EI will join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United States (U.S.) Department of Education to hold the second ever International Summit on the Teaching Profession in New York City, from 14-15 March. Next year’s summit will focus on ‘Preparing teachers and developing school leaders’.
EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, declared: “With the success of last year’s Summit, where education union leaders sat down with ministers on an equal footing to discuss the future of the teaching profession, EI expects this year’s focus to go deeper towards achieving higher quality teacher preparation and school leadership. This is vital for the education of children and young people because well educated, motivated and confident teachers lead to well educated, motivated and confident children.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan highlighted: “Collaboration, dialogue and learning from others are key to improving our nation’s education system. I look forward to reconvening with leaders of high-performing and rapidly improving education systems to deepen our discussion on how to effectively prepare teachers and develop school leaders – two essential components to providing students with a high-quality education.”
Following on feedback received after the 2011 Summit, sessions will examine how to improve teacher preparation and school leader development to better address the needs of 21st century learning environments and changing expectations.
Participants will once again include small delegations comprised of education ministers, leaders of national teachers’ organisations, and other teacher leaders from countries and regions with high performing and rapidly improving education systems. Countries and regions invited to participate include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, the People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Last year’s Summit was the first step in an ongoing dialogue among countries and regions about the best way to achieve and sustain high-quality teaching and learning. Summit organisers, including EI’s U.S.-affiliates, the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association, will join the Asia Society, who collaborated to produce a publication on key lessons from the 2011 Summit. Host organisations will again compile effective practices shared during the 2012 Summit and publish a report in the weeks following the event.
For more information on the International Summit on the Teaching Profession, visit: http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/internationaled/teaching-summit.html