Valuing teachers’ voices in research to shape the future of education
By IDRC - GPE KIX secretariat
World Teachers’ Day is a moment to reflect on how teachers are transforming education and to recognize their work as key figures in shaping the future of education.
As stated in the Report of the International Commission on the Futures of Education, teachers, as well as school leaders, as reflexive practitioners can contribute to growing bodies of knowledge needed to transform educational environments, policies, research, and practice, within and beyond their own profession (UNESCO, 2021).
Investing in partnership with teachers and school leaders
In GPE KIX projects, The Impact of Gender and Inclusive Pedagogies on Students’ Participation and Learning Achievement at Secondary School and School leaders as agents of change towards equity and inclusion, researchers worked closely with teachers and school leaders on gender and inclusive pedagogies or management innovations.
According to the lead researchers, listening to teachers’ views and finding out about what methods they were able to put in practice were central to their research. Research teams listened to teacher and school leader experiences to get a better sense of how they understood gender differences. Working with teachers and school leaders helped these research projects identify practical and feasible solutions to increase gender equality and inclusion.
Working together to adapt and scale educational innovations
In both research projects, this collaborative approach led to the adaptation of educational innovations that teachers and school leaders are now adopting in their own practice.
The research tested the effects of Gender and Inclusive Pedagogies (GIP) on teachers' attitudes, sense of self-efficacy, classroom practices, as well as on students’ participation and learning achievement. Results show that the GIP training intervention positively influenced teachers’ attitudes and perceived efficacy for implementing inclusive pedagogies, as well as their actual use of these pedagogies (Zinnah & Ahsan, 2024).
In Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam following the GIP training, teachers implemented diverse teaching strategies and assessment techniques to accommodate different learning styles and abilities, employing gender-neutral language, monitoring gender parity in classroom discussions, selecting teaching materials that represent diverse identities, creating more physically accessible classrooms, and establishing ground rules for inclusive behaviour (Vinh et al., 2024; Institute of Education and Research, 2024; Zinnah & Ahsan, 2024). By being closely involved with researchers when constructing and implementing GIP, teachers were able to make this innovation their own.
School leaders as agents of change towards equity and inclusion
The project tested and researched scaling mechanisms for the Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) model, for school leaders in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nepal. It explored how school leaders’ agency and ability to problem-solve inclusion issues can be developed sustainably, at scale through participation in the NICs. Through interviews, surveys, open course data, and participant observation in the NICs, extensive evidence was gathered on school leaders’ experience, collaboration, and any changes in their attitudes and actions related to inclusion. This evidence was then used to refine the overall NIC approach and to guide inclusive education policy and practice.
Based on project findings, open resources have been created in local languages to guide school leaders in addressing small-scale inclusion problems within their schools. These resources draw on the experience and expertise of other school leaders who have encountered similar challenges, encouraging them to work together to experiment with potential solutions.
Learn more by listening to this new Study Group Session podcast
This new Study Group Session podcast explores how teachers, and school leaders, as reflexive practitioners contributed to growing bodies of knowledge regarding gender equality in and through education. University professors Freda Wolfenden and Mohammad Ali Zinnah, who led The Impact of Gender and Inclusive Pedagogies on Students’ Participation and Learning Achievement at Secondary School and the School leaders as agents of change towards equity and inclusion projects, share how they valued teachers’ and school leaders’ voices, the challenges they faced and how investing in these partnerships helped advance gender equality.
Content for the Study Group Sessions podcast and for this blog were provided by Dr. Kate Grantham and Dr. Leva Rouhani who worked on the synthesis of GPE KIX projects focussing on gender quality in and through education. Study Group Sessions is produced by Anti-Heroine Media.