Weekly Global Education News | February 25, 2017
Weekly update on issues affecting teachers and schools around the world.
As Famine Stalks South Sudan’s Children, Their Education Suffers Too
The protracted conflict in South Sudan has harmed children in many other ways, too. For example, it has driven 3.4 million people from their homes and forced more than 1.8 million children out of school. With their classrooms destroyed and their teachers having fled violence themselves, the window of opportunity for education is closing for tens of thousands of children.
Multilingual education is ‘absolutely essential,’ UNESCO chief says on Mother Language Day
“Learning languages is a promise of peace, innovation and creativity, and will contribute to the achievement of global development goals, the head of the United Nations agency for culture and education has said, marking International Mother Language Day.
“There can be no authentic dialogue or effective international cooperation without respect for linguistic diversity, which opens up true understanding of every culture.”
Shanghai: Science education is key priority
“The city will improve scientific education among young students and build more innovative labs in local schools […] the government would encourage schools and social organizations to carry out scientific enlightenment education for pre-school children, and operate more science classes in primary schools, improve the scientific curriculum system and “enhance guidance in explorative study” in middle and high schools.
Finland: Task force proposes measures to promote educational attainment among immigrants
“The Finnish Government should … begin supporting the efforts of foreign-language speakers to learn Finnish or Swedish already in early-childhood education. The objective … should be to ensure all foreign-language children participate in early-childhood education at least on a part-time basis.
“The steering group also lays out concrete measures to prevent cultural conflicts in education. It proposes, for example, that joint after-school activities be organised for immigrant and native-born children and that the dialogue between different religious groups be promoted.”
US: A racially charged assault spurs schools to rally behind Portland’s large refugee community
“In a divisive political climate, public schools are taking on the challenge of helping refugees who feel unsafe in a country that seems increasingly intolerant of them […]
Students said King Middle School feels like a safe haven, but added that the world outside the school building has lately felt more dangerous. They hear their parents talking about being accosted in the street and worrying about relatives abroad who may be affected by the ban.”
UK: workloads spark a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention
“Teaching can be one of the most rewarding professions,” said the National Union of Teachers’ (NUT) General Secretary, Kevin Courtney. “However, the increasingly unacceptable workloads have made it more and more difficult both to recruit new teachers and to prevent existing teachers leaving.”
Mind the Gap: Inequity in Education (PDF)
Good quality education is a critical tool to ensure growth and inclusiveness in our societies. It allows for better employment opportunities and is also linked to improved well-being and social and political participation … Education’s powerful role does not mean that it can work alone. Reducing inequality also requires policies for housing, criminal justice, taxation and health care to work hand in hand with education to make a lasting difference.
Knowing what teachers know about teaching
The OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) has launched the Innovative Teaching for Effective Learning (ITEL) project to better understand the pedagogical knowledge of teachers: how it is developed, how teachers acquire it, transform it and put it to use in their teaching practices. The project doesn’t look at pedagogical knowledge as a static characteristic of individual teachers, but as a dynamic, ever changing aspect of the profession.
