Education International North America and the Caribbean

Teachers are ready to transform education — it’s time for governments to step up

David Edwards

Despite the global crises facing the world, the power and optimism inherent in education will always provide hope for our future. To move forward from this pandemic, and the deepening inequities it exposed, we need to transform education by fully funding public education systems and investing in, supporting, and respecting...

Adapting to Covid-19: Removing the land from indigenous land-based education

Sydney Krill

"That’s what the elders are telling us. Go out on the land. This is a perfect time for people to show youngsters how to build a fire in the morning, how to put up a tent. It’s almost spring. If people can get their families out on the land, that’s...

Including Indigenous identities and ways of knowing in education and science

Charitie Ropati

Engineers and scientists are vital to meeting Sustainable Development Goals but the ecological knowledge that Indigenous people hold when we care for the land are things that are central to the existence of life.

Education – a crucial piece of the climate justice and gender equality puzzle

Susan Hopgood

For decades we have mobilised across the world and have worked towards gender equality, and increasingly over the last few years to address climate injustice. However, both fights have often been waged separately with far too little attention given to the critical areas where they overlap.

Privatisation Trends in Education in the Caribbean

Steven J. Courtney Rinnelle Lee-Piggott

Privatisation has been a focus of education research for many years, particularly in western liberal democracies. However, the phenomenon is relatively under-researched within the Caribbean region. This matters.

Expanding Vaccines Beyond Our Borders

Randi Weingarten Mugwena Maluleke

If there is one thing we never see again, let it be a crematorium waiting list. Let temporary morgue tents be just that—temporary. We have the capacity to make that happen—to prepare for the next global public health crisis, so we never see this level of chaos and destruction again,...

“Education Support personnel are the glue that holds their schools together!”

Interview with Becky Marciante.

Becky Marciante

Becky Marciante is a Clinic Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) at Mulberry Middle School in Mulberry, Florida (USA) and a member of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). She has worked for the Polk County Public School system since December 2015. As we prepare for celebrating World Education Support Personnel Day...

"The tightrope walk: the experience of a guidance counselor through the pandemic"

Daniel Lajoie

How to deal with the uncertainty of a pandemic, an unexpected lockdown, new technological tools, and a busy routine with children? Being a tightrope walker dealing with this entire imbalance accurately depicts the experience of a guidance counselor during the main period of the pandemic.

“Pivoting to Online Education During the Pandemic Wave”, by Nadine Molloy.

Nadine Molloy

Nadine A. Molloy recently received national recognition from the Jamaica Observer for her extraordinary work leading Ardenne High School in Kingston through the storm of the COVID-19 crisis [1]. We asked Nadine to share her experience with integrating technology in education, ensuring teachers and students were prepared and achieving high...

“Riot Backlash Hastens Moment of Truth for Internet Giants”

Aidan White

As President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated this week in the caged and militarised environment of the US Capitol, battle lines are being drawn in a concerted political attempt to regulate the power of the behemoths of the internet including Facebook, Google, and Twitter. The unregulated dominance of the online world...

“The impact of the pandemic on academic workers and work - the Canadian experience”, by Brenda Austin-Smith.

Brenda Austin-Smith

Almost overnight in mid-March of 2019, academic staff at universities and colleges heeded the call to stay home and isolate. They transitioned to remote teaching to ensure the education continuity of millions of students during the public health emergency. Campuses were closed down, shuttering labs, and stalling research. Some libraries...

"Support staff are the infrastructure of the world", by Lorretta Johnson.

Lorretta Johnson

During this pandemic, it has become very obvious who the essential workers are. Let me be clear. I am not criticizing mayors, university presidents or school superintendents. But amid the COVID-19 contagion, we would be nowhere without custodians, paraprofessionals, food service workers, administrative assistants and school bus drivers.

“Coronavirus hits Canada’s campuses”, by David Robinson.

David Robinson

As in other parts of the world, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly and radically upended universities and colleges in Canada. Across the country, campuses are deserted, teaching has migrated to virtual platforms, and important research has been put on hold.

“A Plan to Safely Reopen America’s Schools and Communities”, by Randi Weingarten.

Randi Weingarten

The American Federation of Teachers has released a detailed road map that, in the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine, charts a path to safely and responsibly reopen school buildings and other institutions crucial to the well-being and economic vitality of our communities.

“Education Support Professionals Need Protection Now!”, by Rae Nwosu.

Rae Nwosu

As president of the National Council of Education Support Professionals of the National Education Association (USA), I have the distinct honor of representing Education Support Professionals (ESPs) across the United States. We are crossing guards, bus drivers & bus monitors, paraeducators, secretaries, custodians, interpreters & translators, cafeteria workers, and everything...

“We are one world”, by Lily Eskelsen García.

Lily Eskelsen García

As COVID-19 pandemic continues spreading around the world, educators are being called on to teach, reach and comfort their students and guide frantic parents. Stories shared by my EI colleagues fill me with hope. We are all in this together. We will get through this crisis together.

Inclusive education in Canada: Steps taken and the long road ahead, by Dr. Sherri Brown

Sherri Brown

We are already fully into the snow and cold of winter here in Ottawa, Canada, and the snow is blowing outside as I apply layer onto layer of clothing onto my wiggling 8-year-old son. As I drop him off at school, his educational assistant takes in a gasp of cold...

#EI25: "Making a difference in a different world", by Davanand Sinanan (TTUTA, Trinidad and Tobago)

Davanand Sinanan

Few would argue that the world has changed in a significant manner over the last decade through a combination of geopolitics and communication technology. The rapid rate of change seems to have caught most people off-guard and as a result is struggling to keep pace. Very few analysists have been...