Ei-iE

In his analysis of the latest studies on education, EI Senior Consultant John Bangs narrowed in on the main topics of this year's summit on the teaching profession: efficacy, leadership, collaboration and innovation.

Collaboration, leadership, and innovation are at the heart of talks at the Summit of the Teaching Profession, where Education International General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen made the case for teachers as the agents of change.

Building collaborative school environments that empower teachers to create strong learning communities is the message teacher unions are delivering at the 5th International Summit on the Teaching Profession in Banff, Canada.

The Education International delegation wants the focus of this year’s International Summit on the Teaching Profession squarely on creating collaborative school environments that empower teachers to build strong learning communities.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has voiced its support for the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union’s demand that educators employed on temporary contracts become permanent employees. This is a significant vote of support as the Congress of South African Trade Unions is that country’s national trade union confederation.

The 44th Education International’s Executive Board meeting has appointed Patrick Roach from the UK and Ryosuke Kato from Japan to help run the organisation’s work as Vice-Presidents for Europe and Asia-Pacific respectively, until the 7th World Congress in July.

Education International and its global partners have launched the World’s Largest Lesson Plan, a project which invites the world’s teachers to educate and popularise the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, to be launched in September.

Education International has offered its sincere condolences to the families of those lost in yesterday’s tragic plane crash, which took the lives of 150 people, including 16 students from the Joseph-König-Gymnasium in Haltern, Germany.

As negotiations on the United Nations new development agenda, known as the Post-2015 process, have entered the final stage, Education International is working to ensure the goals are evaluated in line with human rights standards.

The American Federation of Teachers was aghast to discover that the world’s largest edu-business has undertaken a new activity, moving from administering tests to online surveillance to monitor American students’ social media activity in search of cheaters.

Public higher education is shutting down today in Spain, as teachers, support staff and students close ranks against the latest government’s reforms, arguing that they open the path to privatisation and hamper access for all.

Diverse congress business, including policy papers, resolutions and awardees, are high on the agenda of the 44th Education International Executive Board meeting, with just four months to go before the organisation’s key political event.

Brazil’s national education union has taken a major step towards boosting the status of indigenous education within the national system after hosting its First National Indigenous Educators’ Meeting in Sao Paulo this month.

With the fate of education currently being negotiated in global free-trade talks, Martin Rømer, Director of the European Trade Union Committee for Education, spoke with RadioLabour about the possible consequences.

Teacher unionists aren’t happy with the government’s decision to recruit more than 20,000 unqualified teachers to fill empty posts, which account for nearly a fifth of the country’s teaching force in primary and secondary schools.

The defence of quality public education and teachers’ rights are at the centre of discussions between Education International and the Mexican teachers’ union SNTE, the largest in Latin America, in view of SNTE’s application for membership with EI.

The UK government has published the findings of its asbestos policy in schools review after bowing to education unions’ sustained pressure to go public, but critics say if still falls short.

Education International has demanded that Myanmar’s public authorities stop the violent crackdown on student protests calling for changes to the National Education Law, and include them along educators’ representatives in the parliamentary discussions.