Education Workforce Initiative: Initial Research

The purpose of this initial research is to offer evidenced possibilities in the key areas of education workforce roles, recruitment, training, deployment and leadership, along with suggested areas for further research to inform innovation in the design and strengthening of the public sector education workforce. The examples described were identified through the process outlined in the methodology section of this report, whilst we recognise that separation of examples from their context is problematic – effective innovations are highly sensitive to context and uncritical transfer of initiatives is rarely successful. The research aims to support the Education Workforce Initiative (EWI) in moving forward with engaging education leaders and other key actors in radical thinking around the design and strengthening of the education workforce to meet the demands of the 21st century. EWI policy recommendations will be drawn from a number of country level workforce reform activities and research activity associated with the production of an Education Workforce Report (EWR). This research has informed the key questions, approach and structure of the EWR as outlined in the Education Workforce Report Proposal. Issues pertaining to teaching and learning in primary and secondary education are at the centre of the research reported here; the focus is on moving towards schools as safe places where all children/ young people are able to engage in meaningful activity. The majority of the evidence shared here relates to teachers and school leaders; evidence on learning support staff, district officials and the wider education workforce is scant. Many of the issues examined are also pertinent to the early childhood care and education sector but these are being examined in depth by the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative. Resourcing for the Education Workforce was out of scope of this initial research but the EC recognises, as outlined in the Learning Generation Report, that provision of additional finance is a critical factor in achieving a sustainable, strong and well-motivated education workforce, particularly but not exclusively, in low and middle income countries. The next stage of EWI work will consider the relative costs of current initiatives and modelling of the cost implications of proposed reforms. EWI aims to complement the work on teacher policy design and teacher career frameworks (including salary structures) being undertaken by other bodies and institutions such as Education International, the International Task Force on Teachers for 2030 and the Teachers’ Alliance, most particularly by bringing a focus on school and district leadership, the role of Education Support Professionals (ESPs) and inter-agency working

The role of educational technology in design and delivery of curricula programmes: A case of STEPS at a University of Technology

Published ArticleWhile Universities of Technologies (UoTs) regard the adoption of educational technology for the creation of effective learning environments as one of their defining features, there is limited research on these universities’ innovative use of technologies to transform their curricula design and delivery. This research explores the extent to which educational technology has been integrated into the implementation of new and revised educational programs under the Strategic Transformation of Educational Programs and Structures (STEPS) at a UoT. The research employed document analysis and interview data from middle level managers (deans), curriculum designers and educational technologists. The findings suggest that, except for one faculty where educational technology was an enduring feature of the design and delivery of curricula programs, technology played a peripheral role in the design and reorganization phases although it featured more in the implementation of curricula programs under STEPS. The paper concludes that the innovative use of technology, a holistic teaching and learning strategy, and training of educators on technology integration are critical in achieving total integration of educational technology into curricula programs

The role of educational technology in design and delivery of curricula programmes: A case of STEPS at a University of Technology

While Universities of Technologies (UoTs) regard the adoption of educational technology for the creation of effective learning environments as one of their defining features, there is limited research on these universities’ innovative use of technologies to transform their curricula design and delivery. This research explores the extent to which educational technology has been integrated into the implementation of new and recurriculated educational programmes under the Strategic Transformation of Educational Programmes and Structures (STEPS) at a UoT. The research employed document analysis and interview data from middle level managers (Deans), curriculum designers and educational technologists. The findings suggest that, except for one faculty where educational technology was an enduring feature of the design and delivery of curricula programmes, technology played a peripheral role in the design and recurriculation phases although it featured more in the implementation of curricula programmes under STEPS. The paper concludes that the innovative use of technology, a holistic teaching and learning strategy and training of educators on technology integration are critical in achieving total integration of educational technology into curricula programmes

MOOC adaptation and translation to improve equity in participation

There is an urgent need to improve elementary and secondary school classroom practices across India and the scale of this challenge is argued to demand new approaches to teacher professional learning.  Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) represent one such approach and which, in the context of this study, is considered to provide a means by which to transcend traditional training processes and disrupt conventional pedagogic practices. This paper offers a critical review of a large-scale MOOC deployed in English, and then in Hindi, to support targeted sustainable capacity building within an education development initiative (TESS-India) across seven states in India.  The study draws on multiple sources of participant data to identify and examine features which stimulated a buzz around the MOOCs, leading to over 40,000 registrations and a completion rate of approximately 50% for each of the two MOOCs

New Kids on the Block: Understanding and Engaging Elementary Readers and Writers in New Times

This collaborative study examined literacy instruction in a fifth grade classroom with particular reference to two case study students and the role of pedagogy in bridging the divide in their literacy practices. Grounded in the multiliteracies framework and perspectives consistent with third space theory, data were collected using a multi-site approach. Data were analyzed using the thematic analysis and constant comparison approaches. Findings suggest that the two children disengaged from most of school tasks because of the traditional approach to instruction, lack of recognition of their learning styles and interests, as well as the absence of digital literacies. However, they became engaged with school as the teacher implemented a more transformative approach to learning which included the integration of digital technologies and the creation of productive spaces for learning. Implications for literacy teaching and learning were discussed

Online pedagogy: a changing higher education pedagogy and an emerging lecturer habitus

This study explored how the shift to online pedagogy has shaped lecturer dispositions and practices for a post-COVID-19 era, including whether their practices during the national lockdowns could be conceptualised as temporary coping mechanisms or as an adoption of new practices related to effective modes of online teaching. Bourdieu’s theory of human practices was employed to facilitate the exploration. The theory privileges the weight of past practices on agents while permitting incremental changes in such practices, depending on the flexibility and/or rigidity of a human habitus. Six lecturers were interviewed using semi-structured interviews to collect data. It was found that despite showing flexible and reflective dispositions regarding post-COVID-19 online teaching, participants were still in their exploratory phase in respect of teaching practices with online technology tools. An explicit institutional, reflective training process is suggested to help evolve in lecturers the habitus and cultural capital necessary to facilitate teaching with technology