Being a teacher involves much more than what one might think. Teachers not only convey knowledge, they also instil values, inspire curiosity and foster skills that reach beyond the classroom. Their influence reaches further than the textbooks, as they fashion the way students think, feel and relate to the world around them. They’re the guides who, through their work, contribute to shaping a better future.
Therefore, on World Teachers’ Day we pay tribute to those whose commitment and dedication focuses on educating tomorrow’s citizens and leaders. Building sustainable futures is only possible if we ensure that education for the youngest children is of the highest quality.
Teachers in the 21st century
Being immersed in a changing and fast-paced environment has an impact on all the spheres of our lives, including education. In this digital, globalised and advanced era, we live in a society in which the information that flows is consumed on an infinite number of platforms, it’s easily reached and it’s just a click away. So what do teachers have to do to remain active and relevant in these times?
Innovation, technology and digital skills. The current-day role of teachers is very different from the one they had years ago. Today, more than ever before, we need trained teachers who do much more than the old-fashioned task of conveying knowledge. We need to focus teacher training on digital skills and provide quality digital education, particularly in the most vulnerable settings. This is precisely what we do at ProFuturo.
ProFuturo’s role in supporting 21st-century teachers
At ProFuturo we hold three basic convictions:
- Teachers are the most important pillar in the educational system.
- We need more teachers who are well-trained in digital skills.
- We have to place teachers at the heart of the educational transformation.
Therefore, in our opinion, teachers constitute the core of our comprehensive educational programme. We acknowledge their role as central agents in the transformation and we seek to empower the development of their digital skills for life and learning, enabling teachers, students and heads of schools to overcome the challenges of 21st-century society.
Our activity focuses on primary schools located in vulnerable settings with a higher risk of social exclusion. We strive to bring quality digital education to children living in the most deprived areas of the world. Our main goal is to have a positive impact on the students’ lives, transforming their realities and building a better future through quality digital education.
We also extend our work to crisis contexts, in which our teachers seek to ensure access to comprehensive education for children who have been forcibly displaced and assigned refuge status. This includes those residing in refugee camps, reinforcement centres and informal settlements in urban and rural settings in countries such as Lebanon, Malawi, Jordan, Rwanda and Tanzania. Special thanks to the teachers who contribute to ensuring that the children can continue their education in such a difficult and complex environment.
UNESCO warns of teacher shortages
In addition to the challenges already facing the educational transformation, there’s one more that requires our attention. According to UNESCO, there exists an “unprecedented global shortage of teachers, one that’s exacerbated by the deterioration of their working conditions and social status”.
In 2023 its priority is to work on dignifying and enhancing the teaching profession. This involves analysing the obstacles teachers and educators face and introducing practices aimed at attracting, retaining and motivating them so that they continue their essential work.
Under the slogan The teachers we need for the education we want: the global imperative to end the teacher shortage, its initiatives this year will focus on the importance of halting the decline in teacher numbers and reversing this trend as a priority of the global agenda and SDG 4 (quality education).
ProFuturo is joining this mission! Our platform provides teachers with a wide range of training activities comprising more than 160 courses, and more than 2,000 hours of educational content, our educational proposal and our knowledge schools are available to schools and teachers to enable them to find disruptive and innovative materials and apply them in their classrooms.
We also constantly publish knowledge enhancement resources on our social media and in our newsletter.
Take your teaching skills to the next level!
Further information available at: https://profuturo.education/hack4edu/
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