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Southern Africa Regional Meeting on Teacher Standards and Competencies Progressing towards a Regional Framework on Teacher Standards and Competencies 14-15 June 2017 | Lusaka, Zambia

Report of the Southern Africa Regional Meeting on Teacher Standards and Competencies

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Southern Africa Regional Meeting on Teacher Standards and Competencies

In partnership with the SADC Secretariat and the Government of Zambia, the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) organized a Southern Africa Regional Meeting on Teacher Standards and Competencies on June 14-15 in Lusaka, Zambia.

UNESCO’s teacher work in the region focuses on following up on the recommendations deriving from three previous Teacher meetings in 2015 and 2016 (held in Maputo, Lusaka and Harare respectively), as well as a directive of the SADC meeting of Ministers responsible for Education and Training, Science, Technology and Innovation. In the meeting of Ministers held on 30 July, 2016 in Gaborone, Botswana, the SADC Ministers directed the SADC secretariat to facilitate (1) a study on the situation of teachers including the feasibility of establishing a Regional Council of Teachers; and (2) the development of a comprehensive Regional Policy Framework for Teachers and for Teacher Training. In order to operationalize this directive of the Ministers, UNESCO and the SADC Secretariat, through a memorandum of understanding between the two institutions, are supporting three teacher areas at regional level: (1) a regional comprehensive teacher policy; (2) a regional teacher competence framework; and (3) a regional professional teacher council.

With the aim of progressing towards the development of a regional Teacher Competence Framework, this meeting in Lusaka brought together government representatives from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe.

The Government representatives at the meeting 1) shared country practices regarding the development and implementation of their national teacher standards and competencies and 2) explored modalities for harmonizing and consolidating SADC member country competence frameworks into a regional Teacher Standards/Competence framework. Recognizing that the countries are at different stages in the development of their national frameworks, participants discussed steps towards the development of a regional Teacher Standards/Competence framework, as well as suggestions for possible elements for the framework. They also identified action points for developing the Regional Framework. Participants agreed that such a Regional Framework would promote the quality of education in the SADC Region and the harmonization of existing country practices as well as encourage the crafting of national frameworks. It will also facilitate the work of Teacher Councils in the SADC countries.

UNESCO, together with the SADC secretariat will follow-up and support the implementation of the action points identified. The outcomes of this meeting were reported to the SADC Meeting of Ministers in June 2017 in Swaziland.


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Acknowledgements The UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) and the Zambia National Commission for UNESCO would like to express their sincere gratitude to all delegates from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zanzibar who travelled to Lusaka, Zambia for the Southern Africa Regional Meeting on Teacher Standards and Competencies, for their active participation in all the discussions, and for sharing their experiences. The participation of representatives from Angola, Mauritius, Zanzibar and Seychelles was made possible by UNESCO Regional Offices for Eastern Africa and Central Africa and the UNESCO Office in Tanzania. The cooperation with the Secretariat of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is valued.

ROSA would also like to thank the Zambia Government for hosting this meeting and for their important efforts in making sure that this meeting could take place in a successful manner.

The organizers received positive feedback from the participants and hope that this report captures all reflections, discussions and recommendations.


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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 4

Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 5

I Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6

II Opening session ...................................................................................................................... 6

III Background and context ........................................................................................................ 7

A. Background ......................................................................................................................... 7

B. Teacher Standards on the African continent ...................................................................... 9

IV Teacher standards at national level .................................................................................... 10

A. Country Practices .............................................................................................................. 10

Concepts and terms .......................................................................................................... 10

Processes ........................................................................................................................... 11

Content ............................................................................................................................. 20

B. Action Points ..................................................................................................................... 20

V Teacher standards at regional level ...................................................................................... 22

A. The need for a regional framework .................................................................................. 22

B. Roadmap for a regional framework.................................................................................. 22

Processes ........................................................................................................................... 22

Content ............................................................................................................................. 23

C. Action points ..................................................................................................................... 23

VI Summary and way forward ................................................................................................. 25

ANNEX I: Programme ............................................................................................................... 27

ANNEX II: Attendance list ......................................................................................................... 29


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I Introduction The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. A successful education reform is therefore mainly about enabling and encouraging teachers to perform optimally in the classroom, be more conscientious and motivated and eager to seek professional development on a regular basis. In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, it becomes necessary for teachers to equip themselves well to handle the emerging challenges of diversity, first generation learners and multilingual contexts in the classroom, juxtaposed with new curricular demands.

Teachers are not only a means to implementing education goals; they are the key to sustainability and national capacity in achieving learning and creating societies based on knowledge, values and ethics. Their pre-eminent role in the provision of quality education is recognized by both the Dakar Framework for Action (World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal in 2000) and the Kigali Statement (Regional Ministerial Conference in Kigali, Rwanda 2015). In May 2015, 1600 participants from 160 member states adopted the Incheon Declaration at the World Education Forum, which expresses commitment to ‘ensure that teachers and educators are empowered, adequately recruited, well trained, professionally qualified, motivated and supported within well-resourced, efficient and effectively governed systems’. This commitment is translated into Sustainable Development Goal 4 and the Education 2030 Framework for Action, in which Target 4.c focuses explicitly on the teacher challenge. At the regional level, the number one objective of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25) is the revitalization of the teaching profession. The SADC Protocol on Education and Training (1997) acknowledges that whilst each Member State has its own policies for education and training, cooperation and mutual assistance in education is desirable. This can be facilitated more effectively by the development of harmonised and eventually standardised policies and frameworks regarding education and training.

Teacher Standards are one of 9 key dimensions that are considered crucial to any comprehensive teacher policy. In an effort to understand and define what makes a good teacher and promote teacher competency and professionalism, an increasing number of countries are developing professional standards for teachers. This contributes to the overall aim of improving education quality and learner outcomes. Teacher standards refer to expectations about teachers’ knowledge, competences and attributes, and desirable level of performance. Standards should describe clearly and concisely what constitutes good teaching in a particular context, and what teachers need to know and be able to do to implement such good teaching.

II Opening session The participants were welcomed to the Southern Africa Regional Meeting on Teacher Standards and Competencies by Dr Charles Ndakala, Secretary-General of the Zambia National Commission for UNESCO. He emphasized that to reach SDG4, the role of teachers is very important. It is therefore necessary to look at several attributes of teachers, including their competences.


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The Director of Teacher Education and Specialised Services (TESS), Mr Muyangwa Kamutumwa officially opened the meeting on behalf of Zambia’s Minister of General Education, Dr. Dennis M. Wanchinga. Mr Kamutumwa explained that Zambia, in collaboration with partners, is working towards developing professional standards for teachers, teacher educators and school leaders.

He emphasized that “this meeting could not have come at a better time than now when standards and competencies for our teachers are cardinal if we are to achieve quality education”.

III Background and context In the first session, the background to this meeting as well as the global and continental context regarding teacher development and standards was presented.

A. Background

Ms Carolyn Medel-Anonuevo, Head of the Education Unit at UNESCO ROSA, presented the background to the meeting as well as ROSA’s work on teachers.

In May 2015, 1600 participants from 160 member states adopted the Incheon Declaration at the World Education Forum (WEF), which expresses commitment to ‘ensure that teachers and educators are empowered, adequately recruited, well trained, professionally qualified, motivated and supported within well-resourced, efficient and effectively governed systems’. This commitment is translated into SDG4 and the Education 2030 Framework for Action, in which Goal 4.c focuses explicitly on the teacher challenge. At the regional level, the number one objective of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25) is the revitalization of the teaching profession.

Target 4.c: By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States.

Ms Medel-Anonuevo further explained the teacher challenge, which is both quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative challenge refers to the increasing need for additional qualified teachers following the increased enrolment in primary education. Globally, 27.3 million additional teachers are needed to achieve universal primary education by 2030, of which the biggest challenge remains in Africa. Apart from quantitative, the teacher challenge is also qualitative, referring to aspects of teacher absenteeism and the consequent inadequate service delivery.

To understand the complexity of teacher issues in Southern Africa, UNESCO ROSA organized a regional Teacher Conference in August 2015 in Maputo. Deriving from the conference deliberations were the following priority recommendations to strengthen the teaching profession:


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Teacher policy development and/or review, with dissemination and sharing of teacher policy-related issues (sub regionally, regionally and South-South);

Research on teaching and learning practices;

Capacity building of education personnel, education managers and decision-makers based on research evidence;

Review of teacher education curricula and development of relevant materials;

Support to Open and Distance Learning (ODL) programs for teacher education;

Advocacy.

To follow up on the policy-related recommendations , UNESCO ROSA organized a follow-up workshop in Zambia in November 2015. The workshop aimed:

To share existing teacher policies;

To generate a clear understanding on how to develop a national Teacher Policy that addresses a range of issues including recruitment, pre- and in-service training, equitable deployment, working conditions and motivation;

To discuss ways and means to consolidate SADC member country policies into a regional Teacher Policy and plan of action; and

To form a Regional Task Team to develop regional standards for Teacher Education.

Action points deriving from this follow-up meeting in Lusaka were to (1) establish an expert group for the development of a Regional Teacher Policy Framework, and (2) establish an expert group for the development of a regional Standards/Competence Framework for Teachers.

These two meetings, which have resulted in a publication and concrete recommendations, were brought to the attention of the meeting of SADC Senior Officials in Kasane, Botswana in February 2016. Following this, during the SADC meeting of Ministers responsible for Education and Training, Science, Technology and Innovation, held on 30 July, 2016 in Gaborone, Botswana, the SADC Ministers directed the SADC secretariat to facilitate (1) a study on the situation of teachers including the feasibility of establishing a Regional Council of Teachers; and (2) the development of a comprehensive Regional Policy Framework for Teachers and for Teacher Training.

In order to operationalize the directive of the Ministers, UNESCO and the SADC Secretariat, through a memorandum of understanding between the two institutions, are supporting three teacher areas at regional level: (1) a regional comprehensive teacher policy; (2) a regional teacher competence framework; and (3) a regional professional teacher council.

In order to support the areas of a regional teacher policy and a regional competence framework, UNESCO ROSA organized a Regional Meeting on Teacher Policies and Standards in Harare, Zimbabwe in October 2016. In this meeting, the countries in the Southern Africa sub-region shared practices on teacher standards and competences and explored modalities for harmonizing and consolidating SADC member country competence frameworks into a regional Teacher Competence framework. The discussions demonstrated that countries are actively working towards Teacher Standards at the national level. This work has however proven to be


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challenging as the development and implementation of teacher standards is a long process requiring political will as well as the necessary finances.

After this meeting, ROSA decided to prioritize the work on Competencies and Standards. A regional Teacher Competence Framework implies a shared understanding of teacher competences and standards. A regional framework of standards will facilitate standardization and teacher mobility in the region, as well as enhance teacher professionalization. It will also assist countries in finalizing their national teacher competence frameworks, if not yet done.

During the different consultations, participants noted the need to establish a representative technical committee/task force to lead the process of developing regional competencies and standards for teachers. To initiate establishment of a regional Task Force to provide expertise for progressing towards a regional Competence Framework for Teachers, ROSA has requested governments to nominate a representative actively in charge of teacher development and competence frameworks at their respective national levels.

In order to formalize the task force and with the aim of progressing towards a Regional Framework on Teacher Standards and Competencies, UNESCO ROSA, in partnership with the SADC Secretariat and the Government of Zambia, organized this Southern Africa Regional Meeting on Teacher Standards and Competencies. The outcomes of the meeting were reported to the SADC Meeting of Ministers held the week of 19 June, 2017 in Swaziland.

The objectives of the meeting were the following:

To share country practices on teacher standards and competencies and explore modalities for harmonizing and consolidating SADC member country competence frameworks into a regional Teacher Competence framework;

To identify elements to be included in a Regional Teacher Competence Framework;

To agree on a roadmap for finalizing and implementing a Regional Teacher Competence Framework.

B. Teacher Standards on the African continent

Mr Omar Diop of the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) gave an overview of the progress towards teacher standards on the African continent. He started by contextualizing that historically teachers have always been regarded highly. A nation can only be as good as its educational system and the teacher is the core of that system. This importance is echoed by the place of teachers in the global agenda, in which target 4.c recognizes qualified teachers as a modality for achieving SDG4, while CESA 16-25 puts teachers as its first strategic objective.

Mr Diop continued by emphasizing that professional practice standards should be seen as a necessary action for all African countries to place not just its teaching profession but the nation


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on the path to growth and development. Explaining the concept of professional standards, he stated they are related to three key concepts, namely profession, professionalism and professionalization. However, as it is normal with academic concepts, there is no universal agreement about their meanings.

Teacher standards serves as many purposes as there are teacher stakeholders. Standards have different objectives for the professional regulatory agencies, teachers, employers, school administration, education ministries (education policy makers), government (political decision makers), teacher education institutions, and curriculum experts.

Mr Diop emphasized that it is impossible to think about a noble profession without institutionalized performance standards. Therefore, standards are one of the pillars of professionalization which must be put in place for teaching to become a celebrated profession.

Regarding Teaching Councils in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Diop indicated they exist in South Africa (SACE), Nigeria (TRCN), Ghana (The National Teaching Council), Zambia (the Zambia Teaching Council) and Lesotho (The Teaching Council of Lesotho), and are being developed in Namibia, Tanzania, Botswana, and Uganda. Many countries without teaching councils traditionally have Teacher Service Commissions (e.g. Kenya) or Education Service Commissions (e.g. Uganda) who perform the role of a teaching council. There are traces of professional standards in such cases but they are not as pronounced as in countries that have teaching councils.

Mr Diop gave the example of Nigeria, which after some years of work had its Standards approved in 2012. The Nigerian framework recognizes 4 domains (Professional Knowledge; Professional Skills; Professional Values, Attitude and Conduct; and Professional Membership Obligations) which are sub-divided into 36 sub-themes and 84 standards.

IV Teacher standards at national level To enable an informed and well-founded discussion about a regional framework it is important to get an overview and understanding of progress achieved at the national level. In this session, participants shared their country practices regarding the implementation of Teacher Standards and Competence Frameworks.

A. Country Practices

Concepts and terms

Regarding terminologies, the country representatives indicated the kind of concepts/terms that are being used in their respective countries to refer to teacher standards/competencies. Although the objective of the framework is more important than terminologies, it is valuable to recognize that the use of terms differs from country to country.

The below table provides an overview of the terms being used in the different countries. Without exception all the countries make use of the concept of Standards. In many cases countries speak of both Standards and Competencies.


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Country Standards Competencies Profiles Other

Botswana X X

Lesotho X

Indicators

Malawi X

Benchmarks/expectations

Mozambique X

Namibia X X

South Africa X

Swaziland X X

Zambia X X

Requirements/Expectations

Zimbabwe X

Mauritius X

Seychelles X X

Tanzania X

Angola X

Sierra Leone X X

Continuum of abilities

Processes

Aside from the use of a range of terms, countries are at different stages and have followed different steps/processes to draft, finalize or implement their frameworks. Based on information provided by the countries, the figure below represents the estimated timeline of the timeframe it takes/has taken for countries to have operational frameworks in place. It is evident that the first generation of countries required a longer period of time to develop and operationalize the frameworks. For the later generations who have more examples from the sub-region to draw on, it seems to require less time to put drafts in place (e.g. Zambia), to have the drafts approved (e.g. Malawi) or to proceed to implementation (e.g. Zimbabwe).


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Of all countries present, Angola, Swaziland, Sierra Leone and Zanzibar have diverse elements in place and are yet to consolidate them into a draft framework which can subsequently be approved and implemented. Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Seychelles, Mauritius and Botswana have drafts in place that still require endorsement before they can be implemented (except for Malawi’s which was just approved last month, May 2017). All countries aim to operationalize Standards between 2018 and 2020. Only Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe are currently implementing approved Standards.

The steps taken to draft the frameworks are country-specific but the core of the elements in the process are the following:

Literature review/desktop review;

Surveys/questionnaires (needs assessment);

Stakeholder consultations;

Drafting (by steering committee, task team or consultant);

Approval;

Implementation (dissemination, training/capacity building, monitoring).

The following roadmap represents the generic steps for progressing towards a final draft. This is however not a neat process where every country has to pass each stage. There are variations in countries.

Once countries have an approved national framework for teachers standards and competences, they undergo the following phases.


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Challenges affecting the processes (both drafting and implementing) however are reported to be manifold:

Teacher resistance/ buy in of all stakeholders;

Ministerial changes;

Conflicting interests at national level/lack of prioritization/political will;

Limited technical capacity;

Absence of professional board;

Finances/budget/resources;

Implementation challenge: alignment between pre-service and in-service standards.


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The table below reports an overview of all the steps undertaken and challenges faced by each of the countries.

Countries that have elements of Teacher Standards in place What are the main steps undertaken to produce the

elements (indicate timeframes)? What are the challenges? When do you foresee

to have a draft? Angola Training and development of teachers

Supervised CPD for teachers provided by professional teachers within Ministry of Education

First phase already completed. Standards will be evaluated through piloting. This exercise is only for the primary school level

Third phase of 2020

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone has a Code of Conduct for Teachers and Other Education Personnel (2009) and is implementing a revised curriculum for primary and junior secondary schools

Teaching Service commission

Curriculum framework - developing curriculum for primary level and secondary and senior

Job description for teachers at all levels

Identified local and international consultants and resource persons

Now about to ask people to start the process

Revising preservice teacher curriculum

Harmonising curriculum throughout the existing colleges to make it easy for the implementers to match the envisaged standards

Re-scheduled for completion in early February 2018

Swaziland Teaching Service Commission

University of Swaziland (Board of Affiliated Institutions) approves basic minimum standards for the college programmes

Ministry of Education through policies

Colleges programmes are currently being evaluated to address the needs of the curriculum reform

Consultation takes longer than expected

Teacher unions have other expectations out of the process

Limited capacity in the Ministry of Education to coordinate

By December 2017


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Tanzania (Zanzibar)

Review existing guidelines

From curriculum framework, Education policy, teacher job description, and preservice training

Commission for teacher union

Conduct need assessment to identify areas of teacher standards

National or international consultant to develop the national professional standards

Lack of technical capacity

In 12 months

Countries that have draft Teacher Standards in place What are the main steps undertaken to produce the

draft (indicate timeframes) What are the challenges? When do you foresee

finalization?

Botswana Sector Strategy approved by Cabinet in May 2015

Setting up of Technical Committee: Unions, colleges of Education, Civil society, technical Colleges, Secondary Education, CDE, University, Private Providers

CPD framework drafted

Capacity

Split of ministry

Budget

Too many changes at the time

Probably mid 2018

Revitalise the exercise involving all key stakeholders

Further consultation

Lesotho March 2017,

Meetings with key stakeholders

Came up with a draft of standards

Questionnaire sent to stakeholders: teachers, unions, principals’ association, teaching council, university and Lesotho College of Education, school proprietors.

This has taken three months

Delayed responses from stakeholders

Schools operating at different levels pvt vs public

Buy in from

Lack of capacity to develop standards

budget

End of 2018

Malawi Phase1: June 2016 - consultations about possible content with:

Southern region Teacher Training Colleges,

Faculties of education of University Colleges,

National Council of Higher Education, partners, teaching practice schools

Phase2: October 2016 - Consultations about draft content identified during Phase 1 with northern region Teacher,

Lack of adherence to agreed timeframe (including due to release of finances)

Funding for dissemination

How to implement instruments for evaluation

Ensuring adherence (no legal mandate for sanctions)

Completed at the end of 2016

Approved by the Honourable Minister of Education in May 2017


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Training Colleges and faculties of education at University colleges Phase 3: November 2016

Further consultations

Further drafting

Validation

Mauritius QA and Inspection Division

2013 the Director was appointed

QA framework and 1st draft was validated by OFSTED and trialed

2014 new govt. major educational reform

New secondary school structure

Draft process Halted

Redrafting to be completed next year

Implementation of the nine year continuous basic education.

2018 completed

2020 validated and operational

Mozambique Started 4 years ago

Literature review

Benchmarking (against other countries in region)

Consultation (Inter-ministerial and stakeholder coordination and consultation, e.g. directorates of quality assurance, primary education), including at least 4 national meetings and 3 regional seminars

Drafting

Language barrier (much of the literature is in English)

Limited financing for wide consultations (limiting inclusivity of the consultations)

Multiple stakeholders involved with conflicting interests (lack of professional autonomy)

Issues of public interest (resource allocation and cost implications of professionalization)

Career and professional stability and retention

Next steps include sharing and dissemination (e.g. in the provinces)

Approval at Ministry of Education (2 councils) and then Government

Implementation

2019 fully approved (aim)

Seychelles Working group was set up

Draft has been there since 2014

Appraisal section being tried out

First steps of setting up Teachers Council in 2015

Act and Framework for the Council in place

Qualified personnel

Ministerial changes

Too many programmes

No technical expertise

End of 2018


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Zambia Started in November 2016

Meeting to conceptualise and plan, with regional lesson learning and sharing

Stakeholder meeting (MoGE, CSOs, CPs…)

Drafting (based on provided models)

Validation meeting

Steering Committee meeting (chaired by the PS MoGE)

Financial challenges for the next steps (esp. to reach all provinces)

Enforcement uncertainties and alignment to the legal framework (how to make it effective without the force of the law)

Alignment with existing instruments for assessment and monitoring and PAS (appraisal)

Balancing monitoring and enforcement with support to teachers

Consultative meetings with provinces

Compilation of final draft for presentation to the Steering Committee

Approval

Teacher and stakeholder orientation

Pilot ready for implementation end of 2017

End of 2018 all finalized

Countries that are implementing Teacher Standards

What are the key steps you had to undertake after finalizing the document (indicate timeframes)

What are the challenges in the implementation?

How did you address these challenges?

Namibia National Standards

Government process started in 2005

Final document – 2007

2008 – Product given to Minister of Education

2011 – Minister launched the document

Document made public – familiarisation & training

Teacher service providers to align their service

Review of teacher education (2012)

Private Education came on board

Development of Booklet / Toolkit for induction of novice Teacher (Namibia novice teacher induction programme – 2 years before becoming qualified teachers)- mentoring

Mentor teachers trained

Teacher union resistance

Absence of a professional board – take care of professionalization of teachers & oversight

Non-alignment with 2 documents (national standards 2005) & professional standards

Further negotiations / discussion with unions

Revised Act – establishing council

Alignment of documents


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South Africa Two types of standards: (1) Norms & Standards – output standards for trainee teachers – policy (2000) --- used by universities (7 roles of educators & 3 competencies)

Draft policy approved through internal structures

Approved through Council of Education Ministers

Published for public comment from stakeholders (1 month for response)

Comments incorporated into draft

Consultation with stakeholders as necessary (6 months)

2nd level of approval by Ministry

Implementation Plan : (1) Build capacity (2) Resource Material (3) Training (1 year) (4) Monitoring (5) Reporting

(NB: 2 Departments – Basic Education and Higher Education and Training)

Another policy after research --(Minimum requirements for Teacher Education)

Further research –draft policy standards for trainee teachers

(2) Performance Standards for Teachers : process started 1998

12 Performance Standards

Teachers – 7

Departmental Heads – 10

Deputies & Principals - 12

Collective agreement

Developed internally , approved by internal structures

Bargaining with Unions

Different perspectives arise after consultation

Reviewed , approved and signed (2003)

Vague document – norms and standards – open to multiple interpretation

Role of HEIs and their perception of teacher norms and standards

Universities produced teachers of different quality

Review of SACE – strengthen its role on teachers standards

Research undertaken

Design a revised professional standards document


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Implementation plan, advocacy and training (2004-2005)

Implementation – 2006

Dedicated unit to manage & monitor - 2007

Zimbabwe Teacher professional standards as package of the New curriculum

Consultation centres around schools

Curriculum framework on 5 pillars:

Regulatory framework

TPS to uphold curriculum

New curriculum & standards approved (2014) by cabinet

Teacher professional standards developed for serving teachers

Awareness: Printed in 2015 as public document – distributed to every teacher

Launched – followed by training (2015 – 2016) • Cascading model – 5 levels • Monitoring and evaluation – availability of document

and training (NB: Two ministries of education)

Supervision instrument – how much amalgamated into practice

4 supervision instruments developed

Performance appraisal system - 2005

Attitude – disturbs comfort zone of teachers

Funding – 131 000 teachers

lack of resources

Motivation – more training

Support from partners - UNICEF


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Content

Most of the countries have differentiated standards for different groups such as Standards/Competencies for Teachers, for Teacher educators and for School leadership/Educational leaders. Within the different groups, diversification can be sought for the different levels, such as Standards for ECD teachers, for lower primary teachers and so on.

Even though the content of the standards are country-specific, countries have drafted standards and competencies related to the following domains/areas:

Professional knowledge/understanding;

Professional skills/practice/abilities;

Professional values/ethics/attributes/personal commitment;

Professional relationships;

Professional leadership;

Professional learning/development.

It was emphasized that for standards to be relevant they need to be contextualized. South Africa provided the example of the Ubuntu concept being included in its Standards.

Participants also raised the issue of language and the need to assess competencies of language, this is particularly relevant at levels where learners are taught in different mother tongues.

Participants furthermore emphasized that standards and competencies cannot be disconnected from education policies; if teachers are to perform at a certain level, ministries of education also need to provide certain conditions.

The sharing of practices and the discussions also highlighted the need to share each other’s frameworks in order to facilitate progress and quality. ROSA proposed a virtual platform for this kind of practice sharing. This particular discussion also exposed the broader question of what the different influences in the drafting process are/have been. In this regard, the 2014 Pan-Commonwealth Standards Framework for Teachers and School Leaders was mentioned, which can serve as a guide to countries in defining the basic requirements related to knowledge, pedagogical skills and personal attributes of teachers and school leaders.

B. Action Points

The countries present in the meeting identified national action points to draft standards, finalize their drafts, submit them for approval or to steer implementation, depending on which stage of the process they are in. The following table presents the different action points identified by each of the countries.

Follow-up actions at national level Botswana 1) Collaboration of the two Ministries to revitalise the Technical team

2) Finalise the draft 3) Feedback to stakeholders

Lesotho 1) Establish a team to drive the standards process from various key stakeholders 2) Solicit support by presenting draft standards and outcomes of regional

meeting in Lusaka to new regime (Win political will)


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3) Get buy in from all key stakeholders, especially senior management of the Ministries, school proprietors, teacher unions and school leaders

4) Study Tour to South Africa to learn more about standards and competencies

Malawi 1) Development of monitoring and evaluation instruments and processes 2) Sensitization of key stakeholders 3) Implementation of Standards

Mozambique 1) Presentation of the Regional Workshop Report at the TC and CC of the MNEDH 2) Propose to establish a national task force and disseminate of the document at

national level 3) Harmonize the proposal with insights gained from this workshop (Through a

workshop – if possible with assistance of UNESCO or one of the advanced countries)

Namibia 1) Share the outcome of this meeting 2) Solicit nominations for a working group 3) Develop an action plan

South Africa

1) Report back to the respective Minsters of Education 2) Communication to and sensitisation of stakeholders 3) Reflection of process, identify lessons learnt and gaps, where we are and what

we still need to do

Swaziland 1) To establish a working team 2) Develop a draft document 3) Stakeholder consultation

Zambia 1) Report back to the respective Minsters of Education 2) Reflect on draft and identify gaps for action 3) Review of existing action plan for finalisation

Zimbabwe 1) Feedback to key stakeholders on the outcome of the meeting 2) Report to the Minister 3) Monitor implementation of the standards

Angola 1) Presentation of the Regional Workshop Report to Ministry 2) Adapt the current national plan to the outcomes of this seminar 3) Harmonize the proposal with the insights gained from this workshop (Through

a workshop – if possible with assistance of UNESCO or one of the advanced countries)

Mauritius 1) Report back to the respective Minsters of Education 2) Update and finalise framework for Quality Standards 3) Reflect on the setting up of the teacher academy

Seychelles 1) Re-convene the working committee to review the existing draft 2) Consultations with partners 3) Review using data from the consultation

Sierra Leone 1) Constitute a task force of international and local consultants and resource persons

2) Share country experiences, i.e. experiences, outputs, and decisions and next steps from the Regional meeting

3) Develop action plans with timeframes

Zanzibar 1) Find technical support to develop teacher standards and competencies 2) Conduct needs assessments for drafting teacher professional standards and

competencies 3) Benchmark teacher standards with SADC partner states


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V Teacher standards at regional level A regional Teacher Competence Framework implies a shared understanding of teacher competences and standards. A regional framework of standards will facilitate standardization and teacher mobility in the region, as well as enhance teacher professionalization. It will also assist countries in finalizing their national teacher competence frameworks, if not yet done.

Participants discussed the benefits of having such a framework in place, and the steps for moving towards developing/finalizing such a framework.

A. The need for a regional framework

Participants were requested to identify what they perceive as the benefits of having a regional Teacher Competence/Standards Framework in place. A consolidation of participants’ inputs resulted in the following lists of benefits:

Enhance/ensure quality education in the SADC region, become reference point/example for other regions;

Teacher empowerment in the SADC region;

Benchmark/Reference for country frameworks;

Performance indicator for countries in the SADC region;

Enhanced teacher mobility in the SADC region;

Opportunity for regional Professional Development programmes;

Platform for sharing good practices across the SADC region;

International accountability.

B. Roadmap for a regional framework

Processes

During different consultations prior to this meeting, participants noted the need to establish a representative technical committee/task force to lead the process of developing regional competencies and standards for teachers. To initiate establishment of this regional Task Force to provide expertise for progressing towards a regional Competence Framework for Teachers, ROSA has requested governments to nominate a representative actively in charge of teacher development and competence frameworks at their respective national levels.

This Task Force, with support of UNESCO and the SADC secretariat, will prepare/draft the regional competence/standards framework for teachers.

The participants discussed the different steps that should be taken in this process. Consolidation of their inputs resulted in the following roadmap:

Establishment of nomenclature;

Establishment of country-based working groups to support the regional Task Force;

Harmonization of member states’ (draft) frameworks;

Identification of good practices of member states’ (draft) frameworks;

Provision of technical training for staff involved in the process

Development of Task Force Action Plan;


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Wide consultations;

Study tours to countries implementing frameworks;

Task Force to nominate one coordinator to consolidate all inputs;

Translation of reference documents in all SADC languages;

Regional meeting for Task Force to share progress reports/outcomes;

Validation of draft – at different levels of all countries;

Pilot the framework in selected countries;

Finalization of the framework;

Approval in SADC Meeting of Ministers in 2018;

Dissemination of the framework;

Implementation of the framework;

Monitoring and evaluation of the framework.

Content

Using their national frameworks as example, participants discussed the elements to be included in a regional framework.

They proposed the framework should diversify along the following lines:

Standards for teacher training: Entry requirements and qualifications;

Profile of prospective teacher: screening;

Standards for continuous professional development;

Standards for educational leadership;

Standards for teacher trainers;

Profile of students;

Monitoring and regulatory frameworks. The framework should be drafted with the following divisions:

Competencies

Domains

Standards

Sub-Standards

Criteria or requirements These should refer to the areas of:

Professional knowledge and understanding

Professional skills/practice

Professional values/attributes/commitment

Professional partnerships

C. Action points

In a final exercise, the participants identified priority action points for progress at the regional level, with indication of responsible entities for each required action. Consolidation of their inputs is presented in the table below.


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ROSA, together with the SADC secretariat will follow-up and support the implementation of the action points identified.

Action Point How can this be done? Responsibility Include all SADC countries in the Task Force

Follow procedures and protocols

UNESCO/SADC Secretariat

Draw up an action plan and report back to Ministers to discuss draft action plan

Based on the inputs of this regional meeting

Task Force UNESCO/SADC Secretariat

Identify commonalities in existing member states’ frameworks

Task Force working sessions Technical advice from UNESCO to Task Force to guide the process

UNESCO Task Force

Draft the Regional competencies and standards framework based on findings from this regional workshop.

Consolidation of findings Draft terms of reference for a consultant Task force works with consultant to develop the Regional Framework

Task Force

Consult stakeholders in the different countries

Team comprising UNESCO and some members of the task force to hold consultative meetings in respective countries.

Task Force members/ Country representatives

Validation of the draft Organize a sub-regional workshop

UNESCO

Pilot the draft By selected countries Nine countries to observe and validate the process.

Finalise the Framework and present to SADC Meeting of Ministers

Present at the 2018 meeting UNESCO


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VI Summary and way forward “Teaching is a noble profession that requires passion, commitment, tolerance, perseverance, character and the dedication to make a difference in the lives of a diverse group of young and older children, depending on your choice of phase specialisation. This profession will afford you the opportunity to nurture and mould young and growing minds and to develop a variety of vital lifelong skills in children. Contributing to the academic and social development of children is a fulfilling experience that you should embrace. Go ahead. Make a difference in the lives of children. Choose teaching as a career!”

(Republic of South Africa, Department of Basic Education, 2016)

The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. Teachers are not only a means to implementing education goals; they are the key to sustainability and national capacity in achieving learning and creating societies based on knowledge, values and ethics. Their pre-eminent role in the provision of quality education is translated into Sustainable Development Goal 4 and the Education 2030 Framework for Action, in which Target 4.c focuses explicitly on the teacher challenge.

There is a strong international move towards the development of professional standards for teachers. While enhancing teacher quality and improving learner outcomes, standards regulate the profession thereby contributing to enhanced teacher professionalization.

In the SADC region, countries are actively working towards Teacher Standards at the national level. The Government representatives at this meeting shared country practices regarding the development and implementation of teacher standards and competencies. It became evident that the different countries are at different levels of implementation, have followed different steps and have thereby experienced different and similar challenges. The development and implementation of teacher standards is a long process requiring political will, technical capacity as well as the necessary finances. It was also noted that teacher standards have different objectives for different stakeholders, which clearly emphasized the need for multi-stakeholder involvement in development as well as implementation.

A Teacher Competence Framework at the SADC level implies a shared understanding of teacher competences and standards across the sub-region. Participants discussed the possibility of such a regional framework and agreed that it would promote teacher mobility, the quality of education in the SADC Region and the harmonization of existing country practices as well as facilitate the development/finalization of national frameworks. It will also facilitate the work of Teacher Councils in the SADC countries.

Agreeing on its purpose and benefits, participants discussed the steps for a roadmap towards the development of a regional Teacher Standards/Competence framework, as well as suggestions for possible elements to be included in the framework. They also identified priority action points for finalizing and implementing the Regional Framework.

During different consultations prior to and during this meeting, participants noted the need to establish a representative technical committee/task force to lead the process of developing the regional framework. To initiate the establishment of this regional Task Force, ROSA has


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requested governments to nominate a representative actively in charge of teacher development and competence frameworks at their respective national levels. It was agreed that this Task Force, with support of UNESCO and the SADC secretariat, will prepare/draft the regional competence/standards framework for teachers, based on the inputs and action points identified by the participants in this meeting.

ROSA, together with the SADC secretariat will follow-up and support the implementation of the action points identified. The outcomes of this meeting were reported to the SADC Meeting of Ministers in June 2017 in Swaziland.


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ANNEX I: Programme


Meeting objectives To share country practices on teacher standards and competencies and explore modalities for harmonizing and

consolidating SADC member country competence frameworks into a regional Teacher Competence framework;

To identify elements to be included in a Regional Teacher Competence Framework;

To agree on a roadmap for finalizing and implementing a Regional Teacher Competence Framework.

Wednesday, 14 June, 2017

Session I: Opening Session 08:00 – 08:30 Registration UNESCO ROSA 08:30 – 09:30 Welcoming and opening session

Welcoming remarks

Opening statement

Introduction of participants

Group photo

Zambia NatCom Minister of General Education UNESCO ROSA

09:30 – 10:00 Tea/Coffee Session II: Background and context – Teacher Standards

10:00 – 10:30 Background: Teacher Standards and Competences

UNESCO ROSA

10:30 – 11:00 Africa Context: Progress towards Teacher Standards

UNESCO IICBA

11:00 – 12:00 Country practices regarding Teacher Standards

12:00 – 13:00 Discussion 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:30 Group work: Challenges and opportunities for National Teacher Standards

Group work

15:30 – 16:00 Report back Plenary Reception


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Thursday, 15 June, 2017

Session III: Towards a regional teacher competence framework 08:30 – 09:00 Recap Day 1 ROSA 09:00 – 10:30 Group work: Elements of a Regional

Teacher Competence Framework Group work

10:30 – 11:00 Tea/Coffee 11:00 – 11:30 Report back from group work Plenary 11:30 – 13:00 Group work: Way forward for national

and regional level Group work

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 14:45 Report back from group work Plenary

14:45 – 15:00 Closing and way forward ROSA

15:00 – 15:30 Tea/Coffee

Meeting of the Task Force 18:30 – 20:00 Roles and Responsibilities

Way forward ROSA


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ANNEX II: Attendance list Country Name Position Institution E-mail

1

Botswana

Baipidi Gwen Loungo Kgabi Chief Education Officer Ministry of Basic Education [email protected]

2 Othusitse Dibotlhale Senior Teacher Ministry of Education [email protected]

3 Mosimanegape Kgasa Primary Educator Ministry of Education [email protected]

4

Lesotho

Maselloane Sehlabi Chief Education Officer Ministry of Education and Training

[email protected]

5 Maice Mowg Ramochalla Director OD-TSD Ministry of Education and

Training [email protected]

6

Malawi

Mary Chirwa Acting Director of Department of Teacher Education and Development

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

[email protected]

7 Joseph Mwatsika Principal Inspector of Schools and

Colleges Ministry of Education [email protected]

8

Mozambique

Mr Remane Selemane Deputy Director of INDE (National Institute for the Development of Education)

Ministry of Education and Human Development

[email protected]

9

Jossefa Zibia In charge of Training at DINET (Technical Vocational Education Directorate)

Ministry of Science and Technology, Higher Education and Vocational Technical Training

[email protected]

10 Mario Armando Head of Professional

Development Department Ministry of Education and Human Development

[email protected]

11

Namibia

Raymond Simanga Chief Education Officer Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture

[email protected] and [email protected]

12 Florence Kauami Senior Education Officer, Khomas

Regional Office Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected];


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13 John Nyambe Director CPDTLI, University of

Namibia Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation

[email protected]

14

South Africa

Michelle Mathey Director: Teacher Education Department of Higher Education and Training

[email protected]

15 Habib Karimulla Acting Director Department of Basic Education [email protected]

16 Mr E. Rabotapi Acting CD – Education Human

Resource Development Department of Basic Education [email protected]

17

Swaziland

Mr Earnest M. Simelane Act. Chief Inspector -Tertiary Act. Chief Inspector -Tertiary [email protected]

18 Philemon Gumedze Principal William Pitcher College [email protected] /

[email protected]

19

Zimbabwe

Maxwell Muguse Director Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education

[email protected]

20 Tomax Doba Director Ministry of Primary and

Secondary Education [email protected]

21

Richard Gotora Deputy Director: Teacher Education

Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development

[email protected]

22

Zambia

Luckson Malambo Principal Education Officer - Pre Service

Ministry of General Education [email protected]

23 Esvah Chizambe Assistant Director Ministry of General Education [email protected]

24 Stamslas Mukamda Human Resource Development

Officer Ministry of General Education [email protected]

25 Dominic N. Nyambe DESO Ministry of General Education [email protected]

26 G. Chilekwe Principal Ministry of Education and

Training [email protected]

27 Peter Kasaji Chief Education Officer-SS Ministry of General Education [email protected]

28 Pascalina Chiliboyi Senor Education Officer Ministry of General Education [email protected]


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29 Muyangua Kamuhimou Director Ministry of General Education [email protected]

30 John Luangala Lecturer University of Zambia [email protected]

31 Stephen Mumbi Legal Officer Teacher Council of Zambia [email protected]

32 Ebby Mubamga Registrar Teacher Council of Zambia [email protected]

33 A.T. Mvtobo Principal Kitwe CE [email protected]

34 Davis Simwala Teaching Service Commission [email protected]

35 Charles Ndakala Secretary General Zambia National Commission for

UNESO [email protected]

36 Heather Munachonga Education Officer Zambia National Commission for

UNESO [email protected]

37 Angola Silvia Ndiengo Sibu Dombaxi Technician Ministry of Education [email protected]

38 Mauritius

Balakrishna Lutchmiah Assistant Director, Curriculum & Evaluation and Human Resource Development

Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research

[email protected]

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Seychelles

Jacqueline Gertrude School Inspector oofofofofthe Teacher Education Task Force

Ministry of Education [email protected]

40 Odile De Comarmond Principal Secretary for the

Department of Education Ministry of Education [email protected]

41 Sierra Leone Staneala Maidie Beckley Chairperson Sierra Leone Teaching Service

Commission [email protected]

42 Tanzania (Zanzibar)

Rashid Mukki Chief Inspector of Education Ministry of Education (Zanzibar) [email protected]

43

Partners

Andrew Snowden Core Adviser Zambia Education Sector Support [email protected]

44 I.M. Mulenga National Curriculum Adviser Zambia Education Sector Support [email protected]

45 Peter Buckland Planning Adviser Zambia Education Sector Support [email protected]

46 Robert Smith National Curriculum Adviser Zambia Education Sector Support [email protected]

47 Linda Jonsson Education Officer UNICEF [email protected]


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48 Chikunduzi Lyson Programme Adviser VVOB [email protected]

49 Corine Hhuyghe Education Adviser VVOB [email protected]

50 John Chileshe Education Consultant JICA [email protected]

51

Media

Alain Kabinda Correspondent Journalist Reporter [email protected]

52 Joseph Tamali Reporter CBC Television [email protected]

53 Hillb Muntanga Journalist City TY [email protected]

54

UNESCO

Carolyn Medel-Anonuevo Head of Education Unit UNESCO ROSA [email protected]

55 Abdoul Wahab Coulibaly Education Programme Specialist UNESCO ROSA [email protected]

56 Gertie Steukers Education Programme Consultant UNESCO ROSA [email protected]

57 Omar Diop Senior Programme Specialist UNESCO IICBA [email protected]

58 Alice Saili National Professional Officer/ HIV

and Health Education UNESCO Zambia Project Office [email protected]

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