Earlier this month, the Learning Systems Institute (LSI) at Florida State University partnered with the World Bank and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to host Educators Shaping Futures: A Global Knowledge Exchange on Teacher Preparation and Development.
The event, which took place Nov. 3-4 at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Conference Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aimed to address the worldwide shortage of qualified teachers. More than 340 policymakers, teacher educators, researchers and practitioners from 41 countries convened to raise awareness and build coalitions for change to ensure that teachers everywhere are prepared and supported to succeed in their crucial roles.
Steve McDowell, FSU's assistant provost for International Initiatives, delivered opening remarks for the conference Monday, Nov. 3, alongside H.E. Kora Tushune, state minister for Higher Education in Ethiopia; Maryam Salim, division director of Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan at the World Bank; Ambassador Jiang Feng, head of China's Mission to the African Union; and Quentin Wodon, director of UNESCO's International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa.
"At Florida State University, we recognize that the challenges and opportunities facing education today are global in scope," McDowell said. "We know that the future of education depends on strong partnerships - across borders, disciplines and sectors. Together, we can address the evolving needs of learners, support the professional growth of teachers and build educational systems that are inclusive, resilient and globally connected."
The idea for Educators Shaping Futures was conceptualized through a conversation about teacher preparedness between Stephanie Zuilkowski, associate director for Research at LSI and professor of International and Multicultural Education in the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, and Laura Gregory, senior education specialist in the World Bank's Education Global Practice.
They agreed that classroom preparation for teachers is vital, though it remains underemphasized in academia.
"Educators Shaping Futures built a foundation to make the meaningful impact we hoped it would when we first started discussing this idea more than a year ago," Zuilkowski said. "Our collaborations with the World Bank Group, UNESCO and the Ethiopian Ministry of Education made this idea a reality, and Florida State University showcased why it is a world leader in international education."
Zuilkowski led LSI's planning alongside Bhushan Dahal, an international student from Nepal pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy from Anne's College.
Together, they coalesced a diverse group of stakeholders involved in designing, delivering and maintaining the quality of teacher preparation and continuous professional development. This included education policymakers and government officials in combination with academic leaders, teacher unions, school and district-level administrators, researchers, NGOs, the private sector, initial teacher education professionals and most importantly, teachers.
"A lot of the time we work in a vacuum - people in one part of the world might not know what's going on in another part of the world," Dahal said. "For example, for me from Nepal, I don't know what is going on in Ethiopia, so if I can hear, learn or see something that is being done here which is successful, maybe I can take that inspiration and replicate that in Nepal."
Subjects at Educators Shaping Futures included the teaching profession, initial teacher education, induction, teacher shortages and unqualified or underqualified teachers, teachers, continuous professional development and school leadership. Zuilkowski participated in the panel "From Prospective to Prepared Teacher: Building Effective Initial Teacher Education Systems" on Nov. 3, where she presented an evaluation of reforms to the public pre-service teacher education system in Zambia.
"Having a conference with teachers at the center of the composition, it's quite important to us," said Brian Mecheni, an education specialist at the World Bank. "At the opening of the conference, we had teachers speaking about their experience. We had sessions where teachers were part of the discussion. It was about having teachers be a part of the conversation and putting teachers at the center of the solutions we implement."
Rabieh Razzouk, director of LSI at FSU, participated in the panel "The Potential and Risks of AI and Digital Technologies in Teacher Education" on Nov. 3 and delivered closing plenary remarks Nov. 4.
"LSI and FSU's work in education is tremendous," Razzouk said. "It's helped many countries uplift their education systems, uplift their economies and build countries from scratch almost. Being asked to be here, to do this and support all these other countries that are here and present is certainly an indication that we've done something right over time, and we deserve to be here."
Along with Zuilkowski and Razzouk, Adrienne Barnes-Story, research faculty III and literacy and pedagogy specialist at LSI at FSU, moderated the session "Supporting New Teachers with High-Quality Induction and Mentoring" at Educators Shaping Futures.
The Educators Shaping Futures event was also well received by participants. Attendees were asked for their feedback, and 97 percent of respondents rated the event as high or very high quality, and an equal percentage found it useful or very useful for their professional roles.
"It is one of the most important workshops I have ever attended," said Jane Chikapa, a principal teacher, education and development officer from Malawi, when asked about the event. "Learning from other countries about how they fared in terms of teacher education has been amazing for me. Then, infusing this with school leadership. As someone in capacity building, we also have a school leadership program. So, it's kind of infusing foundational learning, teacher education and school leadership, which are very important aspects."
Additionally, 93 percent of attendees stated that the event met their expectations fully or almost fully.
"The main takeaway that was shared with us by the Learning Systems Institute is 'we support teachers in doing their work,' especially when it comes to teacher training and continuous professional development," said Elyas Jillaow, director of General Education in Kenya.
The collaboration between LSI and the World Bank extended beyond Educators Shaping Futures with the Leadership for Progress in Foundational Learning (LEAP) Program's Teacher and School Leadership event held Nov. 5-7 in Addis Ababa.
LEAP is a 12-month global capacity-building program that brings together senior policymakers from low- and middle-income countries to tackle the foundational learning crisis. The Teacher and School Leadership event offered a deep dive on improving teacher policy, teacher professional development and school leadership.
"We really welcome this initiative by the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University and the World Bank," said Jillaow. "We hope to partner with them moving forward."
"It has been really fantastic to partner with LSI for this event because we have had a lot of experts from Florida State University who have brought their expertise from work done all over the world to the conference," said Saima Malik, a senior education specialist at the World Bank. "They have been able to present different frameworks and different ideas to all of the government delegates who are here. I think it has been really wonderful for the World Bank to work closely with those colleagues. It's just been a really fantastic collaboration."
To learn more about LSI at FSU and Educators Shaping Futures, visit lsi.fsu.edu/Educators-Shaping-Futures.
Learning Systems Institute
LSI strives to lead the way in creating innovative educational solutions that seamlessly connect theory with practice. Through advanced research, we develop industry-leading methods and implementation strategies to enhance systematic learning at all levels and in all environments. For more than five decades, LSI has been committed to driving measurable improvements in the performance of both individuals and organizations.
