Teachers, teaching and the teaching profession discussion

We are currently facing a growing teacher shortage crisis here and at the crux of the problem lies in increasing administrative demands on educators and the perception of the profession within the community.

I agree that greater professional development opportunities should be supported for our teachers but with growing administrative duties the need, and deep desire, is just to get back to the classroom - the core of why we do what we do. What we are seeing is educators leaving the profession in droves due to such pressures and an inability to just teach; our vocation.

#Educating for the #Future …

“Healing the fracture between the Human and the Technological”**

#PeerReviewed

“The strategic role of #Education”

“The evolutionary process of the social ecosystems is advancing towards a redefinition of the relationships and asymmetries, bringing forth the need for a “new social contract”#quote

👉 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40309-017-0126-4 in EJFR,

💥🌎 And I share also…

🌎 “Education is a #HumanRight not a privilege!

“Education is not a privilege but - I would add - until now it has been. (Always taking care not to confuse 'education' and 'indoctrination') (quote)

💥”our educational systems have internalized a pseudo-scientific, zero-sum dogma that everything we learn, do, or learn to do must be useful in some way; must be measured, evaluated, & certified as something that will produce concrete results or provide economic returns”(quote)

💥I sincerely hope it will be of interest to you: this article takes up hypotheses and theses of work and research developed over the years, subjecting the educational models and paradigms that have become hegemonic in recent decades to a critique that is not simple and articulate.

💥 Paradigms that risk condemning us to inadequacy and cultural backwardness, also with reference to the so-called digital revolution. I have been and am among the very few scholars and researchers to support this - I still do - even at an international level. Happy reading and good research, with the wish for new scientific collaborations.

💥 Starting with my definition 'Democracy is complexity' (quote) which I proposed back in the mid-1990s.

🌎 “The weak link of democracy and the challenges of educating toward global citizenship. Prospects (2022). UNESCO

Here’s the link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11125-022-09607-8#citeas

Education is a #HumanRight, not a privilege!

Springer Nature Group Education2030UN ➡️ Transforming Education
#SDG4 #TransformingEducation #TransformingEducationSummit #SkillsForLife #LifelongLearning #LetMeLearn #ParadigmShift #NewSocialContract #SDGs #EducatingForTheFuture #CriticalThinking #Complexity #SystemicVision #Transdisciplinarity #international #cooperation #networking

#PeerReviewed

An approach and research since 1995

🤝🌎🤝 Thank you all for the interesting contents and comments! I hope we can keep in touch for this and other important projects and actions with a global and inclusive perspective.

🌎📬 piero.dominici@unipg.it
dominici@worldacademy.org

CHAOS, International Research and Education Programme
🌎🤝🌎 http://www.chaoshumanresearch.com/index.php

For an Inclusive Innovation - EJFR.pdf1.08 MB

Piero Dominici Full CV English 2022 -.pdf695.54 KB

CHAOS - University of Perugia - presentation document.pdf205.29 KB

There are three pillars that underpin good schools. The first is community - good schools need to be contextually relevant and reflect their community's arspirations and dreams. Good schools make overt moves to incorporate community voice in ther strategic development, and continually seek this voice to be heard. The second is schools themselves - good schools hahve a strong operational focus. They maintain robust and appropriate systems and processes to operate efficiently and effectively, and they approach their delivery strategically (proactive, not reactive). And thirdly, teacher skill sets - good schools ensure that their teachers have opportunity to grow as professionals. Whether this be in leadership skills or in pedagogical skills, all are as important as the rest important. In short, good schools have good teachers.

Addressing these three pillars in parallel is important if any education system is to grow from a base of strength, and leaving even one of these out, will amount to the school fighting fires just to keep afloat, before they can really attend to the excellence which they all should be striving for.

نحن نتطلع للنظر بعين الأنصاف للتعليم في مناطق الصراع الدموي ومنها اليمن الذي لم يعد اطفالها يحضون با بسط مقومات التعليم واصبحت الامية تنتشر بشكل مخيف

”From Below: Roots and Grassroots of Societal Transformation, The Social Construction of Change”, in CADMUS, 2021 #PeerReviewed
 
“That systemic change must begin from grassroots communities and single individuals and groups, and by definition can never be a top-down imposition, implicates a necessary rethinking of our educational institutions, which are still based on logics of separation and on “false dichotomies" (quote)
 
💥🌎http://cadmusjournal.org/article/volume-4/issue-5/essay5-social-constru…

#TransformingEducation #TransformingEducationSummit #LetMeLearn #RightToEducation #QualityEducation #SkillsForLife #GlobalCitizenship #SystemicChange #ComplexSystems #InclusiveInnovation #Teaching

Thank you all for the interesting contents and comments! I hope we can keep in touch for this and other important projects and actions with a global perspective.

🌎📬👉 My email: piero.dominici@unipg.it
dominici@worldacademy.org

Improving professional development opportunities for all teachers and ensuring ongoing support and development is a prerequisite for improving learning outcomes and tackling the Global Learning Crisis effectively.

For many in the Global South, teachers do not have the support, materials and guidance that will enable them to teach effectively. Infrastructure, technology, geography have all traditionally been barriers to programming that can support all government teachers rather than the select few.

NewGlobe operates as the technical delivery partner to governments in the Global South, supporting public education system transformation. A core part of its programming ensures that teachers benefit from consistent and expert training and support.

NewGlobe employs tech-enabled, data-driven coaching and professional development to equip all the teachers, schools leaders and support staff it supports in education transformation programs for comprehensive success. Every teacher and school Headteacher / principal receives scientifically-based in-person multi-day intensive training at the start of any Government program. The induction training leverages the experience of an education research organization with a decade-long track record of successfully training and preparing tens of thousands of government teachers globally. This uniquely practical, data-driven induction training ensures every teacher is equipped with the rolls and techniques necessary to delivering dramatic learning gains for their students

Ongoing professional development is also essential. Every teacher in a NewGlobe-supported program is supported by a dedicated team of expert professional development coaches, who visit each teacher’s classroom up to three times a month to provide feedback and coaching. Learning and Development coaches conduct live lesson observations and use specialized smartphone apps, analyzing performance and providing clear actionable insights and feedback. A responsive, individualized coaching and feedback loop equips teachers to continually develop and improve their teaching practice through feed grounded in a data driven understanding of performance.

In terms of innovation, Teacher Guides or Scripted Education is widely recognised as the most effective delivery method of instruction in numerous academic studies. Because of its success, it features as a formal USAID education policy and is utilized by several multilateral agencies as the most effective form of educational delivery. NewGlobe’s experience and application of the science of learning also provides teachers with scientifically-based pedagogy, adapted to the needs of their students. Teaching guides are designed using highly-researched scope and sequence, ensuring concepts are taught with the right rigor, repetition and sequencing. Lesson sequencing, content scaffolding and design iteration delivered at scale is all made possible because of the teacher tablet. From an instructional design perspective the tablet offers significant advantages in assessing how content blocks are functioning in real time in lessons and whether they are enabling learning. For example, the data received - when reviewed alongside regular qualitative assessments - enables programme leaders to see whether a lesson has been completed by an individual teacher; whether the pacing of the lesson is correct; whether the lesson is too hard or too easy. Therefore it can be seen if a class of children are struggling to pass tests on quadratic equations, or even a grade level across the country is struggling with a particular piece of content. Local education leaders can ask the question as to what is working and what isn’t from an instructional design perspective and have information about the best way to address the problem. Lesson plans offer clear measurable goals for teachers and expected outcomes for students. All instruction is targeted to maximize learning, practice and feedback grounded in extensive research on the most effective use of class time.
This holistic and structured approach to educational leadership and innovation is the subject of a new independent academic study, led by the Nobel Prize-winning Economist Professor Michael Kremer. It found that NewGlobe-supported teachers were more engaged (0.16 standard deviations at the primary level) and more likely to provide students with instruction or materials related to their individual needs (0.40 standard deviations in primary; 0.25 standard deviations in pre-primary). And most importantly, students learned more under NewGlobe-supported teachers; attending a NewGlobe-supported school increased test scores by 0.81 standard deviations for primary students and 1.36 for pre-primary students.

The importance of human resource development in improving the quality of education and training systems requires the establishment of effective models for the initial education of teachers, and for the training of leaders in charge of managing educational and training institutions, and frameworks for evaluating education and training systems, while recalling the role of universities in this training, which should respond to the specifications of the future teacher and the need to improve practices used in the teachers' training. It also requires the development of methodologies for on-demand learning in the context of the continuous transformations that education and training institutions are experiencing, especially the role that distance learning has become in facilitating professional development and in activating self-learning as a lever for lifelong learning. All of this requires thinking about the methodologies and mechanisms for evaluating professional performance, and investing the results of this evaluation in planning for human resource development and the development of institutional performance.

Are teachers the solution for Transforming Education?

Check out the International Teacher Task Force's #TeachersTransform
- Campaign information: https://teachertaskforce.org/transforming-education-summit-2022
- Video: https://youtu.be/cnt6Lj7su2M
- Trello board for social media material: https://trello.com/b/2Xuso5Jx/transforming-education-summit

FLEXIBLE WORKING SCHEDULE
The environment has an impact on motivation. The covid-19 pandemic has created awareness even in educational institutions that flexible working plans are possible, and more school workers would appreciate having a flexible work plan. I have encountered teachers who preferred a three-day-a-week plan to the standard five-day school plan, and some preferred online teaching with an onsite school work schedule once a week. With the advancements in technology for learning, it is possible to have hybrid working arrangements for teachers. If teachers are satisfied with their working schedule, they will likely put in all efforts to produce results. They will be creative and make the right decisions for the welfare of others in the institution.
To get such an arrangement in place, the school leader should encourage participative decision-making with teachers when scheduling the institutions learning activities.
In one of the schools I led, a teacher fell ill and wanted to resign. He was such a resourceful teacher that I didn't want to contemplate replacing him. We negotiated three days per week work plan, and he accepted. Though he eventually had to resign due to continued ill-health, the new flexible working arrangement enabled us to arrive at a consensus that benefitted both the school and the teacher.
Another teacher was moving to another part of the country. Often great mathematics teachers were difficult to get and retain, and I didn't want her to terminate our contract because of distance. We agreed she would have online classes twice a week with the learners. She was excited and made sure the arrangement worked. She earned extra money, and our school continued to benefit from her expertise.
During my years as a teacher, I would have liked a flexible working schedule where I didn't have to be in school at 7 am daily. Maybe twice a week, when I had later teaching plans and had the freedom to arrive at school, possibly by 10 am, will give me some personal time to attend to other needs.
In the current dispensation, many people take on two jobs and do not want to commit to fixated permanent jobs. The teaching career hardly offers that opportunity and freedom, and many people, especially in the developing world, jump in and out of the system in search of better options.

Thank you for the important points raised in this discussion forum. When addressing the shortage of teachers, education ministries and systems should promote and support the recruitment, training and retention of teachers with disabilities, putting in place supports and safeguards to ensure their full and equitable inclusion in teacher training programs and school communities.
Frances Gentle, President, International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment

One challenge currently facing the education workforce is a global shortage of teachers: how can decision makers make the teaching profession more attractive, especially for younger generations?

L'enseignement est un démembrement du système EDUCATIF un peu comme une pièce mécanique. Cela exige que les normes, la qualité, etc. soient respectées par tous. L'Office international d'études et de recherche (OER) du PACO a découvert qu'il existe un risque fondamental s'il arrive à dissocier le droit du travail et la profession qui l'associe. Si les normes ne sont pas respectées par le fabricant de la pièce mécanique, cette dernière sera inutile. Il est donc plus que jamais nécessaire que les normes soient appliquées et équilibrées pour avoir une profession enseignante de confiance à l'avenir et cela dépendra de la façon dont nous en prendrons conscience au XXIe SIÈCLE.

A l'issue du pré-Sommet, le Consortium Panafricain souhaite qu'une franche collaboration soit menée ici par les différents acteurs et prise en compte par l'UNESCO afin de promouvoir un langage pertinent sur la cause profonde du métier d'enseignant et de l'enseignement en général.

Conformément à ce qui précède, nous recommandons à l'UNESCO de veiller à ce que les acteurs non majoritaires dans la promotion d'une éducation de qualité se conforment à l'ODD-4 pour un modèle de société réflexif. Cette recommandation passe par la demande du Consortium panafricain d'adhérer au Centre de partage des connaissances intimes de l'UNESCO.

Thank you for this document. Teacher training and development is the object of much concern in all educational systems, with reason. But in the countries where our network is present, the training and professional develoopment of managers - which should form a distinct profession from teachers - is mostly ignored by ministries and international organzations, despite tje fact that reaserch identifies management leadership as a major factor in school efficiency.

Check out the Teachers Policy Brief from #APREMC2022

Teachers-min.pdf680.6 KB

Teachers provide an essential contribution to educational quality. And most national and international organizations give them much attention. But what about educational managers ?
Will the Education Transformation Summit take into account the management of education systems, which is recognised as one of the main drivers of school effectiveness?

All international organizations involved in the implementation of the Summit on the Transformation of Education are unanimous: management is one of the main factors in the effectiveness of education systems
However, we note that the Summit in question
• does not identify educational management as one of the five courses of action to be explored; however, managers are strongly committed to each of the proposed avenues: in the organization of inclusive, equitable, safe and healthy schools, in pedagogical leadership with teachers, in the implementation of ICTs, in the control of the financial activities of regional and national institutions and services;
• does not organize a focus group on the essential contribution of management to the transformation of education;
• does not include, in its stakeholders, representatives of managers or their associations.
We are aware that the majority of the education systems in which we operate do not offer managers a distinct identity, sufficient initial or continuing professional training, a transparent and effective process for appointment and retention (Research on the management of education systems in Francophone Africa. , Éditions EduGestion, 2022, forthcoming). This is despite the adoption by the Conference of Ministers of Education of the States and Governments of La Francophonie (CONFEMEN) in 2006, in follow-up to the Assises francophones de la gestion scolaire, of a Memorandum and Framework for Action on School Management, which proposed specific strategies aimed at these same conditions of the profession.
We know that managers themselves are struggling to come together to become efficient actorsl in the desired changes. So that, at the national and international level, these managers are ignored by ministries and international organizations in their plans to improve education, to the great detriment of the desired improvements.
It seems impossible to transform education without transforming its management.
We hope that increasing attention will be paid to this inescapable reality.
In a spirit of collaboration
Richard Charron
Associate Professor
Université Senghor d’Alexandrie
Webmaster EduGestion
https://edugestion.usenghor-francophonie.org

When we speak of bringing out transformations in teaching, the focus has commonly been laid on aspects/factors that relate to a teacher schooling context. However, it is believed significant attention be also laid on the teacher professional development (preparation programs), particularly on the proficiency of teacher educators and their continuous professional development. Teacher education policies need to widen their scope by integrating continuous professional development of teacher educators to ensure teacher training programmes provide the appropriate inputs to develop the relevant skills and competencies among the prospective teachers too.

Among other things, continuous professional development for teachers to my opinion should be geared toward addressing the need for a strong understanding of the curriculum and learning goals for their respective disciplines. This would strengthen the ability of the teacher to explaining concepts. Moreover, supporting teachers to choosing the most effective pedagogy to teach is primordial.

We have attracted over four hundred million signatures to a petition calling for mandatory, fully integrated climate literacy education, civic skill building, and jobs training so that everyone can participate in the creation of an equitable green economy. Our supporters include organizations, including teachers' union, labor unions, faith groups, mayors, corporations, including Microsoft, and NGOs along with individuals across the planet. A final document that does not explicitly include these issues will not prepare our students for the impacts and opportunities presented by the climate crisis. Donor countries must recognize the fairness of providing funding to create curricula and to train teachers. Without financial support we cannot build an educated engaged workforce to take advantage of the transition to the new economy.

We are excited for a focus on Transforming Education on teachers and teaching profession. Our organization, 1 Million Teachers under the umbrella of 1MT Cares works to attract and retain teachers, train and develop teachers in Africa and around the world, as well as motivate them to improve performance in the classrooms.

We have been working collaboratively with organizations such as Queen's University, HP and country governments to help tackle the four challenges identified in the discussion paper which include: teacher shortages; difficulties in assuring the qualifications and professional development needs of teaching personnel; low status and working conditions, and lack of capacity to develop teacher leadership, autonomy and innovation.

1MT Cares/1 Million Teachers has been working to support strategies 2, 3, 4 & 5 as outlined in the successful policy interventions and good practices across different regions. And we hope we can begin to actively touch on the other identified strategies.

This is a great platform to showcasw the importance of teachers and the need to improve the sustainability of this profession across the world.

We are looking forward to attending and participating in the summit as well as continued discussions in this forum.

1MT Cares-1Million Teachers Program Summary.pdf192.12 KB

Thematic Action Track 3: Teachers, Teaching, and the Teaching Profession
The action track 3 discussion paper notes climate once, highlighting “the need to transform teaching and to better train and support education personnel to respond to a variety of situations and challenges, including climate change, displacement and conflict, and to adapt learning to different formats and needs.”

We argue that climate needs to be discussed with respect to other key issues related to teachers. For one, teacher shortages will be amplified by the climate crisis as working conditions deteriorate and schools are increasingly impacted by climate-driven weather events (see action track 1). Furthermore, teachers must be equipped with the skills and training required to teach about climate. A recent survey from UNESCO and Education International found that teachers want to teach CCE, but do not feel they have knowledge or skills to do so.

The summit should put commitments to teaching and learning about climate on the agenda, along with strategies for credentialing teachers and creating networks for sharing of best practices and provide space for dialogue about education spaces that facilitate teacher and student agency to grapple with issues of climate.

TESSummitClimateChangeLetter Final_1.docx25.65 KB

@Maria Teresa Tatto, that's a really valuable resource--thanks for highlighting it. In so many rural communities especially there are volunteer or community teachers who don't benefit from large scale initiatives like curriculum reform--and aren't included in the consultations that bring about reform because they aren't "appointed" by the government. How to capture their voices, and the needs they have among some of the more marginalized population groups? How can that very transformative set of ideas capture teachers who fall outside of government planning and investment?

To transform teaching, teacher education curricula will need to be reformed to align with new expectations for teacher knowledge and roles. It is also essential to recognize that teaching is intrinsically collaborative, and the part of students in this collaboration should be seriously 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 attached document explains these thoughts in detail, published on May 25, 2022, as a blog on the teacherstaskforce website: https://teachertaskforce.org/blog/reimagining-future-developing-teacher… and on May 23 on the UNESCO Futures of Education Ideas Lab.

Reimagining the Future_final.docx17.5 KB

Welcome to the TES discussion forum on Action Track 3!

Please share your thoughts on the essential elements for the TRANSFORMATION
OF TEACHING, paying particular attention to the following four aspects: addressing the global teacher shortage, ensuring decent work for teachers, ensuring relevant and quality initial and in-service training, encouraging innovation and leadership in the teaching profession.

We look forward to receiving your contributions!