The Official UNESCO program for World Teachers’ Day in Paris is unfolding in Front of me as I furiously type—or tap this—on an iPad. (Props to David Edwards from Education International for lending it to me after all of my devices died and I had no power cords or adapters.)
After the event I’ll pull together my summary and takeaways in a cleaner, more organized post. Until then, here is a smattering of soundbites and takeaways from the proceedings so far:
• To deliver universal primary education to all children in the World by 2015, we need 6.8 Million new Teachers, over half of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
• In Guinea, they are working to find out exactly how many people are actually teaching. Civil service rolls are inaccurate. They want to make sure teachers have homes, healthcare, and incentives to work in remote areas.
• In South Africa, some Teachers still have over 70 Students per class. Working conditions vary enormously based on location. They are making a concerted effort to bring back retired teachers to help as expert voices. The country lacks infrastructure needed for the technology they want to bring into education.
• In the Democratic Republic of Congo, they have “harmonized” three different teacher wage brackets into one. They have ended three month delay for teacher pay and are starting an e-learning program for remote areas.
• According to Winsome Gordon from Jamaica, Cuba is way ahead in leveraging technology for teacher development and resource sharing among educators.
• In France, research on strong early career teachers shows a pattern of blending academics with benevolence in the classroom.