On Thursday and Friday of this week an event of global significance for education will take place; the International Summit on the Teaching Profession. Started in 2011 by the US government and teacher unions, the summits have uniquely brought teacher union leaders and ministers of education together to discuss policies affecting the teaching profession. In fact, they involve another unique partnership. The summit host country, Education International (EI, the global federation of teacher unions) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development jointly do the heavy organisational lifting.

This year’s summit takes place in Berlin and 22 countries, mainly in the OECD, will gather to explore themes as diverse as teacher competencies, leadership and learning under the banner “Teachers’ professional learning and growth”.

Which countries are attending? The roll-call involves a stellar line-up including the US, Japan, Brazil, the UK, Canada, all the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore and New Zealand, alongside the host, Germany.

What will actually happen? A country delegation typically consists of the minister, leaders from up to two teacher unions and advisers who, after the plenary discussions on the themes, will sit down and agree practical next steps on a facet of their teacher policy for the coming year.

Practical policies are agreed. The US has built federal teacher policy around the agreements it has made with the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. For example, its progress report on its 2015 goals records that it “took the International Summit model and applied it domestically, convening its first National Summit on Teacher Leadership” this February with the purpose of expanding leadership opportunities for classroom teachers.

Sweden has created the Swedish Institute for Educational Research and is working with teacher unions to set up a national structure for teachers’ professional development. New Zealand has created a digital online platform for teachers to share practice. Germany has agreed to both organise a nationwide strategy on education in the digital world and support teaching unions’ professional development programmes on teaching children of refugees.

One notable agreement at the 2014 New Zealand summit involved the Danish government and unions agreeing to re-stablish dialogue and cooperation after a punishing employer-led lock-out.

‘Innovative agreements’

This year’s summit provides equally fertile ground for countries to come up with innovative agreements. Its focus is not only on practical agreements but on consistent implementation.

In its briefing, EI is advising its member unions to consider a range of strategies. The OECD has initiated a debate on the competencies children need in 2030. EI proposes that governments and unions together define those competencies and look at their impact on the curriculum, assessment and teacher training.

Another suggestion is that, together, governments and unions agree strategies for teacher learning, including government-provided grants to teacher unions to provide teacher professional development. EI also argues that teacher contracts need to be changed to include an entitlement to CPD and that there should be joint union/government guidelines on guaranteeing that the professional voice of classroom teachers is heard and respected by school management.

And what of the UK? Every year the OECD provides exhaustive background evidence on the summit themes. Both unions and governments bring fresh ideas which are a resource for all. The big mystery is why the summits have been so below the radar in England; I say this advisedly since Scotland has represented the UK at the last two summits. Indeed, Scotland has woven them into the fabric of its policymaking including agreeing to both collaborate with all stakeholders to clarify its vision of education and base its policies on evidence including via an OECD country review.

This year there has been a welcome change. Both Westminster schools minister Nick Gibb and Scottish education secretary Angela Constance are representing the UK alongside the NUT and NASUWT classroom unions. The general secretaries of the ATL and Scotland’s EIS are also taking part.

These summits are not only vital for the future of the teaching profession but also for the future of all children. They are worth following.

John Bangs is senior consultant at Education International and represents EI in organising the summits

The International Summit on the Teaching Profession 2016 programme can be accessed at www.istp2016.org . Both EI’s and the OECD’s background papers for the Summit can be accessed at www.ei-ie.org/en/news/news_details/3879

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