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Worlds of Education

Reflect. Mobilise. Take action.

Education transforms the world. Education is our world, as rich and diverse as the voices speaking out on the pages of Worlds of Education.

Worlds of Education is a platform for teachers, unionists, activists, and academics to share their insights into the issues affecting the education workforce and community around the world. The aim is to encourage a global conversation, to reflect, mobilise, and take action for education everywhere.

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Thematic Series

Recent Posts

  1. Leading the profession 12 July 2024

    Against all odds: the union’s victory to elevate the status of college lecturers in Zimbabwe

    David Dzatsunga

    How does a lecturers’ union influence legislative change and restore the status of its members in a toxic, polarized, and polarising political environment? Through commitment, resilience and indomitable will. This article chronicles the unlikely victory of the College Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe (COLAZ) that saw the Government of Zimbabwe enact...

    Against all odds: the union’s victory to elevate the status of college lecturers in Zimbabwe
  2. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 27 June 2024

    Upholding professional teaching standards matters

    Ella Mokgalane

    Countries without professional standards deprive their education and teaching workforce of quality and professional excellence. As part of its theory of change, the South African Council for Educators (SACE) adopted the concept of Professional Teaching Standards to provide a common language and vision of the profession that all teachers can...

    Upholding professional teaching standards matters
  3. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 26 June 2024

    Recognising the teacher crisis in Norway: a key step towards solving it

    Ann Mari Milo Lorentzen

    For years, we have fought for the recognition of the teacher crisis in Norway. A new multi-stakeholder strategy brings hope for change from early childhood to higher levels of education.

    Recognising the teacher crisis in Norway: a key step towards solving it
  4. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 14 June 2024

    Apologies! We have some good news about teaching.

    Gustavo E. Fischman, Margarita Pivovarova, Eric Haas

    A remarkable feature of many debates about the looming global teacher shortage is the deep-rooted and somewhat predictable perspectives about the role of teachers in this situation. Unfortunately, instead of well-thought-out ideas and exchanges, it appears that when the topic involves teachers, we are stuck with antagonistic perspectives, with each...

    Apologies! We have some good news about teaching.
  5. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 6 June 2024

    Charting the course for elevating our profession

    Dianne Woloschuk

    In the lead-up to Education International’s 10th World Congress, we invited members of the Executive Board to share their thoughts about the theme of the Congress: “Growing our unions, elevating our professions, defending democracy”.

    Charting the course for elevating our profession
  6. Union renewal and development 23 May 2024

    Growing our unions to transform our profession

    Mary Bousted

    In the lead-up to Education International’s 10th World Congress, we invited members of the Executive Board to share their thoughts about the theme of the Congress: “Growing our unions, elevating our professions, defending democracy”.

    Growing our unions to transform our profession
  7. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 17 May 2024

    Education: a key battleground for anti-gender activists

    Rachel Marcus

    What do protests over gender-neutral school toilets in South Africa have to do with teachers being harassed in Brazil or curriculum changes in El Salvador ? In brief, they are all the result of mobilization against the perceived threat of ‘gender ideology’; these are just a few of the examples...

    Education: a key battleground for anti-gender activists
  8. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 17 May 2024

    Union action for the rights of LGBTQI+ people: the experience of the CSQ

    Julien Poirier

    The trade union movement is no stranger to fighting for the rights, support and inclusion of LGBTQI+ people in Quebec. In this respect, the ongoing work of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) is of particular importance. Its contribution has stood out over the years. In addition to having...

    Union action for the rights of LGBTQI+ people: the experience of the CSQ
  9. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 16 May 2024

    Carrying the community: how privatization and funding shortfalls are affecting Education Support Personnel

    Anja Giudici, Lucas Cone

    In November 2023, the North Tyneside Council in England announced that it would withdraw from providing catering to local schools. In August that year, lawmakers in Austin, Texas, passed a law allowing unlicensed chaplains to work as school counsellors, while in March in Gauteng, staff working in South Africa’s National...

    Carrying the community: how privatization and funding shortfalls are affecting Education Support Personnel
  10. Leading the profession 6 May 2024

    Are edtech platforms threatening academic freedom and intellectual property rights?

    Janja Komljenovic, Ben Williamson

    Digital platforms are routinely used in universities to support teaching and learning, but they can also challenge academic freedom and intellectual property (IP) rights. In our new report for Education International, ‘Behind the platforms: Safeguarding intellectual property rights and academic freedom in Higher Education’ , we reviewed the landscape of...

    Are edtech platforms threatening academic freedom and intellectual property rights?
  11. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 26 April 2024

    From recommendations to action: Joining forces to end the global teacher shortage

    Johanna Jaara Åstrand

    The shortened version of the following remarks were delivered by Johanna Jaara Åstrand, Education International Vice-president for Europe and President of the Swedish Teachers’ Union, at the European Union Global Gateway High-level Education Event on April 11, 2024. The event marked the regional launch of the recommendations put forward by...

    From recommendations to action: Joining forces to end the global teacher shortage
  12. 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
  13. Standards and working conditions 17 April 2024

    Education Voices | Improving terms and conditions in higher education through collective bargaining in Denmark

    Tommy Dalegaard Madsen

    Tommy Dalegaard Madsen is the Chairman of DM’s Sectoral Board for Vocational Colleges, Vocational Academies and Maritime Education. DM represents 75,000 academic professionals in Denmark, and it is the most representative trade union in further and higher education. In this interview for Worlds of Education, he shares his perspectives on...

    Education Voices | Improving terms and conditions in higher education through collective bargaining in Denmark
  14. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 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
  15. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 15 March 2024

    Teachers: key in keeping boys engaged in school and learning

    Matthias Eck

    Even though tremendous progress in enrolment has been made over the last 20 years, current estimates indicate that 250 million children and youth are still out of school. And over half of them – approximately 128 million – are boys.

    Teachers: key in keeping boys engaged in school and learning
  16. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 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
  17. Standards and working conditions 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
  18. Standards and working conditions 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