The International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 will once again be taking part in the European Development Days (EDD) by organising a Lab Debate that will be taking place on 19 June 2019.

This year, the EDD are being held under the theme “Addressing inequalities: building a world which leaves no one behind”. The Teacher Task Force is seizing to opportunity to ensure that teacher development stays at the forefront of debates and consideration when it comes to discussion regarding equitable and inclusive learning environments.

Indeed, addressing inequalities and building a world that leaves no one behind begins on the benches of school. However, as the diversity of learners increases, and inequity rises, teachers face questions about their own values, role and collective responsibility in contributing to equitable futures.

The session titled “Creating equitable and inclusive schools: How to prepare teachers for the future we want?” will put the role and preparation of teachers at the centre of discussions when it comes to inclusive and equitable education. How do we ensure teachers do not perpetuate inequalities and exclusion within learning environments? What values, ethics and dispositions should teacher possess? How can teacher education and professional development build capacities necessary for inclusive and equitable education? What kind of support should be in place for teachers?

The audience will be encouraged to debate teachers’ professional ethics, values and attitudes, teachers’ competencies for creating safe and supportive schools for all as well as the importance of building a diverse teaching workforce.

This session will focus on the implications of teacher development, teacher policies and classroom practices underpinning inclusive and equitable education.

Moderated by the Teacher Task Force, the panel of speakers will include Dr Dennis Sinyolo, Senior Coordinator Education and Employment Unit at Education International, Dr Line Kuppens, Senior Education Advisor Primary and Secondary Education at VVOB – education for development, Dr Robert White, Reader at the University of Aberdeen, and Ms Akosua Peprah, Founder of the Mmaakunim Foundation.

For more information regarding the session, please visit the EDD 2019 dedicated website or contact the Teacher Task Force Secretariat i.da-silva@unesco.org.

At its annual meeting in Montego Bay, Jamaica, from 5-9 November, the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 adopted a declaration focused on ensuring that teacher issues stay at the centre of the global education agenda.

Through this declaration, the Teacher Task Force reinforces its vision that at the heart of the right to education is a highly-valued, qualified, and well-trained teaching profession. It therefore recommends that:

• International partners should intensify efforts to develop robust definitions and classifications of qualified and trained teachers and strengthen cooperation and reporting mechanisms to ensure full monitoring of Sustainable Development Goal target 4c.
• Governments should ensure adequate financing for all public goods, including the teacher workforce, and this should be achieved primarily through domestic resource mobilization based on socially just fiscal policies, rigorous measures against corruption and illegal financial flows, efficient and effective teacher policies and deployment practices, developed with the full involvement of teachers and their organisations, and continued focus on external resource mobilization to complement domestic resources for countries.

Moreover, the dual focus of the Education 2030 agenda on equity and learning puts teachers at the heart of policy responses that should foster equal participation and learning globally. Teachers can be an impactful equalizing force to overcome unequal life chances from birth. The massive recruitment of new teachers, particularly in least develop countries, with little or no training is a real cause for concern.

The Teacher Task Force also expressed its concern over the fact that teacher education has not kept pace with preparing new teachers to face the rapid changes in globalization, migration, demographic change, and technological advances that will mark the future of education.

Furthermore, teacher education in this increasing complex world must be forward-looking and prepare teachers who are continuous learners themselves. It must enable teachers to think about the kind of education that is meaningful and relevant to young people’s needs in the different 21st century’s learning environment.

The Teacher Task Force acknowledges the ever-growing importance of Information and Communication Technologies in education. However, technology should be treated as a supportive tool for teachers and not a replacement. Teacher education should therefore empower teachers to use technologies to support learning within a holistic and human-centred educational framework.

The Teacher Task Force also called attention to the fact that teacher education needs to be seen as career-long education and special attention should be paid to the nature of teachers’ professional development, competency frameworks, curriculum development and professional learning communities/communities of practice. As teaching is a knowledge-based profession, teachers and trainers should be supported to continually update their knowledge base.

Through this declaration, the Teacher Task Force advocates for a teacher education that allows teachers to prepare learners to manage change and to be able to shape a just and equitable future, leaving no one behind.

You can download the full declaration in English, French, Spanish or Arabic here.

With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 4 on quality and inclusive education, and the dedicated target (SDG 4.c) on teachers, the education community recognized teachers as key to the achievement of the Education 2030 agenda.

As we celebrate World Teachers’ Day this year, we take this occasion to remind the global community that “The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher.” This theme was chosen to mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which recognized education as a key fundamental right. A right that cannot be fulfilled without qualified teachers.

The right to a qualified teacher

A qualified teacher is commonly defined as a teacher “who has at least the minimum academic qualifications required for teaching their subjects at the relevant level in a given country.” Qualified teachers are fundamental to the right to education. However, this definition does not include the notion of trained teachers, defined as “teachers who have received at least the minimum organized pedagogical teacher training pre-service and in-service required for teaching at the relevant level in a given country”. This results in teachers sometimes having the academic qualification required to teach, but not the pedagogical training, or vice versa. Some teachers even lack both academic qualifications and pedagogical training. In many low-income countries, there is a shortage of both trained and qualified teachers.

There is also a lack of data regarding the minimum requirements for pedagogical training among countries, and the existing differences are not well documented. Countries differ in regards to programme duration and curriculum content, extent of and quality of field experience (i.e., practice teaching), and availability and duration of induction and mentoring. For example, teacher education programmes can last from one to four years, may or may not include a period of supervised teaching practice, and may or may not require an academic qualification. Such qualitative differences in the training and qualifications of teachers affect instructional quality in the classroom and ultimately students’ learning achievement.

The impact of teacher shortage

One of the main challenges to this right worldwide is the continued shortage of teachers. There are an estimated 263 million children and youth still out of school globally, and according to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the world needs to recruit almost 69 million new teachers to reach the 2030 education goal of universal primary and secondary education. This ‘teacher gap’ is more pronounced among vulnerable populations – girls, children with disabilities, refugee and migrant children, and poor children living in rural or remote areas.

Teacher shortages are hampering efforts in many low-income countries to achieving quality, equitable, and inclusive education. To fill the teacher gap, countries resort to hiring teachers on temporary contracts who do not meet the training and qualifications requirements nor have proper professional status thereby increasing, rather than decreasing, the equity gap.

The equity gap is most pronounced in emergency and conflict-situations, where qualified teachers are in short supply. According to UNICEF, more than one-third of out-of-school children and youth globally live in conflict-affected areas -- 55% of whom are girls. In emergency contexts, providing migrant and refugee children with education is key to helping them cope with the new situation. But often, humanitarian agencies must recruit teachers with no preparation for responding to the complex needs of vulnerable children who have been forced to flee their homes because of armed conflict, violence or natural disaster.

A global event

This year, World Teachers’ Day celebration will spotlight teachers’ experiences in crisis and emergency contexts.

A global event will be taking place at UNESCO’s Headquarter in Paris on 5 October. The morning panel will showcase the policy issues and practical challenges of securing the right to education for children and youth living in difficult contexts. It will feature a presentation by the Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Northern Ireland to UNESCO who will speak about the new DFID education policy that puts a focus on addressing the teacher shortage, especially among vulnerable populations in developing and conflict affected countries. Experts from the Global Education Monitoring Report will present a few teasers from the upcoming Report on migration. Finally, the panel will showcase the work of a French NGO, “Groupement d’Educateurs sans Frontières”, who train retired teachers to work with migrant and refugee children.

In the afternoon, the Director-General’s opening address will be broadcasted live in Geneva to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Joint Committee of Experts on the Applications of the Recommendations concerning the status of teachers (CEART), which will meet in Geneva, Switzerland from 1-5 October. The award Ceremony of the UNESCO-Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for Outstanding Practice and Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers will take place after the formal opening ceremony.

Awarded every two years, the Prize is generously supported by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum through the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance. It amounts to US $300,000, which is equally divided between three winners whose projects aim at improving the performance and effectiveness of teachers in various regions of the world.

This year, the prize will be given to three programmes designed to improve teachers’ training and empower them: The Center for Mathematic Modeling of the University of Chile, the Diklat Berjenjang project (Indonesia) and the Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training Programme (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

The Ceremony will take place in presence of UNESCO’s Director-General, Ms Audrey Azoulay, and His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

Held annually on 5 October since 1994, World Teachers’ Day commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. This Recommendation sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions.

World Teachers’ Day is co-convened in partnership with UNICEF, UNDP, the International Labour Organization, and Education International.

World Teachers' Day 2018 webpage

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Download Technical Assistance for Improving ICT Competencies' Of Teachers In Remote Area Schools In Indonesia

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The Teacher Task Force’s Mobile Learning Week workshop was a resounding success with high participation. Nearly 55% of the participants who took our workshop survey indicated that the presentations made by our members were very useful.

Participants to the Teacher Task Force’s Mobile Learning Week workshop were also invited to take part in a survey designed by our colleagues from UNESCO IITE to allow us to better understand attitudes toward ICT competency for transformation of teaching and learning.

93% of the survey respondents agree that a new model of a teacher for Education 2030 will be based on the ICT competencies.

For 38% of respondents, the divide in qualifications of teachers who lack opportunities to acquire basic ICT literacy skills, low motivation for the use of ICT in professional daily experience and the lack of ICT and internet connection are the most important reasons for the gap in ICT application by teachers nowadays. This gap could be explained by the absence of available pedagogical resources, relevant curriculum, teaching/learning materials for 35% of the respondents.

45% of the respondents indicated that carrying out online trainings was the best way to support teachers and school leaders in ICT applications.

96% of respondents agree that online trainings will be a necessary part of teachers’ professional development in the future. However, it was also underlined that online training should be viewed in a holistic approach, including the need for technical support (hardware, software, teacher-oriented) to make online trainings work. Online guidance/mentoring was also highlighted as a way to ensure online trainings completion. The experience described by Mr. Mathieu Lacasse in the Camara Learning Academy was cited as a good example of such an approach by a participant.

The presentations made during our workshop can be downloaded on this page. 

The Teacher Task Force would like to thank the members who came to present their projects. The TTF would also like to thank the people who came to take part in our workshop.

How do the top-ranked countries in education achieve outstanding school performance? What are the reasons behind the rise of their school performance? This was the discussion subject of a conference organized by the Permanent Delegation of Argentina to UNESCO in March. As teachers constitute one of the key elements behind students’ and schools’ performance, a large focus was put on discussing what makes a good teacher. Experts from around the world gathered to share their countries’ perspectives on how to train teachers, analyse their performance and motivate them. 

Teacher training: what type and for how long?

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics defines a trained teacher as a “teacher who has fulfilled at least the minimum organized teacher-training requirements (pre-service or in-service) to teach a specific level of education according to the relevant national policy or law.” However, there is no universal agreement on what being a trained teacher means or what the minimum requirements to qualify as a teacher are.

Experience from top-ranked education systems, though, shows consistent patterns regarding teacher training and education. They all normalized pre-service training as a university course sanctioned by a degree, some of them even requiring having obtained classroom experience prior. Dr Huihua He, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, College of Education - Shanghai Normal University, indicated that it takes the completion of a four-year programme followed by one-year in-service training to become a qualified teacher. It is impossible to practice as a teacher in Shanghai without this certification.

She also underlined the importance of providing students with information and guidance on professional development. The university, to this end, integrated a “teacher professional development” course into other courses so that students have an understanding of the career ladder.

Should teachers be evaluated?

Another aspect of ensuring students are taught by good teachers is through evaluation. Ms Sonia Guerriero - Senior Programme Specialist, UNESCO – stated that teacher evaluation is necessary, as they need to keep their knowledge up to date on theory and practices as well as develop knowledge on new skills needed. Performance evaluations can be used to identify areas where teachers may need additional training.

However, there is an ongoing debate regarding what means can be used to determine a teacher’s performance. Is it through the evaluation of the students learning outcomes or through teacher evaluations?

There are several arguments against the use of students’ learning outcomes as the only means of teacher evaluation. Indeed, there are several factors that can affect students’ test scores outside of teachers’ performance, such as parental support, resources, curriculum content, and learning materials. Children’s economic and social background also play a role in their learning achievement.

Mr Hong Joon Chae – Director of the Education Budget Division, Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea – indicated that, in Korea, teachers in primary and secondary education are evaluated every year. This evaluation includes both a performance evaluation and an expertise evaluation to determine their knowledge on the subject they teach. It also includes an evaluation of the classroom climate and the teacher’s attitude.

Ms Guerriero debated that a more effective means of teacher evaluation would be to use classroom observation with mentoring and feedback by peers. Through observation, the focus can be placed on instructional practice, on-the-spot decision making, maintaining high-functioning and nurturing classrooms, content focus and depth of instruction. Evaluations can also include peer reviews of teaching through interviews and analysis of videotaped instruction. Indeed, teachers are not only there to share knowledge with their students but to also develop their skills.

Evaluation, especially through peer reviews, can also influence classroom practices, through informal in-service training. In Japan, for instance, there is a strong culture of seniority, with mentoring of younger teachers within schools. This includes evaluation of those young teachers’ performances by senior teachers, leading to teachers learning from and supporting each other.

Impact of incentives on teachers’ performance

Mr Chae underlined that, in Korea, teachers are very well paid. Indeed, teacher pay in Korea is higher than the average calculated based on OECD countries. Therefore, it is not a crucial variable for improving teachers’ performance. He noted that amongst surveyed teachers, autonomy in the classroom and professional development opportunities were indicated as affecting teachers’ performances.
This is also the case in Finland, where an important emphasis has been put on teachers’ autonomy. Indeed, Ms Jaana Palorjävi – Director, International Relations, Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland – explained that a lot of leeway is given to teachers in how to organize the school day, based on a skeleton framework provided to them.

It was also noted that teacher development programmes should focus on allowing teachers to go further than transmitting knowledge. Dr Makito Yurita – Senior Researcher, National Institute for School Teachers and Staff Development, Japan – described the teacher as a learner, a thinker and an enquirer. He also further explained that as teachers are not just preparing students for the job market but also preparing future citizens, they should be encouraged to participate in discussions on the goal of education.

Download Workshop proposal for Mobile Learning Week 2018

The International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 (Teacher Task Force) is organizing a workshop during the upcoming Mobile Learning Week 2018. This year, the theme of the event “Skills for a Connected World” will examine the types of skills needed in and for a connected economy and society, with a focus on digital skills and competencies. It will also review strategies and ways in which these skills can be delivered and assessed within the context of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4).

The Education 2030 Framework for Action underlines teachers’ key role in achieving SDG4. However, to increase access and improve the quality of education, new models of teacher professional development are required. With the ever-changing demands for the workforce’s qualifications and the apparition of new skills needed, teaching and teacher training/development have to build on successful uses of ICT to improve learning. Teachers have to adapt the way they teach to focus on skills required for an increasingly connected world, skills teachers also need to understand and possess.

The Teacher Task Force is mobilizing its members, particularly those belonging to its thematic group on ICT and distance education for teacher development, to share innovative pedagogical approaches and teacher management and professional development methods based on ICT use. The workshop will feature examples of responses to the new ICT-based educational environment and will offer the opportunity to question the models of emerging approaches and practices for teaching and learning. It will collect feedback on the potential for scaling up the examples presented and their replicability to other contexts.

Five projects related to the demands for new ICT competencies of the 21st century teachers, barriers faced by teachers and the role ICT can play to overcome them and facilitate the teaching and learning process, planning main stages of ICT competency development for teachers, and approaches to online teacher professional development will be presented:

• Camara Learning Academy, Camara Education
• mproving ICT competencies of teachers in remote area schools, Indonesia
• Digital solutions for 21st century teachers and learners, Weidong Cloud Education Group
• ICT in the system of professional development of teachers. A look into the future, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia
• The P4R EMIS.Education App, JET and Program4Results

The workshop will enable participants to consider several models of teacher ICT competency development, and compare and discuss existing approaches and online training platforms. It will also enhance their understanding regarding the necessity of the ICT competency framework for teachers, to ensure teachers have the required skills to adapt to both an ICT-based education system as well as understand the skills learners need to develop.

The results will be used by the Teacher Task Force’s working group to pursue its action towards the increase of qualified teachers and the improvement of teaching for better learning outcomes.

More information on Mobile Learning Week 2018 is available on the UNESCO dedicated 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