David Edwards
David Edwards is the General Secretary of Education International.
Written by David Edwards
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Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 21 April 2024 Bringing governments and education unions together
David Edwards
For the well-being of students, our communities and our countries, governments must increase investment in public education systems, including quality teacher training and professional development, guarantee labor rights and good working conditions, involve teacher unions in policymaking and trust and respect teachers and their professional expertise.
Bringing governments and education unions together -
Standards and working conditions 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 -
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 13 April 2023 Go Public, Grow Public: Mobilize to Finance the Public Good
David Edwards
Today, at the midpoint of the unanimous commitment of the United Nations to set the world on a course of sustainable development by 2030, those Sustainable Development Goals are almost irretrievably off track.
Go Public, Grow Public: Mobilize to Finance the Public Good -
Leading the profession 3 October 2022 Teachers are the beating heart of education
David Edwards
This is a crucial moment. COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on education. At the height of the pandemic, 1.6 billion students were out of school. Millions are still not in their classrooms, others are struggling with trauma and loss. As the economic crisis, the climate emergency, and wars intensify...
Teachers are the beating heart of education -
Equity and inclusion 18 September 2022 Teachers are ready to transform education — it’s time for governments to step up
David Edwards
Despite the global crises facing the world, the power and optimism inherent in education will always provide hope for our future. To move forward from this pandemic, and the deepening inequities it exposed, we need to transform education by fully funding public education systems and investing in, supporting, and respecting...
Teachers are ready to transform education — it’s time for governments to step up -
Leading the profession 10 May 2022 The future is public: making excellence and equity in education a reality
David Edwards
Despite the global crises facing the world, the power and optimism inherent in education will always provide hope for our future. Young people need a critical pedagogy to transform the existential crises we face. To move forward from this pandemic we need to empower educators, with climate change education, peace,...
The future is public: making excellence and equity in education a reality -
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 28 March 2022 Teachers and students in Lebanon need global solidarity to save their education system and their hope for the future. The world must answer.
David Edwards
The failure of governance and the inability to deal with over-lapping crises has paralysed Lebanon. A whole generation of young people risks losing life opportunities due to the meltdown of the education system.
Teachers and students in Lebanon need global solidarity to save their education system and their hope for the future. The world must answer. -
Democracy 19 October 2021 Samuel Paty, one year later: “The teaching profession: the light that illuminates darkness”
David Edwards
A year ago, French history and geography professor Samuel Paty was decapitated near his school in a suburb of Paris. In response to this horrifying attack, the Education International Executive Board adopted a resolution reaffirming the crucial role of teachers in supporting critical thinking, freedom of speech, science, the truth,...
Samuel Paty, one year later: “The teaching profession: the light that illuminates darkness” -
Fighting the commercialisation of education 23 June 2021 "Celebrating the value and virtue of public service."
David Edwards
United Nations Public Service Day was established by the General Assembly in 2002. It “celebrates the value and virtue of public service to the community; highlights the contribution of public service in the development process; recognizes the work of public servants and encourages young people to pursue careers in the...
"Celebrating the value and virtue of public service." -
Climate action and literacy 23 April 2021 “Millions of Teachers Urge World Leaders to Prioritize Climate Education”, by David Edwards and Kathleen Rogers.
David Edwards, Kathleen Rogers
Governments across the globe are overlooking two of the most powerful tools in the fight against climate change and the building of just, sustainable, societies—teachers and students. If humanity is to avoid the worst consequences of global warming and fast forward the green, clean and sustainable economies of tomorrow today,...
“Millions of Teachers Urge World Leaders to Prioritize Climate Education”, by David Edwards and Kathleen Rogers. -
Fighting the commercialisation of education 12 April 2021 “On Edtech, the public good, and democracy”
David Edwards
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought death and despair. However, it has also sharpened our vision. We have seen dangers more clearly and trends that were threatening the health of our societies. In some areas, like inequality, it is apparent to everybody. In others, however, risky developments are partially hidden. These...
“On Edtech, the public good, and democracy” -
Trade union rights are human rights 25 March 2021 “Covid Story Will End with Equity and Leadership”, by David Edwards.
David Edwards
My friend and colleague and one of the education giants of our time, Mary Hatwood Futrell, wrote this on the passing of Nelson Mandela in 2013: “We pause to mark the distance we’ve come and keep focus on what’s yet to cover. One thing seems certain as the need for...
“Covid Story Will End with Equity and Leadership”, by David Edwards. -
Fighting the commercialisation of education 20 November 2020 The World Depends on Public Services and Public Services Require Political Will.
Rosa Pavanelli, David Edwards
As G20 world leaders meet, it is time for a fundamental overhaul of global investment policy to build for the future. That future depends on public services and the people who provide them. Crisis has brought recognition to “front-line” workers, public and private, who are both visible and essential. However,...
The World Depends on Public Services and Public Services Require Political Will. -
Democracy 27 October 2020 “The Teaching Profession: The light that illuminates darkness”, by David Edwards.
David Edwards
The brutal assassination of Samuel Paty, French history and geography teacher, on 16 October in front of his school sent waves of shock far beyond France and the teaching profession.
“The Teaching Profession: The light that illuminates darkness”, by David Edwards. -
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 6 October 2020 #WorldTeachersDay | “Regaining Our Common Purpose”, by David Edwards.
David Edwards
A day after the largest online gathering of teachers in history, a split-screen picture emerges of a global crisis for our students and a profession determined to build back better.
#WorldTeachersDay | “Regaining Our Common Purpose”, by David Edwards. -
Trade union rights are human rights 16 June 2020 As frontlines shift to schools: Can governments ensure safety? by David Edwards.
David Edwards
Education International echoes the call of education workers from around the world: national governments must ensure their protection through evidence-based public health measures in the transition back to school. Read about how the global union federation responds to this call.
As frontlines shift to schools: Can governments ensure safety? by David Edwards. -
Leading the profession 2 June 2020 "10 years of ISTP – what governments and unions can achieve together", by Andreas Schleicher and David Edwards
David Edwards, Andreas Schleicher
Ten years ago, Education International and the OECD began co-hosting with various countries an altogether unique, (somewhat unlikely) but critically necessary convening of ministers of education and heads of teachers’ unions. The purpose was to support an informed and honest policy dialogue between and among elected representatives of the teaching...
"10 years of ISTP – what governments and unions can achieve together", by Andreas Schleicher and David Edwards -
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 9 April 2020 "World Bank shifts position on funding for most private-for-profit schools", by David Edwards.
David Edwards
In a sudden and far-reaching policy shift, World Bank President David Malpass has agreed to major reforms that include officially freezing any direct or indirect investments in private for-profit pre-primary, primary and secondary schools. This has been a critical issue for Education International for many years and has been the...
"World Bank shifts position on funding for most private-for-profit schools", by David Edwards.