Category: Education Definition
Defining the teachers we need for the education we want, and creating them
This year, World Teachers’ Day celebrations focused on the theme, “The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage”.We appreciate Unesco in this respect for always driving the agenda of Education in all our societies and nations by designing yearly themes that resonate with the contemporary needs of Education.
In Kenya, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) led all education stakeholders in celebrating the Kenyan teachers on October 5 – the World Teachers’ Day.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has set a tradition of dedicating a whole day for Post-World Teachers’ Day celebration. This year, we hosted our event at the Kitui Teachers’ College in Kitui County.
Developing countries like Kenya are still on the light of trying to define the right teacher for the moment. Education is designed to undergo reviews that reflect the changing needs of the labor market. That is the reason in the history of our republic, we have had some changes in our national curriculum.
Most notably, in 1985, Kenya changed its education structure from a 7-4-2-3 to an 8-4-4 system. More recently in 2017, Kenya launched the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) to replace the
Closing of the regional workshop in support of the definition of the priority reform for the transformation of basic education in Madagascar, Burundi and Djibouti
Antananarivo, Friday, July 28, 2023 – As part of the improvement of basic education, the Malagasy government, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE/PME) and UNICEF organized, from 24 to 28 July 2023 in Antananarivo, a regional workshop bringing together education partners from Madagascar, Burundi and Djibouti. The working sessions were enhanced, in the last two days, by the presence of Mrs Marie Michelle SAHONDRARIMALALA, Minister of Education of Madagascar, and Professor François HAVYARIMANA, Minister of Education and Scientific Research of Burundi.
The workshop aimed to strengthen reflections, peer-to-peer experience sharing and the capacities of participating countries, in order to develop National Partnership Pacts based on the new model of (SME/GPE). The process of developing these Pacts was inclusive, with the participation of the various stakeholders of the sector for a priority educational reform, with a view to transforming the education system throughout the next five years. The workshop was based on the reflections and previous achievements resulting from the analysis of the factors favorable to the transformation of education systems, supervised by partner agents, such as UNESCO International Institute of Education Planning (IIEP) for the case of Madagascar. In addition, the presentation of Côte d’Ivoire’s successful experience on the Partnership
We Asked Educators How They Define the ‘Science of Reading.’ Here’s What They Said
What, exactly, does the “science of reading” mean?
The phrase has become popular over the past several years, used as a shorthand for many of the instructional changes schools have adopted to bring reading instruction more in line with research on how kids actually learn to read.
But not all educators share the same definition, an EdWeek Research Center Survey found, a potential challenge to better align research and practice nationwide.
In June and July of this year, we asked a nationally representative sample of about 1,300 educators the open-ended question: “What does ‘the science of reading’ mean to you?” More than 950 of them responded.
The results range from the very general—“What works in reading”—to paragraphs of detailed text about specific instructional practices.
Many responses focused on the process of kids learning to make speech-to-print connections, learning how spoken words are represented by written letters. Others took a broader view; one wrote: “whole child instruction. Rather than focusing on one area of reading, it encourages us to incorporate all aspects involved.”
The array of responses demonstrates that even as states have passed laws mandating schools use the science of reading, and curriculum companies tout their materials as aligned with
Defining, Teaching and Fostering Inclusive Mindsets
The following is an excerpt from the article, “Defining, Teaching and Fostering Inclusive Mindsets,” published by Global Partnership for Education and written by Special Olympics’ Chief of Global Youth and Education, Jacqueline Jodl, Ph.D.
Realizing an inclusive future where stigma and isolation no longer plague the marginalized depends on fostering empathy, inclusive mindsets, willing to accept and embrace those who are different.
Within schools, many students with disabilities still experience social isolation and rejection and even victimization in the form of bullying. In some cultures, young people with disabilities are educated separately from peers without disabilities or do not attend school at all.
Policies and practices often focus solely on physical inclusion without recognizing the need to teach students how to learn and live together. The need to support youth participation in creating inclusive schools, communities and societies is recognized around the world echoed by the United Nations’ (UN) call to “Leave No One Behind.”
At Special Olympics we understand physical inclusion is not enough. Full inclusion in education requires a commitment to social inclusion—where young people of differing beliefs, backgrounds, creeds and ability levels come together to become teammates, partners, allies and friends.
Special
The 4 Education Trends That Will Define 2024
In the midst of intense change, these four trends are sticking around, and they’re transforming the … [+]
Beyond100K, the organization I lead, spent hundreds of hours this past year listening to educators, advocates, and activists and poring over news and research to better understand the opportunities and challenges that are defining STEM and education. We identified four trends that are changing the narrative and will continue to impact education long after 2024 is over.
1. The Flexible Office Has Evaded Teachers. They Want In.
In an era when flexibility is a touchstone for most white-collar workers, and people are willing to take a pay cut for the opportunity to work remotely, teachers continue to find themselves tethered to their classrooms, needing to ask another adult to cover their classroom to pee (case in point: this viral video) and often unable to take time during the school day even for their own professional development.
Lack of flexibility for professional development during the workday is one of the keystone challenges to teacher retention, negatively impacting teachers’ decisions to remain in the profession.
One silver lining is increased attention to the need to reimagine the structure of the teaching
Antisemitism definitions, cursiveness and truancy on Indiana legislative agenda for education
The Indiana General Assembly is still in session, and education remains a major priority. Deadlines are approaching: Tuesday, Feb. 27 marks the last day for House adoption of conference committee reports without approval and March 5 the last day for Senate adoption. March 4 and 5 mark the last days for third reading of Senate bills in the House and for House bills in the Senate, respectively.
Here are some of the bills still moving through the legislature.
HB 1002 defines antisemitism, specifically in public education. The bill’s definition is being debated as of Wednesday, Feb. 21 but was amended to be “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.”
The bill’s previous definition came from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the US Departments of State and of Education and was defined in 2016. It previously specified that the definition does not include “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country.” Some criticized its language out of fear that antisemitism will be equated with criticism for Israel and the state’s response to the war in Gaza.
On the other hand, some members of Indiana’s Jewish community oppose the new definition, as removing
Evidence-Based Education: Definition and Issues
Increasingly used in educational institutions, the concept of evidence-based education came up several times during the recent workshop entitled “Putting Research Into Action: Bridging Research and Teaching,” held at Science Po on June 18 and 19, 2018. How is this concept defined, and which research methods does it cover? How does this approach promote effective and innovative pedagogy? After a brief overview of the history of the concept, this article will describe how evidence-based education can be supported by certain research methods, how it can contribute to resolving educational issues, as well as its potential limits.
An approach inspired by the world of medicine
The evidence-based approach originated in the medical sphere. In 1747, when many medical techniques, such as bleeding, were still based on ancient traditions, a young doctor named James Lind led the first clinical trial aboard a frigate. Scurvy, a common sickness on ships, was wreaking havoc on sailors. To cure them, James Lind had the ingenious idea of giving different sailors different treatments. By observing the way their health improved or worsened, he was able to distinguish between the treatments that worked and those that didn’t, and most notably, to discover that it was the sailors
Urbandale CSD puts together list of definitions in new education law
A local school district is trying to find the best way to correctly interpret Iowa’s new education law. SF 496 was signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds in May. The law went into effect on July 1. The sweeping education law covers topics including gender identity, sexual orientation, age-appropriate books and parental rights. More than two months after the law went into effect, however, educators say they still lack clarity and guidance from the state on how to implement the law in classrooms. “We’ve had the pleasure of getting feedback from staff,” Urbandale Superintendent Rosalie Daca said. “Staff has a lot of questions and that helped us, I think, frame — OK, where are they going to be confused?” The school district wanted to be proactive and take things into their own hands. Equity and inclusion of staff from the Urbandale Community School District put together an 11-page list of definitions for words and phrases used in the law. Daca said this is just the first step in getting more clarity for students, staff and parents.”We felt like it would be important to start with some reasonable definitions,” Daca said. “This is an area where we don’t feel the …
Global Standards for Midwifery Education
The ICM Standards for Midwifery Education (2021) are an essential pillar of ICM’s efforts to strengthen midwifery worldwide by promoting high quality education programs that prepare midwives who meet the ICM definition of a midwife. The ICM Standards for Midwifery Education are based on foundational ICM Core Documents and Position Statements (see Annex 1). Importantly, the Standards address inclusion of the Essential Competencies for Midwifery Practice (2019) as the basis of the midwifery curriculum.
The purposes of the ICM Standards for Midwifery Education are to:
- set benchmarks for programs that prepare students for entry to practice as a midwife
- promote high-quality teaching and learning processes;
- ensure the ICM Essential Competencies for Midwifery Practice (2019) are incorporated into the curriculum
- provide a framework for designing, implementing, and evaluating the quality of a midwifery education program
- assist programs to engage in continuous quality improvement as an ongoing process
- enable systematic reporting of quality indicators to the public, the midwifery profession, the health care system, and the educational institution
- contribute to systematic improvement of midwifery education programs across the world
Additionally, the ICM Standards for Midwifery Education may be used to:
- promote a common understanding and approach to midwifery education
- guide the development
What is equity in education and how do we achieve it?
“If we don’t fix inequities in our schools soon, we’ll pay a high price for that later.”
This is what I heard from a primary school principal during my recent visit to her regional school. “But schools alone can’t do that. It takes the whole village,” she said.
She is right. Family background is far more important in explaining what students learn at school than people think. This has remained a solid empirical-research finding for the past half century.
Too often, however, the important role that out-of-school factors such as family, community and a student’s peer group play in student achievement is undermined in efforts to improve education.
It will continue to be a hard road to making education systems better unless we understand what the root causes of current underperformance of our school systems are.
Let’s start by asking: what are we talking about when we talk about equity?
What is equity in education?
Equity in education means that children from different social groups achieve a similar level and range of learning outcomes, and that every child succeeds above minimum standards of education.
It’s when the wealth, income, power or possessions of a student’s family do not impact their