[UCL ERICC Webinar Series] Teacher Management in Conflict & Protracted Crisis

INEE, UCL, and the ERICC consortium invite you to a webinar on Teacher Management in Conflict and Protracted Crisis!

This webinar is part of a series hosted by UCL Institute of Education, which aims to promote dialogue and synergy between emerging findings from the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) programme and the work of scholars and practitioners in the field. 

This second webinar brings together Dr. Danielle Falk (International Rescue Committee), Dr. Mary Mendenhall (Teachers College, Columbia University), and Mading Peter Angong (Education Action in Crisis) to share their ongoing research with teachers working amidst conflict, crisis, and forced displacement. They will be joined by Discussant Dr. Sean Higgins (UCL Institute of Education). The webinar focuses on key challenges and opportunities for teacher management in conflict and protracted crisis settings, recognising that teachers are at the centre of children and young people’s educational experiences, especially in contexts affected by conflict and crisis where they may be the only resource amidst educational scarcity (Mendenhall et al., 2019). Yet, despite their central role, teachers face persistent challenges in their work, including irrelevant and inadequate professional development, difficult working conditions, insufficient compensation and benefits, limited to no career progression opportunities, and tenuous job security undermine the teaching profession, compromising teaching quality and leading many to leave the profession or avoid joining it in the first place (Falk, 2023; Martin, 2018; Wolf et al., 2015; UNESCO et al., 2024). 

One of the first steps needed for improving support to teachers is understanding teacher management systems. Teacher management refers to the policies and functions pertaining to teacher recruitment, deployment, professional development and appraisal, compensation and benefits, and career progression. It informs the financing, allocation, and supply of teachers, and has important implications for teacher performance, motivation, and retention (Bengtsson et al., 2020; Best, Tournier, & Chimier, 2018; Halliday, 1995). In an integrated presentation, Dr. Danielle Falk will present the main findings of ERICC’s global evidence review on teacher management that drew on 158 empirical research documents on teachers in crisis contexts, focusing on four areas: teacher supply (right to work, contracts, recruitment, and deployment); compensation and benefits; data-driven policymaking; and teacher voice. Dr. Mary Mendenhall and Mading Peter Angong will provide context-specific teacher management examples –with a particular focus on teacher compensation and benefits – from a recent qualitative study conducted in South Sudan. They will further discuss the implications of the continued reluctance of governments, donors, and other education actors to pay livable wages to teachers working in crisis contexts. 

BIOS

CHAIR: Tejendra Pherali is Professor of Education, Conflict and Peace at IOE, University College London where he leads research and teaching on Education, Conflict and Peacebuilding. He developed a pioneering Masters programme in Conflict, Emergencies and Peace at UCL. Currently, he co-directs the Education Research in Conflict and Crisis (ERICC), a global research and learning partnership that strives to transform education policy and practice in conflict and protracted crisis around the world, through building a global hub for rigorous, context-relevant and actionable evidence base. He is the former Chair of British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE), and the editor of Education and Conflict Review. Tejendra is the author of Conflict, Education and Peace in Nepal(Bloomsbury, 2022) and co-author of Laboratories of Learning: Social Movements, Education and Knowledge-Making in the Global South (Pluto Press, 2024)

DISCUSSANT: Sean Higgins is a Lecturer in Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, University College London. His research focuses on pedagogical practices, curriculum, teacher agency and more broadly educational provision in conflict and crisis-affected contexts, including Sierra Leone, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Liberia. 

SPEAKERS:

Danielle Falk, Ph.D. is an Education Researcher at the International Rescue Committee. Her research focuses on the lived experiences of teachers in crisis contexts as well as the policy environment influencing their work. For the last nine years, she has contributed to research on teacher well-being, teacher identity, teacher professional development (TPD), teacher management, and school leadership in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Sudan, and has designed and implemented multi-modal, continuous TPD for teachers in these settings.

Mary Mendenhall, Ed.D. is an Associate Professor of International and Comparative Education and Director of the George Clement Bond Center for African Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research is situated in the fields of education in emergencies, forced migration and refugee studies, and teacher policy. Her work draws on longitudinal, participatory, and qualitative approaches to critically understand and learn from and with individuals experiencing displacement. Her ongoing research focuses on teachers’ lives and professional identities, teacher development, and public sector policies that affect different profiles of teachers in forced displacement settings.

Mading Peter Angong is the Co-founder and Program Manager of Education Action in Crisis, a dedicated South Sudanese non-governmental organization founded and managed by a team of former refugee youth who are South Sudanese educational and humanitarian professionals committed to addressing urgent community needs in South Sudan. With a decade of experience in Education in Emergencies, teacher development, humanitarian aid, disaster management, and research, Mading has made significant contributions to the field. His expertise spans community engagement, leadership, and applied research in crisis contexts. He completed his bachelor’s in conflict resolution and humanitarian assistance at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (Kenya), and his master’s in disaster intervention and humanitarian aid at the University of Stirling (Scotland).

The recording of this webinar and all presentations will be posted on the INEE website. If you have any questions about the webinar, contact [email protected].