Why we need more stories of leaders in education systems across the Global South
The beginning of EdWell — a new publication & newsletter for leaders on the frontlines
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We sat in the chilly room, a fan whirring overhead. The principal told me about his experience resisting the teachers union. How his friends were attacked for refusing to strike. Students became pregnant. Teachers demanded higher salaries. The Ministry sent relentless waves of reforms and curriculums.
We talked for two hours. He spoke with anger and fear — about compromises, disappointments. Students who he was proud of. Occasionally, he laughed. But what I remember most are his eyes — how tired he was of trying to make things better.
The high school he led was in Umlazi — a township with high rates of crime and poverty in Durban. I had read about South Africa’s education reforms in books, academic journals, and newspaper articles. But nothing had prepared me for how complex it would be on the ground. I started to see what it was like for a leader who had learned what it takes to transform education for youth in his community.
That interview was eight years ago. Since then, I’ve interviewed principals in Uganda, education entrepreneurs in DRC, and policymakers in Kenya. I’ve sat down with hundreds of school leaders, innovators in non-profits, and investors— from across public and private schools, edtech, and government ministries. And the more I spoke with these leaders, the more I saw how complex it is to lead change in education systems across the Global South.
We know that most of the world’s children are growing up in outdated education systems that don’t equip them with relevant skills. Systems change is not happening fast enough. There are thousands of books on this subject; most are about education leaders in the United States, where I’m from, by authors like Paul Tough and Richard Elmore. In the past decade, we’ve seen more bestsellers about Europe and Asia — particularly Finland, Poland, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and China — such as Cleverlands and The Smartest Kids in the World.
However, we know that by 2050, emerging and frontier markets across the Global South will be home to the majority of the world’s youth. Across systems in Latin America, Africa, and South Asia, thousands of leaders are searching for inspiration and models for how to drive change. They face corrupt governments, powerful teachers unions, deep ethnic and religious divides, rapidly growing megacities, entrenched inequality, and the legacies of war and colonialism. We can’t keep telling them to learn from Finland (with a relatively homogenous population), Singapore (a small city-state), or South Korea and Japan (developed countries with aging populations). It is not enough to point them to academic writing from the RISE Program and the Brookings Center for Universal Education.
We need more journalism and media that are easy for leaders on the ground to read, listen to, and understand — not academic jargon. And we need to tell more stories about the movements across the Global South who are creating powerful change and innovation in their education systems. These movements do exist, but are often not widely known outside of their local community and news outlets within their country.
When I think back to that principal in South Africa, I know he deserves to hear more from the thousands of leaders like him — outliers who are struggling and optimistic against all odds.
So much of the conversation about education reform focuses on policies, curriculums and models. We treat the system like a machine — that if we can just optimize the parts, then we can engineer the ideal outcome. But a system is a living ecosystem, made up of people in their complex, messy realities and shadows. A system is more like a forest than a factory.
For a system to change, people in the system need to change. To reach their fullest potential, they need resources and support. They need to hear from others who have walked the path.
That is why we are launching EdWell, a new Medium publication and Substack newsletter. EdWell will take us to systems across the Global South where there are thriving movements of leaders driving change in education. These movements are creating stronger outcomes from early childhood, up to primary, secondary, and vocational training. It will include articles like:
- TOOLS: practical resources to strengthen your work as an education leader or funder — to help you solve your greatest challenges.
- LESSONS LEARNED: wisdom from leaders on the frontlines. Q&A’s with entrepreneurs creating innovative schools or organizations, policymakers shifting reforms, or investors or foundations shifting capital — or summaries from their books. Inspired by On Being and the Good Life Project, we will dive into their ideas and their inner lives — the sources of their purpose, courage and grit; their struggles and practices for thriving; their visions for the future.
- HIDDEN HISTORY: spotlights on little-known moments that shaped education systems across Latin America, Africa, and South Asia.
EdWell gains its name from the role that sources of water have played across the Global South. From rural villages to urban informal settlements — water kiosks, water pumps, and rivers often serve as gathering places. In a desert, the well is the oasis. It is the place where people on a journey can rest, meet fellow travelers, and share information. And it is the source of water, the most precious resource to get us through the long and difficult journey.
Kat Pattillo writes about education reform and innovation across the Global South. She is currently studying how social movements accelerate systems change in education, through an MPhil in Politics at Oxford. Kat previously consulted as a researcher and facilitator, taught at African Leadership Academy in South Africa, and co-founded Metis in Kenya. For more of her writing, follow her on LinkedIn or sign up for the EdWell newsletter.
