STiR Education was delighted to host a webinar today in collaboration with the Delhi Directorate of Education and UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). The topic for the webinar was ‘Strengthening the middle tier – Delhi case study’, based on research conducted by IIEP-UNESCO into the Teacher Development Coordinator (TDC) programme in Delhi, which is managed by the Government of Delhi in partnership with STiR.
While there is a growing concern amongst policymakers about how to improve the quality of education at scale, many leading thinkers around the world are calling for greater attention to be paid to the architecture of education systems (including delivery structures, the workforce roles relating to teaching reform, and learning practices). This webinar brought together eminent leaders who emphasised the importance of middle-tier roles in the education system, by showcasing the role and relevance of the TDC programme within the education ecosystem in Delhi. In this programme, every government secondary school selected one teacher to perform as a TDC, acting as a role-model and collaborative leader for other teachers in their school. The Delhi system also introduced the role of Mentor Teachers across every 4 to 6 schools to provide guidance and feedback to both TDCs and teachers on best practices and new strategies.
In new (and yet to be published) research from IIEP-UNESCO, their study found some positive practices on how the middle tier can act as critical change agents in improving teaching and learning outcomes. We were joined in the webinar by David Childress (Consultant, IIEP-UNESCO) who shared his insights from the research, which was based on interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders from across the Delhi system.
In the webinar, Mr. Shailendra Sharma (Principal Advisor to Director of Education, Delhi) said: “The Mentor Teacher and TDC programmes was an idea that started in a very different context, but proved very instrumental in a new challenging situation. This platform […] has anchored the entire community of teachers especially when the pandemic hit and all schools were shut down.”
We’re grateful to everyone who attended the webinar, especially the senior representatives from our work in Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and to IIEP-UNESCO for their research into this important work. You can watch the webinar in full below.
