Event - Promising policies, a multi-country research initiative
07 October 2020
To mark World Teachers Day, we are delighted to be co-hosting two panel sessions with IIEP-UNESCO as part of UNESCO's exciting week of events.
We are delighted to invite you to join Education Development Trust and IIEP-UNESCO for an exciting new event to mark World Teacher’s Day. The second session this week, an online event, 'Promising policies to support teacher management in refugee settings: A multi-country research initiative', will take place on Friday 9th October, and will be co-hosted by IIEP-UNESCO, UNESCO and Education Development Trust.
Teachers are the key to success in any education system. In refugee settings, the role of teachers is particularly significant; teachers can provide crucial continuity and socio-emotional support, and are sometimes the only educational resource available to students. However, not only is there a mass shortage of teachers in displacement settings, particularly of qualified teachers, but there are a multitude of challenges associated with teacher management in these contexts as well. These challenges include a lack of appropriate personal and professional preparation to provide psychosocial support to students and to practise self-care, uncertain career opportunities, financial and social insecurity, language barriers, gender, inadequate compensation, and a lack of coordination between the many actors involved in service provision.
In 2018, IIEP-UNESCO and Education Development Trust launched a multi-year, multi-country research initiative aiming to provide governments with evidence-informed policy guidance on how to attract, develop, motivate, and retain a thriving workforce of excellent primary-level teachers who facilitate quality education for all. Working with a range of international, national, and local partners, IIEP-UNESCO and Education Development Trust have taken a collaborative, iterative, mixed methods approach to answer the following research question in four different countries, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, and Uganda:
What promising policies and implementation strategies exist for the management of primary-level teachers in refugee settings, and where are there potential areas for further policy development and successful implementation?
The aims for this session are threefold:
- To highlight the importance of research-informed policymaking for the management of teachers in refugee settings, exploring dilemmas and challenges and identifying policies and practices to overcome these.
- To share key findings and policy recommendations from our Ethiopian case study.
- To share initial insights from our ongoing Jordanian case study.
The session is intended for all those interested in innovative ways to support teachers and school leaders as professionals. We very much hope that you will be able to join us.
If you missed the first session on Wednesday 7th October, we will soon be sharing the recording so please check back soon.