Making the most of existing resources to support UNESCO in achieving the UN’s SDG4

This second Summit is focused on bringing together knowledge about strategies, tools and processes which support a self-improving profession and improving teacher retention and quality. The implementation of the ‘marginal gains’ strategy outlined in the report from the first Summit provides one key focus.

The Summit brings together educators, policy makers, professional associations and stakeholders to work actively to share knowledge and critique processes, strategies and tools, supported by ‘translational research’ models for education, which address these global education challenges.

Background to the Summit

Irina Bokova Director General of UNESCO has identified the potential for “teachers and teacher educators to act as change agents” in the achieving of UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Improving the quality of education by 2030. These Summits are designed as think tanks to bring together ideas to support achievement of UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 within the Education 2030 Framework for Action. UNESCO, the OECD and national governments have repeatedly identified teacher retention, teacher quality, teacher education, knowledge mobilisation, and evidence informed practice as providing major challenges to education systems. This Summit builds on the report from the first summit “Making a difference to teacher quality– to ensure inclusive and quality education for all by 2020” which identified a low cost ‘marginal gains’ strategy for engaging teacher educators as change agents to achieve SDG4 (using low cost digital tools and infrastructure).

The Summits bring together education stakeholders, policy makers and educators with everyone playing an active role in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge. Speakers have 5 minutes to present.

The key documents that inform this event are

• Making a difference to teacher quality – to ensure inclusive and quality education for all by 2020: report from the first Global Teacher Education Knowledge Mobilisation Summit

• Why Pedagogy Matters: the role of pedagogy in Education 2030: A policy advice paper: Kay Livingston, Michele Schweisfurth, Gary Brace and Moira Nash, May 2017 – this will be launched at the Summit.

• UNESCO (2015) Education 2030 Framework for Action

• OECD (February 2016) Teaching Excellence through Professional Learning and Policy Reform: lessons from around the world; and this website,

• The International Task Force on Education on Teachers for Education 2030

Registration and Timetable

Registration information and a full timetable can be found here.

Useful Background Reports

These reports form the 2016 event outline a ‘marginal gains’ knowledge mobilisation strategy enabling Teachers and Teacher Educators to become “change agents” for UNESCO SDG4. A ‘marginal gains’ strategy allowed the UK cycling team to win a gold medal at the London Olympics – they implemented small improvements in every aspect of practice to produce whole system improvement.

• Summary of the 2016 Marginal Gains strategy  (pdf)

• 2016 Summit report with contributors (pdf)

• Why pedagogy matters, policy advice, April 2017 (doc)