Showcasing Teacher Leadership and Education Innovation at RewirEd

At the global education summit hosted by Dubai Cares, representatives from Schools2030, AKF's flagship education programme, will share its approach to catalyse teacher and school-driven holistic learning innovations and achieve SDG4

2 December 2021

Rewiring education means thinking differently. For many years the global community has worked tirelessly towards the Sustainable Development Goals, yet the very best of intentions and millions of dollars spent has not changed the education landscape significantly enough for many marginalised learners across the world. Now in the face of conflicts, climate change and the ongoing pandemic, ensuring access to quality education means rethinking – or rewiring – the sector’s approach to tackle these challenges head on in coordination with communities, as well as at the global level.

“The RewirEd Summit comes at a crucial time for the international development community to reimagine what’s possible for the future of teaching and learning. It is imperative that together we forge new partnerships that catalyze lasting support for the most marginalised learners and educators, worldwide,” Michael Kocher, General Manager of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) remarked. “The quality of education for our next generation remains the key ingredient to global progress. That’s why I very much look forward to joining RewirEd Summit partners to think differently, plan more inclusively, and act more boldly to ensure quality education for all.”

AKF joins RewirEd to showcase its flagship education programme, Schools2030. Working for long-term education systems change, Schools2030 is a ten-year programme in 1000 government schools in ten countries, supporting schools and teachers to become “the centre of social change, not the target”, says Dr. Bronwen Magrath, Schools2030 Global Programme Manager. “The Schools2030 initiative seeks to improve learning and teaching through a focus on classroom-driven education innovation and holistic learning. We believe educational change can only happen when it is initiated and owned by teachers, learners and school communities.”

“The RewirEd Summit comes at a crucial time for the international development community to reimagine what’s possible for the future of teaching and learning. It is imperative that together we forge new partnerships that catalyze lasting support for the most marginalised learners and educators, worldwide.”

Michael Kocher, General Manager of the Aga Khan Foundation

With this flipped mindset, the AKF delegation at RewirEd includes global leadership, country-level staff and teachers from Schools2030 communities, all in dialogue with partners and education organisations about how best to support teachers and learners to drive the much-needed change. Across four sessions, AKF will present its innovative approach for the future of learning – a future that is school-driven, holistic, climate-resilient, equitable and pluralistic.

Schools2030 operates in ten countries and aims to empower schools to be central to designing education solutions that are contextually-relevant and sustainable.

Sessions include a high-level plenary – The Future of Teaching: How do we best support teachers to be leaders of learning in times of uncertainty? – moderated by Dr. Andrew Cunningham, AKF’s Global Lead for Education and featuring AKF General Manager Michael Kocher in conversation with Rashmi Prabha, a teacher from a school in Bihar, India. Joining the panel, leadership from Save the Children, Plan International and Teach for All will also be in conversation with teachers from their programme countries, thinking through how to balance global best practice with contextual needs. Schools2030 will also continue to be highlighted at two further AKF breakout discussions, moderated by Nafisa Shekhova (Global Lead for Education and Early Childhood Development), and Dr. Cunningham titled: How to Catalyze Teacher-Driven Innovations to Advance Holistic Learning and Inform Systems Change and Schools2030 as a Live Case Study in Collaborative Philanthropic Financing: How to Invest in Innovation Through Education During Times of Uncertainty (co-led by Nada Hirji, Acting Director of Programmes at Dubai Cares) respectively.

The latter of these breakouts will be of particular interest since Dubai Cares – hosts of the Summit – are also a founding member of the consortium behind Schools2030, alongside AKF and nine other donors – LEGO Foundation, Jacobs Foundation, Porticus, Oak Foundation, IKEA Foundation, Education Cannot Wait, Itau Social, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund and USAID. Part of the unique approach of Schools2030 is not just in driving innovation from the bottom-up, but also rewiring collaboration and partnerships – leveraging as it does not only financial support for its mandate but also the technical expertise of its partners.

Dr. Cunningham will also lead a panel session with a focus on the climate emergency, entitled Play, Pluralism and the Planet: How Might We Prepare the Next Generation of More Climate-Literate, Climate-Resilient, and Climate-Compassionate Learners and Educators? The session will focus on how global leadership can provide the practical support needed to ensure that future generations are better prepared for the climate crisis, and how the education sector in particular can be the driving force of that positive change.

Against the backdrop of continuing uncertainty wrought by COVID-19, innovation in the education sector – and indeed every sector – is the certainly the zeitgeist, and the RewirEd Summit provides the perfect opportunity for advancing that timely agenda.

The full itinerary and speaker list for AKF participation at the summit can be found here on the Schools2030 website.