Teachers Shoulder the Burden: Improving Support in Crisis Contexts

Globally 75 million children who cannot access education as a result of crises. A dated photo of a Syrian child in a refugee camp in Jordan. Credit: Robert Stefanicki/IPS.By Yasmine Sherif, Dean Brooks and Mary MendenhallNEW YORK, Oct 5 2020 (IPS) Teachers are at the heart of children and young peoples’ educational experiences. Teachers play multiple roles in their students’ lives by supporting their learning, providing them with inclusive and safe environments to grow and develop, and helping them become more confident as they make their way in the world. As we commemorate World Teachers’ Day on Monday, 5 October and its theme–Teachers: Leading in Crisis, Reimagining the Future–we must recognize the inspiring and transformative role that teachers working in armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate change induced disasters and protracted crises play in their students’ lives. Even before the global pandemic, the lives and education of 75 million children and youth worldwide were already disrupted by crisis. Teachers living and working in these settings provide a lifeline to the young people desperate to be learning in school. Yet, they are often placed in classrooms with little to no training or professional development, and expected to work miracles with few teaching and learning resources and insufficient compensation. They also regularly encounter over-crowded classrooms with mixed-age students who need both academic and social-emotional support. A...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Armed Conflicts Climate Change Development & Aid Education Featured Global Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Migration & Refugees Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news