The Teach For All Global Conference

The Teach For All Global Conference

Baoshan, Yunnan Province, China

Connect Learn Reflect

In October 2013, over 200 members of the Teach For All community gathered in the town of Tengchong amidst the mountains of China’s Yunnan Province for the 2013 Teach For All Global Conference, hosted by network partner Teach For China.

With the theme of “Connect, Learn, Reflect,” the conference immersed us all in the rural Chinese context in which Teach For China places many of its Fellows. For three days, our diverse group of partner CEOs and staff, supporters, alumni, Teach For All staff, and Teach For China staff, fellows, and alumni explored the theme of “Excellent Education” together. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Friedman, in his keynote address, solidified the importance of high-quality education in today’s interconnected global world, and the OECD’s Andreas Schleicher inspired us with evidence that there is great potential for education systems around the world to dramatically improve. In intimate xiao zu group sessions, we learned from each other’s innovations and shared knowledge from across the globe.

Among the highlights of our time together in Tengchong were the visits to local schools and communities in which Teach For China fellows work and live. We were warmly welcomed into classrooms and homes and had the unique opportunity to engage with families about their hopes and dreams for their children.

In celebration of an incredible collective experience, we are delighted to share these memories of the 2013 Teach For All Global Conference with you. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do, and we look forward to continuing this journey towards educational excellence and equity together.

Connect

Learn

Reflect

If raw idealism and willingness to take up the hardest challenges count for anything, you have to be hopeful. Traveling here last week was like spending four days with 32 Malala Yousafzais from 32 different nations.

—Thomas Friedman,

JOU R NA L IST, T H E N EW YOR K T I M ES

What I’ve been thinking about is a promise: To go back and engage our communities in the conversation about what our hopes and dreams are for our children, and how can we stay connected to the community so that we can work on these hopes and dreams together.

— Julie Jackson, M A NAGING DIR EC TOR ,

It was inspiring to meet so many people doing great things in their respective countries and thought-provoking to think about how the challenge varies in different parts of the world.

— Tom Ravenscroft, M A NAGING DIR EC TOR , ENA BL ING EN T ER PR ISE , T E ACH FIR ST 2007

U NCOM MON SCHOOL S,

BROOK LY N & N EWA R K EL E M EN TA RY, T E ACH FOR A M ER IC A 1994

I’m truly grateful for our time together in China and hope that we stay connected to one another throughout the year in order to share our successes and lessons learned, because it is really through these learnings that we will drive our collective impact against educational inequity.

This conference gave me a moment to pause, listen, and reflect. I am grateful that I was able to learn from each conversation I had with conference participants. I started to slowly realize that the issues plaguing education inequity in Baltimore are plaguing cities on the other side of the world.

Much of what we learned about each other’s networks can be applied to our local contexts.

— Yasmene Mumby, DIR EC TOR OF

COM MU NI T Y ENG AGE M EN T, CO-CH A IR ,

— Ta Pholpoke, CEO,

BA LT I MOR E EDUC AT ION COA L I T ION, K IPP

T E ACH FOR T H A IL A N D

Our visit to Feng Huang village was transformational. The idea that a village where the population of less than 5,000 could benefit from the presence of three very talented young people is extraordinary.

— Jack Wadsworth,

T E ACH FOR A L L SU PPORT ER

Among the highlights of the day was walking from the school alongside water buffalo and rice paddies to the house of one of the boys that attends the school and sitting down to tea.

Through an interpreter, I asked what the father wanted for the boy’s future.

He became a little emotional as he answered, “I want him to stay in school and leave this community and get a good job. I want him to be happy.”

— Steven Farr, SENIOR DIR EC TOR , T R A NSFOR M AT IONA L T E ACHING , T E ACH FOR A L L

BA LT I MOR E , T E ACH FOR A M ER IC A 2008

At the Global Conference, I learned that in a human capitaldependent, wicked problem-type, slow idea-inducing field like education, systems are paramount. You need to design systems in a way that they can leverage the best out of ordinary performers instead of designing systems to wait for superstars.

—Gaurav Singh, FOU N DER , 3.2.1 EDUC AT ION FOU N DAT ION, T E ACH FOR IN DI A 2009

The conference gave us a real chance to learn from each other—it is incredible how well Teach For All partners are doing. I gained a lot not just from the speeches and discussions, but from the many conversations in between.

— Mi Zhenhua, E X EC U T I V E DIR EC TOR

OF Y U N NA N R EGION, T E ACH FOR CHINA

After a very thought-provoking week, I for one left China more convinced than ever that our success depends on engaging our staff, teachers,

Our time in Tengchong has given me so much joy, energy and enthusiasm to keep fighting the good fight and tremendous hope that one day we will be successful in ensuring that every child has access to excellent education. I came back home feeling deeply positive about the road ahead and very connected to the vision of what we’re all working towards.

— Chaitra Murlidhar, PROGR A M H E A D, TSIF T E ACH ER T R A INING PROGR A M , T H ER M A X SOCI A L INI T I AT I V E FOU N DAT ION, T E ACH FOR IN DI A 2010

and alumni in an ongoing, critical dialogue about what we’re striving to achieve for our students. We must ground this conversation in the aspirations of the families we’re working with, an understanding of the local context—its constraints and opportunities—and an informed sense of the skills and characteristics our students will need to thrive in the future.

— Wendy Kopp, CO-FOU N DER A N D CEO, T E ACH FOR A L L

THE TEACH FOR ALL NETWORK

PHOTO CREDITS

COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY NOAH SHELDON Additional color photography by Jeffrey Levick, Deborah Levine, and Juan Pablo Martinez BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY BY THOMAS DUNN COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY JUAN PABLO MARTINEZ A SPEC I A L T H A N K S TO JAC K A N D S US Y WA DS WORT H FOR SPONSORING THIS BOOK