Ei-iE

Leading the profession

Teachers and education support personnel know what works in education. They must be recognised and empowered to deliver on the promise of quality education for all.

At the classroom level, academic freedom and professional autonomy are prerequisites for quality teaching and learning. As professionals, teachers must be afforded the space and trust to make the best possible decisions for their students.

Beyond the classroom, education policy must be informed by the vast experience and insights only education professionals can provide. We advocate for the involvement of teachers, education support personnel and their representative organisations in all decision-making in education and work towards the expansion of sectoral policy dialogue at all levels and in all countries.

Our work in this area

  1. News 25 March 2024

    The Education Crisis in Iraq: A Call for Urgent Reforms

    Iraq is currently grappling with a severe education crisis. Despite constitutional provisions and ministerial laws mandating free education at all levels, millions of children are being denied access to education. At the onset of the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)–a Salafi jihadist militant organisation that...

    The Education Crisis in Iraq: A Call for Urgent Reforms
  2. News 20 March 2024

    France: Raise teachers’ salaries and invest more in public education, now!

    Education International (EI) President, Susan Hopgood, expressed the solidarity of the global education trade union movement with French colleagues at the National Congress of the Syndicat National des Enseignements de Second Degré (SNES-FSU). She also stressed that the demands of the SNES-FSU, including its call for the government to invest...

    France: Raise teachers’ salaries and invest more in public education, now!
  3. Worlds of Education 20 March 2024

    The ‘sum total’: Reimagining early childhood care and education through a gender perspective on the profession

    Mercedes Mayol Lassalle, Mathias Urban

    ‘Education’, suggested Austrian psychoanalyst Siegfried Bernfeld in 1925, ‘is the sum total of societal reaction to the fact of ontogenetic development’ (Bernfeld, 1973, 1925). His wide-ranging definition has profound implications as we endeavour to reimagine education for all in the 21st century: education begins at birth (‘ontogenetic development’), education is...

    The ‘sum total’: Reimagining early childhood care and education through a gender perspective on the profession
  4. News 18 March 2024

    Sierra Leone: Teachers mobilise to elevate the profession through the Go Public! Fund Education campaign

    The Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU) is on a mission to transform the landscape of education in their country. During a recent two-day Go Public! Fund Education national planning meeting, SLTU leaders rallied around a shared vision: to elevate the status of teachers and secure better working conditions.

    Sierra Leone: Teachers mobilise to elevate the profession through the Go Public! Fund Education campaign
  5. Worlds of Education 7 March 2024

    Our fight for education is a fight for women’s rights

    Susan Hopgood

    The right to education means that every child must have access to free quality education, a well-supported, qualified teacher, and a quality learning environment no matter where they live or come from, no matter their gender, ethnicity, or how much their family earns. This is our mission as education unions...

    Our fight for education is a fight for women’s rights
  6. Worlds of Education 27 February 2024

    Education Voices | Unpacking the High-Level Panel Recommendations

    Manal Hdaife

    Manal Hdaife is a school principal and chair of the Education International Arab Countries Cross Regional Structure Committee, deeply committed to advancing the cause of education in Lebanon. With a career dedicated to promoting teachers' rights and enhancing educational standards, Hdaife has emerged as a key advocate for public education...

    Education Voices | Unpacking the High-Level Panel Recommendations
  7. Worlds of Education 27 February 2024

    Education voices | Elevating the Teacher Profession: High-Level Panel Recommendations explained

    Mike Thiruman

    Mike Thiruman, General Secretary of the Singapore Teachers' Union, embodies a profound dedication to teacher empowerment by enhancing working conditions, advocating for teacher agency, and fostering teacher wellness and growth. As a member of the High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, convened by the United Nations, Thiruman's insights are crucial...

    Education voices | Elevating the Teacher Profession: High-Level Panel Recommendations explained
  8. Worlds of Education 26 February 2024

    A call to action: implementing the UN recommendations to raise the status of the teaching profession

    David Edwards

    On February 26, the United Nations High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession launched its 59 recommendations to governments to strengthen the profession and ensure that teachers are valued and respected. The Panel and its broad recommendations are the result of persistent union advocacy. It is incumbent upon Governments to implement...

    A call to action: implementing the UN recommendations to raise the status of the teaching profession
  9. News 6 February 2024

    France: sustained union action against the collapse of public education

    Deep-rooted anger and a firm commitment to public education: this is what French teachers are demonstrating through their week of action and the launch of a joint union petition calling for the ‘knowledge shock’ measures - a series of government measures that are supposed to raise the level of students...

    France: sustained union action against the collapse of public education
  10. News 26 January 2024

    Educators ready to play an active role in transforming education in North America and the Caribbean

    “Our activities here together these next few days are varied, but our purpose is fundamental – to reflect and learn from each other and to plan ways to encourage our members to play an active role in transforming education across this vast and varied region.” This was the call by...

    Educators ready to play an active role in transforming education in North America and the Caribbean
  11. Worlds of Education 25 January 2024

    Empowering Educators in the Age of AI: What Now?

    Armand Doucet

    The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know, solidifying my goal to be a lifelong learner. But one thing certainty stands out in this era of rapid change: the time for action is now.

    Empowering Educators in the Age of AI: What Now?
  12. News 22 January 2024

    Iraq: Union call for urgent solutions as teachers haven't been paid in months

    Painting a bleak picture of the situation of the education system and teachers in the Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU) President Abdulwahed Mohammad Haje presented his union demands to solve the ongoing issues.

    Iraq: Union call for urgent solutions as teachers haven't been paid in months
  13. News 16 January 2024

    Canada: agreement submitted to public sector workers in Quebec

    Following strong union mobilisation, nine days of strike action, and many weeks of intensive bargaining, the Front Commun that brings together Quebec’s public sector unions and the provincial government reached an agreement in principle for the renewal of public sector collective agreements at the end of December. The agreement is...

    Canada: agreement submitted to public sector workers in Quebec
  14. Worlds of Education 8 January 2024

    Empowering Educators in the Age of AI: What Now?

    Armand Doucet

    My curiosity got the best of me and I registered for ChatGPT. I was quickly amazed by the efficiency and timesaving it presented me. This prompted my dive into a rabbit hole of learning – engaging in a variety of reading and conversations in education and other sectors, as well...

    Empowering Educators in the Age of AI: What Now?
  15. Worlds of Education 3 January 2024

    Empowering Educators in the Age of AI: What Now?

    Armand Doucet

    More than a year has passed since the public launch of ChatGPT, representing Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) significant arrival in education. This development has unfolded in the aftermath of a pandemic, that we continue to grapple with, trying to comprehend the lasting effects it has had on our education systems, classrooms,...

    Empowering Educators in the Age of AI: What Now?
  16. News 22 December 2023

    2023, a year of mobilisation and solidarity

    A message from Education International General Secretary David Edwards to education unionists around the world and a renewed commitment to solidarity, peace, and democracy in 2024.

    2023, a year of mobilisation and solidarity