Center for Learning in Practice to Launch Academy for Training Teachers of Refugees in Camps Around the World

Refugee-Education-1-1

We are excited to announce that we have recently launched The Center for Learning in Practice.  Our vision is that every organization and every individual who works for global good will have access to high-value, high-impact, efficacious professional learning and knowledge networks, particularly in the education sector. Our mission is to improve professional learning and knowledge sharing in and across civil society organizations through programming, research and services.

We begin our work with a commitment to deliver on our claim of doing global good. Our first effort is to address one of the greatest humanitarian crises of our generation — the displacement of millions of people from their homes and countries.

The data is stunning.  The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) has released a paper setting of the first-ever estimates of how many more teachers are needed to ensure that every child is in school and learning what they need to know by 2030. In short, the world has just 14 years to recruit a total of 68.8 million teachers: 24.4 million primary teachers, and almost twice as many – 44.4 million – secondary school teachers.

We find this situation both unacceptable and urgent. Thus, we have set a goal to serve 1000 teachers and 100,000 students by 2020. We are undertaking several strategic initiatives in partnerships we are currently developing with humanitarian and education-in-emergencies organizations.  Working together, online and face-to-face we will:

  • Develop an educational awareness campaign about the elements of good teaching.
  • Establish an Academy for Teachers of Refugees that trains and certifies these teachers (in camps and in countries to which they are dislocated) in effective methods of teaching.
  • Connect and support teachers of refugees in an online community designed to address their needs and interests.
  • Pursue the development of e-portfolios for refugee students so that no matter where they go, they can have something substantive to show about themselves and their education. This will enable a teacher to better facilitate their learning, and enable students to effectively represent themselves and their education, collect and save coursework and showcase accomplishments.. The e-portfolio web portal will provide access to students’ work, track academic growth and record skills, achievements and learning.
  • Provide an e-practice lab to teachers to reflect on their practice, participate in peer-to-peer coaching and receive expert guidance.
  • Hold an annual learning design conference to refine and improve our programs.

In deciding to do this work, the Carey Institute joins with the 2015 UNESCO World Education Forum and those who have committed to “ensure that teachers and educators are empowered, adequately recruited, well trained, professionally qualified, motivated and supported.”

We are reaching out here and around the world to focus attention and build support for this urgent work.  We hope you will join us by volunteering, contributing ideas and most importantly, helping to support the effort with a donation to the Center for Learning in Practice.