Global

Little research attention has been paid to documenting and analyzing attempts of education systems moving quickly and at scale to provide online learning when all or many schools are closed. Related 'good practices' are considered rare, and on the whole, activities and initiatives of these sorts are poorly documented, especially when it comes to the needs of learners and education systems across the so called 'developing world'.

This brief extrapolates from the existing knowledge base about the use of educational technologies in general over past decades, as well as from consensus expert and practitioner wisdom and experience, to offer high-level guidance and 'rules of thumb' for policymakers forced to make related decisions in fast moving, very challenging circumstances with little guidance or relevant experience.

World Bank

2020

Health workers are at the front line of the COVID-19 outbreak response and as such are exposed to hazards that put them at risk of infection. Hazards include pathogen exposure, long working hours, psychological distress, fatigue, occupational burnout, stigma, and physical and psychological violence. This document highlights the rights and responsibilities of health workers, including the specific measures needed to protect occupational safety and health.

WHO

2020

This guide has been designed to strengthen the competencies of child protection actors. The term "child protection actors" covers three categories of actors: social workers, para-social workers and community actors.

The goal of this guide is to develop the basic professional competencies of child protection actors, particularly social workers and para-social workers. This guide will also help trainers develop training content and ensure that child protection actors acquire the required information (knowledge), know-how (skills) and interpersonal skills (attitudes). The first part of the guide is intended for those who train child protection actors and is based on a child protection competency matrix. The second part of the guide includes sessions on themes specific to Terre des hommes.

Terre des Hommes / Didier Sevet, Claudie Ouedraogo, Saïdou Chojnowicz, Gaele Bertrand, Sara Lim

2018

Informing and guiding the development of a Framework to Strengthen the Capacity of “Tipat Halav” nurses in Israel is a qualitative research study on behalf of Goshen Institute, with the overall objective to generate in-depth data that unveil effective processes and strategies which need to be in place in order to achieve a practice-change among Parent and Child Health ("Tipat Halav") nurses in Israel. Specifically, the study, which is part of a larger initiative pursued by Bernard Van Leer Foundation, the Rothschild Foundation Foundation and Israel’s Ministry of Health, aimed at mapping:

1. the strategies and processes that need to be in place in order to successfully achieve a practice-change among nurses in working with parents;
2. the common elements among successful programs;
3. the barriers and challenges in program implementation.

Interviews with 9 training providers and practitioners from across 6 countries, highlighted the complexity of the field and of nurses’ role and revealed the necessary knowledge, skills and attributes that effective nurses should possess. In addition, the interviews revealed the key challenges faced by the profession, the professionals and the training programs, as well as the success factors and recommendations about how challenges can be tackled. Research results highlight that practice-change is inseparably linked to the system in which practitioners operate and that in order for practice change to be achieved it is important to recognize the importance of the field as well as the uniqueness of this field. Thus, interviewees highlighted the need to focus on the social aspects of health and move beyond hospital-oriented practices and theory as well as the need for more innovative, practice-based approaches and experiential learning and for common standards of practice and common standards among training providers.  

2020

Our objective during the explorations was to provide guidelines for those working with parents and other caregivers about how to communicate with parents about learning through play. Caregivers and especially parents have a great role to play in their children’s well-being and brain development. This makes it more important to communicate with parents about the benefits of their role, for the sake of the child’s development.

The co-created outcomes from this Exploration are the following guidelines for communicating with parents and caregivers about their role in engaging children in playful activities.

Alejandra Zaragoza Scherman, Eszter Salamon, Rosemarie Truglio, Tim Jay

The LEGO Foundation

The Minimum standards for child protection in humanitarian action have been developed to support child protection work in humanitarian settings by: Establishing common principles between those working in child protection; Strengthening coordination between humanitarian actors; Improving the quality of child protection programming and its impact on children; Improving the accountability of child protection programming; Defining the professional field of child protection in humanitarian action; Providing a synthesis of good practice and learning to date; and Strengthening advocacy and communication on child protection risks, needs and responses.

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

2019

This INEE Guidance Note addresses a gap in the tools that are currently available to educators and professionals operating in emergency and crisis contexts. This INEE Guidance Note encourages more intentional and consistent implementation of practical, goodquality psychosocial interventions on the education frontlines by teachers, education administrators, parents, counselors, peers, ministries, and other education personnel in three concrete ways:

• The Guidance Note clarifies the education sector’s importance in supporting the psychosocial wellbeing of children and youth.
• The Guidance Note provides educators with practical tips and advice about how to integrate PSS into formal and non-formal education efforts.
• The Guidance Note highlights linkages between PSS in education and other sectors. This Guidance Note was developed for all professionals who carry out or support formal and non-formal educational activities for children and youth during humanitarian crises. It is also useful to government entities, policy-makers, community groups, humanitarian workers, parents, peers, and families for planning, programming, policy, and advocacy purposes, and to mechanisms such as the Education Cluster and other education coordination or working groups.

The INEE Guidance Note on Psychosocial Support can be found in Arabic, English French, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish via the link below.

Recruiting and retaining skilled staff is a long-standing challenge for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. OECD countries are increasingly demanding that ECEC staff be highly skilled and highly qualified, but a combination of low wages, a lack of status and public recognition, poor working conditions, and limited opportunities for professional development mean that recruitment and retention are frequently difficult. What can countries do to build a highly qualified and well-trained ECEC workforce? What is the best route to increasing staff skills without exacerbating staff shortages? How can countries boost pay and working conditions in the context of limited resources? Building on past OECD work on early childhood education and care, and drawing on the experience of OECD countries, this report outlines good practice policy measures for improving jobs in ECEC and for constructing a high-quality workforce.

OECD

2019

Drawing on the importance of highly qualified teachers and on the high levels of teacher shortages, countries must consider how they can improve both the quantity and quality of their teacher workforce, including in contexts where infrastructure is limited, poverty is widespread and crisis and conflict are realities. Solving the twin challenges of teacher supply and teacher quality will require time and investment. It will also require innovation and a willingness to experiment and confront problems with new tools and approaches. When considering different ‘outside the box’ strategies to bring teacher development to scale at minimal cost, especially in poor countries, UNESCO kept returning to a simple but increasingly prevalent technology: mobile phones.

This publication concerns UNESCO’s attempt to fill this gap and pilot projects to help in-service teachers who are not often reached by standard capacity development initiatives. While the UNESCO projects did not target pre-service teachers, they shine light on practices that would benefit teachers preparing to enter classrooms as well as those who are already working. The chapters present what was attempted where, why and to what result. UNESCO’s aim was to both test an overarching concept—can mobile technology support professional development?—and understand, at a local level, what elements contribute to the success and failure of individual projects implemented in unique contexts. To do this, pilot projects were carried out in four different countries, using four different designs and targeting four different beneficiary groups. This diverse project portfolio helped UNESCO probe the strengths and limitations of different solutions deployed in real-world settings. What follows is an account of lessons learned and a description of how UNESCO’s approaches might be employed elsewhere.

Miao, Fengchun, West, Mark, Hyo-Jeong So, Toh, Yancy

UNESCO

2017

This 4th annual report includes a multi-country, four region review of the state of the social service workforce. Through Alliance-led mappings and assessments in three regions in collaboration with UNICEF, and information from mappings and assessments in a fourth region, this report consolidates trends and data and makes recommendations for better planning, development and support to this frontline workforce. The report also makes connections to the Alliance's Call to Action for Strengthening the Social Service Workforce to Better Protect Children and Achieve the SDGs. The data and findings are intended to build the evidence base in support of advocacy efforts to gain government and stakeholder commitments for strengthening the social service workforce.

Alex Collins

Global Social Service Workforce Alliance

2019