What Makes Education Partnerships Effective?
This manual helps practitioners evaluate education partnerships.
Teachers Without Borders Helps Empower Global Citizens
Programme and Partnership Objective
In 2004, Teachers Without Borders received a Cisco® Impact Grant to increase access to their global Certificate of Teaching Mastery program by hosting the courses online. This free program provides a comprehensive overview of topics ranging from educational theory and pedagogy to performance metrics and multicultural studies. The content was developed by teachers from 28 countries and has been incorporated into teacher training programs by several universities and development agencies. After completing the program, teachers post portfolios of their work online and develop service projects that align with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
To extend the benefits of the teaching mastery program to areas without Internet access, NetAid volunteers transferred the courses onto CD-ROMs, and DHL shipped them to teachers in remote areas. The World Bank also placed 12,000 copies of the program onto recycled computers that were sent to third-world nations.
Partners
- Cisco Foundation
- NetAid
- World Bank
- Teachers Without Borders
Partnership Background and Justification
Tools for Collaboration
Based on the success of this project, the Cisco Foundation has awarded several other grants to Teachers Without Borders, including a grant in 2006 to develop a set of open-source, online tools that enable teachers to connect, share curricula, display portfolios that highlight their achievements and specialties, and collaborate on various projects around the world.
In 2007, the Cisco Foundation provided a grant to improve the reach and functionality of the TWB Toolset under the guidance of a Cisco Leadership Fellow, Sima Yazdani. The Mediterranean Youth Technology Club (MYTecC) has incorporated the new toolset into their educational program model, which delivers technical skills training to youth from Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Turkey, and Yemen, while encouraging cross-cultural exchanges and supporting the development of life skills.
The TWB Tools platform has also been used to support U.S. disabled veterans seeking retraining, youth groups in Turkey, and the Clinton Global Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa, where the Certificate of Teaching Mastery is being delivered to instructors in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Kenya, and Nigeria. More than 40 groups are interested in working with Teachers Without Borders to empower their communities with the capacity to connect, create, and collaborate.
By providing collaborative technologies and educational resources to help teachers support the development of socially-empowered, global citizens, Teachers Without Borders helps create the ideal environment for lasting socioeconomic transformation. As citizens broaden their world views through collaborations that cut across geographic borders, their ability to contribute to society is greatly enhanced. Unlike many other commodities, the more knowledge is shared, the more valuable it becomes.
Programme Outcomes
Additional Programs for Development
Teachers Without Borders addresses a myriad of social issues including HIV-AIDS awareness, health education, access for the disabled, and environmental protection. They have established schools in displaced persons’ camps and provided valuable teaching resources to communities in Pakistan and China that were devastated by earthquakes.
In the area of conflict resolution, Teachers Without Borders has hosted a series of high-impact conferences for teachers from regions in conflict. By encouraging teachers to join forces toward a common vision for education and development, these conferences have benefitted Hutus and Tutsis in Burundi and Rwanda, Arab and Israeli teachers, Muslim and Hindu teachers in India, and individuals from countries experiencing internal conflict such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. Approximately 6000 teachers have developed conflict-mediation skills at these conferences, in addition to general teaching and leadership skills.
In South Africa, Teachers Without Borders has led math and science content and teaching workshops for 1500 teachers and 2900 senior students. They replicated this model in China, where workshops have been held for 229 middle and primary school teachers and 130 administrators within the Sichuan Province. In Nigeria, 1500 teachers have completed the Certificate of Teaching Mastery program and 2200 teachers have enrolled in an HIV-AIDS education program.
Teachers Without Borders has established dozens of Community Teaching and Learning Centers throughout the world to help ensure that all programs are sustainable, culturally-relevant, and address local needs. The diversity of their programs, combined with on-the-ground leadership, partnerships, and the strategic use of technology, has enabled Teachers Without Borders to make significant contributions to the educational development of individuals in conflict-prone, marginalized, and poverty-stricken communities.
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