachers? What criteria guides teacher performance evaluation? What solutions have countries put forward or envisaged? What does this review suggest as recommendations in order to improve the situation?

All data collection, related analysis and report preparations were completed by the Teacher Task Force with support from staff of the World Bank Group.

Data for better policies

The SABER-Teachers is an initiative from the World Bank to produce comparative data and knowledge on education policies and institutions, with the aim of helping countries systematically strengthen their education systems.

The main goal of teacher policies is to ensure that every classroom has a motivated, supported and competent teacher at its helm. However, evidence on the impact of teacher policies on the ground remain insufficient and scarce. Indeed, teacher policies’ impact can vastly differ based on the national context and the other education policies already in place.

SABER-Teachers helps governments strengthen their frameworks for effective teaching by identifying gaps in their teacher policies. To this end, SABER-Teachers analyses teacher policies formally adopted by a given education system. These studies aim to fill these gaps by disseminating comprehensive information on teacher policies based on data collected and analysed from various countries.

Country reports

The reports produced from this collaboration will focus specifically on policies in the area of teachers. To this end, the following eight teacher policy goals have been set up for evaluation:

• Setting Clear Expectations for Teachers
• Attracting the Best into Teaching
• Preparing Teachers with Useful Training and Experience
• Matching Teachers’ Skills with Students’ Needs
• Leading Teachers with Strong Principals
• Monitoring Teaching and Learning
• Supporting Teachers to Improve Instruction
• Motivating Teachers to Perform

To identify these goals, three criteria were applied. Each goal had to be linked to student performance through empirical evidence. They had to be a priority for resource allocation, and they had to be actionable, meaning that they identified actions that governments could take to strengthen education policy.

The resulting reports describe the performance of each country’s Education system in achieving each of the eight teacher policy goals. They also contain comparative information from education systems that have consistently scored highly on international student achievement tests and those that have previously participated in the SABER-Teachers initiative.

The first reports from this collaboration to be published are from Singapore, Croatia and Norway. The upcoming reports to be published in 2018 are the following: Slovenia, France, Qatar, Namibia, Mexico, Brazil and the Philippines. 

Reports from this collection are available in our library. More reports are available on the SABER website.

In Zimbabwe, a teacher’s passion became a sustainable way of life for a community.

Headteacher Sibanga Ncube took at heart a Zimbabwean saying when he decided to teach permaculture to his students.

During Mr Ncube pre-service teaching education there was no training in Education for Sustainable Development. However, while pursuing his own interests, he discovered a passion for permaculture. After undertaking small projects, he was invited to attend a training by the Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme (SCOPE) of Zimbabwe and decided to implement what he had learned in his school.

“Don’t just grow old, plant a tree”

In Mr Ncube’s school, Silhengeni Primary School, agriculture is a learning subject so he decided to incorporate the four principles of permaculture he had learned about in the school curriculum and syllabus. To do so, he introduced permaculture through a tree planting activity. This was a way to familiarize the students with the concept of permaculture, while benefiting the school with an improved learning environment. Indeed, planting trees helped with providing students and teachers with shaded areas, as well as with regulating the temperature in classrooms.He also regularly meets with parents to show them the progress made by their children and to explain the benefits of this programme for the community at large. He indicated that highlighting the school successes was a way to get the community more involved in the implementation of the project.

Gaining life skills

This project taught children life skills that they will carry through their adult lives. They developed their sense of responsibility and discipline; they also learn the importance of teamwork. It also influences their behavior as they learn the spirit of sharing and the value of respect for nature.

Mr Ncube teaches students from age 5 to 14 through a hands-on-learning method, which means that he explains the importance of tree planting to students while showing them how to plant trees. Each child chooses a tree to plant and is responsible for caring for it, i.e. watering, weeding, etc... “It gives them a sense of responsibility and ownership of the project,” said Mr Ncube.

Advice to other teachers

When asked what he would tell other teachers interested in implementing the same type of project in their schools, Headteacher Ncube said that there were three simple things to keep in mind.

First, teachers need to be interested in what they are teaching. “If a teacher is passionate about a project, he will be able to interest children,” he explained.

He then emphasized the need for participatory and hands-on teaching, describing it as the best method to implement this kind of project. “Avoid being a manager, be a participant”, he stated.

The third advice Mr Ncube would give teachers eager to undertake this kind of project with their students is that whichever project you choose to undertake with students it should also need to benefit the entire community.

Future steps

Headteacher Sibanga Ncube was awarded the 2017 UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development on behalf of the Silhengeni Primary School for its permaculture project. The school will be exploring several ways to improve the projects such as expanding the school garden to become a commercial garden and orchards; improving the nature park to be run by the students and the community; expanding the reservoirs for the school’s water collection.

He also wishes to export the project to other schools. Mr Ncube plans to continue to train teachers in surrounding schools. Indeed, understanding the needs of a community is a key feature of this project as it allows teachers to better contextualize and adapt it to the students.

Mr Ncube also hopes to create school manuals and books to teach students permaculture.

The UNESCO – Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development recognizes the role of education in connecting the social, economic, cultural and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. It is funded by the Government of Japan and consists of three annual awards of USD 50,000 for each recipient.

Links

UNESCO – Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development

Education for Sustainable Development

UNESCO and Teachers