LSI, World Bank Group, UNESCO and Ethiopian Ministry of Education Preparing for Educators Shaping Futures
Tallahassee, Fla. – With less than two months until Educators Shaping Futures kicks-off in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the joint venture between the Learning Systems Institute (LSI), the World Bank Group, UNESCO and the Ethiopian Ministry of Education is moving into the final planning stages. The team behind the Global Knowledge Exchange on Teacher Preparation and Development has seen hundreds of requests from potential participants and is building its speaker line-up each day.
“The response has been very exciting,” said FSU doctoral candidate Bhushan Dahal. “Since we are targeting global educators, and the way we are designing the sessions, it is attracting everyone from high-level policymakers to classroom teachers. Right now, we are consulting with speakers for different sessions, as well as the organizations that will lead and co-lead them, and with people who have expressed interest in joining the knowledge exchange.”
Educators Shaping Futures will address a key need for highly skilled teachers globally. The World Bank Group estimates the need for an additional 44 million teachers to reach the sustainable development goal of full primary and secondary school enrollment and an additional six million preprimary teachers by 2030.
Organizers are bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders who are involved in designing, delivering and maintaining the quality of teacher preparation and continuous professional development (CPD). This includes education policymakers and government officials responsible for teacher preparation and CPD, in combination with academic leaders, teacher unions, school and district-level administrators, researchers, NGOs, the private sector, initial teacher education professionals and teachers.
“Our team is working hard in the background to bring in globally recognized names, as well as lesser-known voices who have changed education in ways that can inspire others,” said Dahal. “We are intentionally balancing voices from academia, practitioners, think tanks and global learning communities. Because of this balance, I feel confident about the outcomes of the conference.”
Since launching the project in December of 2024, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education has joined as a partner ensuring the global conference will have a focus on the host country. The collaboration between LSI, the World Bank Group and UNESCO-International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) is a unique partnership with each bringing valuable experience to the event.
"Partnering with the World Bank and UNESCO on this conference provides an exciting opportunity to share FSU's expertise in teacher education and professional development with governments, non-governmental organizations and technical partners from across the globe," said Dr. Stephanie Zuilkowski, LSI’s Associate Director for Research.
Educators Shaping Futures aims to facilitate peer-to-peer learning through the sharing of the latest research findings, policy guidance, strategic insights and global experiences related to teacher preparation and CPD. Organizers also hope to create opportunities for policymakers, education experts and researchers to connect and build professional networks focused on teacher preparation and professional development while promoting the implementation of evidence-informed policies that support effective teacher preparation and professional development.
The conference will also feature the World Bank’s upcoming report titled “From Prospective to Prepared Teacher: A Global Study of Initial Teacher Education,” along with other recent research and publications, including the Africa Teachers Report Series published jointly by UNESCO-IICBA and the African Union.
“We want to create the best experience for participants, not just in terms of learning and networking, but also culturally,” said Dahal. “We’ve designed sessions to cover every aspect of teacher preparation and development, so participants will walk away with a rich, comprehensive experience.”
LSI strives to lead the way in creating innovative educational solutions that seamlessly connect theory with practice. Through advanced research, we develop industry-leading methods and implementation strategies to enhance systematic learning at all levels and in all environments. For more than five decades, LSI has been committed to driving measurable improvements in the performance of both individuals and organizations.