By Claude Kandem – Grants & Partnership Manager

 “Teach him if you can the wonders of books, but also give time to ponder the extreme mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong.”

Abraham Lincoln.

One of the most moving literary and poetic pieces I have read is Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s teacher. The historical timing and accuracy of the letter is not verifiable but this does not take away from its literary richness. In the letter, Abraham Lincoln places the fate of his son in the teacher’s hands. In the letter, he acknowledges that the son is embarking on a very long journey that comes with varied experiences and that the teacher will be critical in shaping the attitudes, perceptions and habits that his son will acquire. He requests the teacher to take him by his hand and teach him things he will have to know, and to teach him those things gently. I opine that he understood two critical elements at the time, first that teachers play a critical role in our communities and society, not just schools as many presume, and secondly, that a teacher is more important than what the teacher teaches.

I have in the last month had the opportunity to represent Dignitas in consultative fora building up to the Transforming Education Summit (TES). TES is being convened in response to a global crisis in education, one of equity and inclusion, quality and relevance. Often slow and unseen, this crisis is having a devastating impact on the futures of children and youth worldwide. The Summit provides a unique opportunity to elevate education to the top of the global political agenda and to mobilize action, ambition, solidarity and solutions to recover pandemic-related learning losses and sow the seeds to transform education in a rapidly changing world.

Of particular interest to us at Dignitas is teachers, teaching and the teaching profession. Dignitas believes that school leaders and teacher leaders are powerful agents of change, when given the right support and development opportunities. We take a competency based approach to that support and development.  Our training and coaching are informed by competency rubrics aligned with national professional standards and curriculum frameworks.  These competency rubrics guide impactful training that focuses on the modeling and practice of new techniques, individualized coaching that is data-driven, embeds reflective growth, and is practice-based, and Professional Learning Communities that leverage peer coaching, teacher leadership, and collaborative problem solving.

During the consultations, it became clear that teaching is happening across the education spectrum but key skills and competences are not being transferred; on teachers, it became apparent that teacher welfare has been neglected and that there can be no transformation without involving the teacher and considering the interests of the teacher; and on matters of the teaching profession it emerged that many young people frown upon the teaching profession because it is no longer as admirable as it was in the recent past and that it appears not to carry with it the many promises that other professions offer.

Transformation is a journey, not a destination and to be able to transform teachers, teaching and the teaching profession there must be reforms that are specific to and centered on teachers, teaching and the teaching profession. Some of these reforms would include the following: creating an enabling policy environment for transformative education; leveraging on school leaders as agents and champions of transformation; and establishing coaching support systems that focus on instructional leadership, building school cultures and promoting learner engagement. Lastly, collaborative planning and implementation will improve sector coordination and utilization of data in planning and decision making; ultimately building resilience of the education system.

Addressing these concerns will see the dream of Abraham Lincoln for his son turn to a live reality for every parent with a learner in an institution of learning be it a pre-school institution or a tertiary institution of learning. An active, passionate, intentional and transformative teacher, supported by a well equipped School Leader,  can only be born of a transformative education system.