Teacher Task Force convenes international forum on “The Futures of Teaching” in Dubai

Under the patronage of Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance, the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 will be holding its annual Policy Dialogue Forum on teaching policies and practices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from 8-11 December, bringing together some 300 education experts, among whom ministers of education, policy-makers, school leaders and teachers. 

The Teacher Task Force is co-organizing this Forum’s edition with the UAE Ministry of Education and with the support of the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development and the UAE National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.

Building on the Declaration adopted during its 11th Policy Dialogue Forum “Preparing Teachers for the Future We Want”, the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 recognises that teaching has become complex, challenging work. The 12th Forum, whose theme is “The Futures of Teaching”, will explore visions of teaching and learning responding to emerging realities and challenges of 21st century education systems. It will also contribute to the “Futures of Education”, the new high-level global initiative on rethinking and reimagining education.  

In many countries, teachers are facing the multiple challenges of difficult working conditions, poor pay and lack of support and training. The 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report highlighted that only 85% of teachers worldwide were trained according to national standards.  Moreover, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates that 55% of children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and 60% are not acquiring critical skills in mathematics. 

Today’s learners need much more than academic knowledge; they require a broad array of skills that will allow them to integrate into a world of work that is rapidly changing, contribute to the well-being and peaceful development of their communities and demonstrate resilience in the face of crises. 

With the accelerating pace of technological advancement, traditional models of public education are being challenged by emerging models of teaching and learning that imply a radical rethinking of how learning is organized and how teachers are prepared for their expected roles in todays and future learning environments.

The Forum’s participants will include policy-makers, practitioners and researchers from ministries of education, institutions and academia, alongside representatives of non-governmental, intergovernmental and professional organizations, as well as private foundation. Deliberations will take ideas and clues from today’s world of work, technological developments and knowledge on innovative learning and teaching approaches. They will look at the relevance of existing and future-oriented teaching practices to different contexts, re-examining past assumptions, identifying gaps in teacher policies and reforms and proposing ideas to address them. 

The Forum will also include a Ministerial round table (on 9 December) hosted by His Excellency Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education of the United Arab Emirates. This roundtable will see the participation of ministers of education from the Gulf region and from different regions of the world. 

The International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 is a multi-stakeholder partnership whose 143 members include 91 governments as well as intergovernmental organizations at global, regional or sub-regional levels, and UN agencies, international NGOs, civil society organizations, global teachers organizations, bilateral and multilateral international development agencies and global private sector organizations and foundations. It receives financial support from several members and partner organisations, including Germany (GIZ/BMZ), Indonesia, Norway, and the Hamdan Foundation. Its Secretariat is hosted by UNESCO.