Valuing teacher voices

AS THE world pauses to commemorate World Teachers' Day on October 5, the theme selected by the ILO, UNICEF and Education International (EI) is “Valuing Teacher Voices: Towards a New Social Contract for Education.” This theme underscores the need to establish more robust and meaningful social dialogue with teachers because they are ultimately at the heart of education.

Given the significant role they thus play in the success of any education system, and the myriad challenges facing the education sector, such dialogue is urgent for the crafting and implementation of solutions, for they represent expert and first-hand knowledge as professional practitioners.

We all know that teachers play a pivotal role in shaping the future by nurturing students and driving educational progress. However, to fully harness their potential, it is crucial that their voices are heard, valued and respected in the decision-making process that affect their profession.

The theme responds to the significant challenges highlighted by the UN secretary general’s high-level panel on the teaching profession and UNESCO’s recent global report on teachers, including new data on the growing teacher shortage and declining working conditions.

In many parts of the world, including developed countries, teachers are undervalued, overworked and underpaid, their role and contributions being taken for granted by both governments and the citizenry at large. This has resulted in the profession becoming increasingly unattractive, with dire consequences for the social and economic advancement of the global society.

The process of education policy development must include the voices that guide students. Indeed, the right to quality education means the right to a qualified teacher, whose professional status is acknowledged like any other professional.

TTUTA, the voice of teachers here in Trinidad and Tobago, has a record of insistence on consultation on all matters related to education and has in the past contributed significantly to the formulation of solutions for problems that affect the education system, when given the opportunity.

This proud tradition was established since it sees itself as a partner in education, mindful of the philosophy that education from its paradigm of human development is not the sole domain of government. History will show that when teachers participate in the formulation of education policy (the implementation of which is contingent upon their buy-in), such policies stand a greater chance of success.

It is therefore sensible political acumen for teachers, through their recognised majority units, to be engaged in a genuine and meaningful manner in such policy formulation. Their broad range of professional praxis knowledge places them in a unique position to determine what is good and right for the education system that they drive.

Their goodwill is critical for the success of a system. Alienation and exclusion of the key stakeholder constitutes short-sighted governance and contempt for the people whose lives are impacted. For too long we have witnessed the negative impacts on students of ill-conceived education policy.

Partnerships through meaningful social dialogue and engagement can only ensue in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect rather than condescension and hubris. Successful education systems must be people-centred if they are to be people-driven.

For too long education reforms have been insultingly thrust upon teachers, only to fail owing to the absence of meaningful consultation with the very people who have to implement them, despite their nobility of intent. Yet over-zealous politicians and decision-makers never seem to learn, opting instead for underhanded and sometimes deceitful tactics to avoid the sometimes slow and painful process of social dialogue.

This theme, selected by these highly respected global organisations, comes against a backdrop of a global trend to malign and demonise teacher trade unions, often dismissing them as obstructionists and even irrelevant. It's an acknowledgement of the continued disrespect that has characterised the teaching profession globally and is a call for teachers to be truly valued in the context of what they do.

Social dialogue is a hallmark of civility, a state of democracy that centres around the people who matter. Such dialogue will only serve to enhance the quality of the profession and by extension the quality of the education system. Good education systems cannot flourish in an atmosphere of distrust and disrespect.

Meaningful and inclusive social dialogue with teachers on matters impacting education is an opportunity to display support for them and to maximise their potential as architects of human development; a role that is pivotal for the creation of a just and sustainable future.

Happy World Teachers Day 2024 to our unsung heroes.