Rebuilding, Renewing & Transforming School Systems:�Opportunities, Challenges & Relevance to UN/Global Initiatives

�This session will provide an overview of the joint statement (prepared for the first time by several educator organizations)defining key principles and processes/challenges in rebuilding after the Covid pandemic, renewing commitments to inclusion and equity as per Sustainable Development Goal 4 & transforming school and other systems for the future. The statement was prepared for the UN Transforming Education Summit but is very relevant to local school system reform efforts as well as several UN/global initiatives such as the UNESCO Recommendation/education policy framework for member states, the OECD Declaration on equity and recent UN meetings/initiatives on the renewing the SDGs, pandemic preparedness, and UN guidance to countries on followup to the UN Summit.  The statement will be a backdrop to participants discussing policy, practical and political challenges from the perspective of practicing educators. Participants will share insights and information on school system transformation. Speakers and discussants will include comments from several educator organizations supporting the statement including:

• Irma Eloff Chair, Global Network of Deans of Education (Introduction)
• Amy Neloms, ASCD, (Putting the Whole Child at the Center)
• Kevin Kaardal, President, Canadian Association of School System Administrators (Working with and within Cultures & Context)
• Peter Kent, President, International Confederation of Principals (Resilience & Realities)
• Ann Levett, Director, Leadership Network Programs, American School Superintendents Association - AASA (Systems Change)
• Other members of the group of educator organizations

��Recommended Reading & Resources

• Joint Statement on Rebuilding, Renewing and Transforming School and Other Systems
• Position Paper (Evidence & Reports)
• Review of Key Documents and Initiatives from TES and other Agencies
• Elements of school and other systems (which need to be aligned and coordinated)

Organizations which developed statement:

• American School Superintendents Association (AASA)
• Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (ASCD)
• Canadian Association of School System Administrators (CASSA)
• Education International (EI)

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• International Association for Counselling (IAC)
• International Confederation of Principals (ICP)
• International School Psychology Association (ISPA)
• Global Network of Deans of Education (GNDE)

• shared vision & implications supported by all stakeholders

• core mission of education ministry is defined and supports inclusion/equity

• core missions of non-education ministries include school-based & school-linked programs & funding

• cultural, contextual and pedagogical foundations of education & other systems are identified & addressed

• student-centred approach that includes student and teacher agency

• meeting the needs of the whole child, ensuring that they are fed, safe, healthy, secure, engaged & challenged

• defining systems excellence that prioritizes and monitors inclusion and equity so that every child can succeed and that equitable results for marginalized children are central and reported regularly

• maintaining a balance among the core purposes/functions of schooling (Learning to be, to do, to live together, to learn over the life course)

• establishing long-term workforce development plans, ongoing professional development programs, and initial pre-service education for diverse categories of personnel in education, other public agencies, relief/development agencies, and voluntary/philanthropic sectors

• granting or recognizing decentralized governance or degrees of autonomy to their respective local school systems, especially for minority, indigenous and other specific communities

• providing a broad range of learning opportunities in the core subjects identified in a national curriculum framework and outside classrooms in extended education activities, textbooks, educational materials and technologies that support (not replace) classroom instruction

• defining essential student cross-curricular competencies/attributes and modifying core curricula & pedagogy accordingly

• aligning the standards for student achievement and curriculum as well as describing required practices in student assessment, in system/program assessments

• creating student pathways to graduation including critical transitions such as early childhood education), support students with special needs, transitions between primary and secondary schooling and the shift to the world of work or further studies

• organizing grades and levels of schooling creating early childhood education centres within K-12 systems) as well as limiting the “streaming” of students alternative schools for troubled, athletic or other types of students, supporting parents who wish to home school their students and individualized education programs
• sustaining intersectoral partnerships and cross-ministry structures/ appointments using the school as the hub

• providing basic financing sufficient to meet defined goals, aligning categorical funding streams ensuring that project/innovation funding is linked directly to established jurisdiction priorities or system capacity-building