What qualities make a great teacher? And how can these qualities be taught and nurtured?
These questions and that of how to make teaching a top career choice in the U.S. are being grappled with at many levels, as addressed by this new article in Ed Week. The U.S. isn’t alone—these are questions that education ministers throughout the world think about, and once again, they will come together to share ideas and best practices.
Delegations comprised of education ministers, leaders of national teachers’ organizations, and other teacher leaders from countries and regions with high-performing and rapidly improving education systems will gather in New York City for the second International Summit on the Teaching Profession in March.
Asia Society is proud to partner on this event along with the U.S. Department of Education, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Education International (EI) the global federation of teacher unions, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), National Education Association (NEA), and public broadcaster WNET.
This year’s theme Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders, will examine how to improve teacher preparation and school leader development to better address the needs of 21st century learning environments and changing expectations.
“Collaboration, dialogue and learning from others are key to improving our nation’s education system,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “I look forward to reconvening with leaders of high–performing and rapidly improving education systems to deepen our discussion on how to effectively prepare teachers and develop school leaders—two essential components in providing students with a high–quality education.”
Last year’s Summit was the first step in an ongoing dialogue among countries and regions about the best way to achieve and sustain high–quality teaching and learning. Summit organizers, led by Asia Society, collaborated to produce a publication on key lessons from the 2011 Summit. Future blog pieces will look back at some of these key lessons, as well as new ideas from the 2012 Summit.