World Teachers’ Day 2020 - Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future - Concept Note

In 2020 World Teachers' Day (WTD) will be celebrated with the theme, “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future.” 

An unprecedented event, the COVID-19 pandemic challenges already constrained education systems in various new ways resulting in a revision of how teachers teach and more generally work. While the topic of leadership has been somewhat neglected amongst the multitude of issues facing the teaching profession in the push towards achieving the SDG 4 and Education 2030 goals, the issue of teacher leadership in relation to crisis responses is not just timely, but critical in terms of the contributions teachers have recently made to provide remote learning, support vulnerable populations, re-open schools, and ensure that learning gaps in the curriculum are being mitigated. The chosen theme also considers the role of teachers in building resilience and shaping the future of education and the teaching profession.

Every year on 5 October since 1994, UNESCO celebrates World Teachers’ Day (WTD) to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers and the adoption in 1997 of the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel.