Ei-iE

Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future: Excellence and Equity for All

A briefing by Education International for the 2021 International Summit on the Teaching Profession

published 21 October 2021 updated 30 August 2022

Never has there been a sharper global focus on teachers than on this 10th anniversary of the International Summit on the Teaching Profession. The pandemic shutdown of in-person schooling, the unsurprising yet remarkable adaptation of teachers to remote practice where possible and the uneven and uncertain return to classrooms have created an urgency to gather and share expertise and chart a way forward for education systems that value and integrate their practitioners.

The Education International briefing paper for the Summit presented here was used by member organisations to prepare for the three-day Summit; a Summit marked by the return to participation – and hosting – by the United States. The paper is based upon a critical element of EI’s mission to promote quality, free and equitable education for all and the notion that innovation and progress in education is fully dependent on dialogue and collaboration. The ISTP itself is a continuing model of that premise.

Of course, as the briefing paper here describes, conversations are only a good start to policies that make a difference. The real test comes when these discussions about lessons learned are mapped into actions. Especially valuable in this regard are the policy implications in each section of the briefing. The intersection of experience, instinct, politics and funding is at the heart of the ISTP and challenges education systems worldwide to support the teaching profession in its efforts to provide high quality education for all children and young people.