Building the capacities of teachers and teacher trainers

Initiated in 2013, “Capacity Building of Teacher Trainers and Teachers in Support of Curriculum reforms” is a project that strengthens the work on teachers done through the UNESCO-Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for Outstanding Practice and Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers created in 2008. It is implemented in partnership with the International Bureau of Education and three host Universities, and supported by the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Award for Distinguished Academic Performance of the United Arab Emirates.

The first phase took place in Africa as a Master in Education in curriculum design and development and in Latin America and Caribbean as a Postgraduate Diploma in 2013-2015. Its second phase in the Arab region in 2016-2017 also took the form of a Postgraduate Diploma.

The main project features

• The association of teachers and curriculum for smart learning is a unique feature and added value of the Diploma/Masters, which should be shared with all regions
• Mobilization of expertise-instructors, tutors and academics – across regions and promoting south-south networking and sustainable cooperation;
• Combination of a broad international perspectives with a hands-on approaches and speaking directly to regional, local contexts and challenges (enhancing global-local understanding);
• Worldwide cutting edge, blended ICT-based methodologies in Postgraduate Diploma/Masters capacity development programmes, hosted by Universities in countries that are implementing teacher policies, education and curriculum reforms to achieve quality, equity and inclusion in education and through education.

Implementation records

About 600 education officials from over seventy countries in three regions are benefitting from the capacity building training. The key beneficiaries are teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum specialists/ developers and other key education personnel working in Ministries of Education or international education specialists.

• Beneficiaries (2013 -2016): education officials from 76 countries (11 Arab States, 34 Africa, 17 Latin America and the Caribbean, and 14 from other regions
• In-service professional development: 40% participants curriculum developers/specialists, 12% school principals or inspectors, 33% teachers or teacher trainers, 5% were academics (researcher, professor or scholar), and 10% textbook writers, decision makers and international education experts
• Gender-sensitive: 596  trained (57% female and 43% male) from 73 countries (34 Africa, 17 Latin America and the Caribbean, 11 Arab region and 12 from other regions) attended the Master/Diploma
• Geographical coverage: 40% percent of UNESCO Member States have and are participating in the Diploma/Masters capacity building programme in Africa, Arab, Central-East Europe Central Asia, and Latin America and  Caribbean regions

This project contributes to SDG4 achievement by expanding ICT blended smart learning innovations worldwide through

• International cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States to increase the supply of qualified teachers;
• Networking South-South-North of experts and academics in Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Pacific to enhance the capacities of educators and professionals;
• Promotion in Member States of the implementation of a holistic vision of curriculum, teacher education and training to achieve quality inclusive equitable education and learning societies;
• Creating a global forum/platform for coordinated global movement for production and sharing of knowledge, information and innovative practices in teacher effectiveness, as well as smart and personalize learning capitalizing on innovative practices;
• Supporting country-level capacity development activities targeting teachers, teacher trainers and curriculum specialists and developers;
• Implementation of a Global Masters in Education in curriculum design and development with the participation of countries in Arab, Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, East Europe and  East Asia and Pacific regions, focusing on technology-backed innovations in education to achieve quality, equity, inclusion and lifelong opportunities for all by increasing the number of quality educators globally.