Rebecca Winthrop | |
---|---|
Education | Swarthmore College (BA) Columbia University (MA, PhD) |
Occupation | Professor |
Employer | Brookings Institution |
Rebecca Winthrop is an American expert on global education. [1] She is currently the director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service. [2] [3]
Winthrop served as a technical adviser and education expert at the International Rescue Committee from 2001 to 2009, overseeing education programs in twenty crisis-affected countries. In 2009, President Obama invited her to serve as an advisor to The White House Council on Women and Girls, and in 2012, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed her chair of the Global Education First Initiative's Technical Advisory Group formed to raise the political profile of global education.
Winthrop is a contributor to several periodicals and an author of books examining topics related to global education, humanitarian aid, sustainable development, and global citizenship, especially in India and Africa. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Her most recent book is The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better (Penguin, 2024). [9] [10]
Winthrop obtained a BA from Swarthmore College in 1996, an MA from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in 2001, and a PhD. in 2008 from Teachers College, Columbia University. [11] [12]
From 2001 to 2009, Winthrop served as a senior technical advisor for education at the International Rescue Committee in New York. As the concurrent chair of the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies, Winthrop developed an agenda designed to ensure education is not left off the global agenda, [13] and was involved in implementing the first global standards for education in emergencies used in over one hundred countries. [14] In 2009, Winthrop joined the Brookings Institution as a senior fellow. [15]
At Brookings, Winthrop worked with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Office of Global Women's Issues to design a girls’ education collaborative focused on next generation gender equality. [16] [17] She also worked with President Obama's Office of Women and Girls’ and with the Office of the First Lady on the global girls’ education initiative. [18] [19] In 2014, Winthrop convened with UNESCO Institute of Statistics a global task force with participation from over one hundred countries to develop a shared agenda around prioritizing and measuring learning outcomes. [20] The report contributed to the development of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. [21] In 2019, Winthrop was appointed director of the Center for Universal Eduction. [2]
Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services". Historically, other definitions have been proposed within the United Nations.
Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, the motivations for reform have not reflected the current needs of society. A consistent theme of reform includes the idea that large systematic changes to educational standards will produce social returns in citizens' health, wealth, and well-being.
Eugene Benton Sperling is an American lawyer who was director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He is the only person to serve as national economic advisor under two presidents. Outside of government, he founded the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in 2002.
Education policy consists of the principles and policy decisions that influence the field of education, as well as the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems. Education governance may be shared between the local, state, and federal government at varying levels. Some analysts see education policy in terms of social engineering.
Cameroon is a Central African nation on the Gulf of Guinea. Bantu speakers were among the first groups to settle Cameroon, followed by the Muslim Fulani until German domination in 1884. After World War I, the French took over 80% of the area, and the British 20%. After World War II, self-government was granted, and in 1972, a unitary republic was formed out of East and West Cameroon. Until 1976 there were two separate education systems, French and English, which did not merge seamlessly. English and French are now considered the primary languages of instruction with English being more preferred. Local languages are generally not taught as there are too many, and choosing between them would raise further issues.
The system of education in Uganda has a structure of 7 years of primary education, 6 years of secondary education, and 3 to 5 years of post-secondary education. Education in Uganda is administered in English. All throughout the levels in the education structure, modules are taught and assessed in English. The government of Uganda recognizes education as a basic human right and continues to strive to provide free primary education to all children in the country. However, issues with funding, teacher training, rural populations, and inadequate facilities continue to hinder the progress of educational development in Uganda. Girls in Uganda are disproportionately discriminated against in terms of education; they face harsher barriers when trying to gain an education and it has left the female population disenfranchised, despite government efforts to close the gap.
The history of education in Africa can be divided into pre-colonial and post-colonial periods. Since the introduction of formal education by European colonists to Africa, education, particularly in West and Central Africa, has been characterized by both traditional African teachings and European-style schooling systems.
CAMFED is an international non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 1993 whose mission is to eradicate poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women. CAMFED programs operate in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi.
Education in Lebanon is regulated by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE). In Lebanon, the main three languages, English and/or French with Arabic are taught from early years in schools. English or French are the mandatory media of instruction for mathematics and sciences for all schools. Education is compulsory from age 3 to 14.
The concept of human development expands upon the notion of economic development to include social, political and even ethical dimensions. Since the mid-twentieth century, international organisations such as the United Nations and the World Bank have adopted human development as a holistic approach to evaluating a country’s progress that considers living conditions, social relations, individual freedoms and political institutions that contribute to freedom and well-being, in addition to standard measures of income growth.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical office of UNESCO and is the UN depository for cross-nationally comparable statistics on education, science and technology, culture, and communication.
Worldreader is a 501(c)(3) global nonprofit organization working with partners to get children reading at least 25 books a year with understanding.
Bridge International Academies is a company which provides for-profit education to children in India, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. It was started in 2008, and calls itself a "social enterprise". By 2022, Bridge had around 750,000 students in its schools. As of March 2023, it is the world's largest for-profit primary education chain. Its parent company is NewGlobe Schools, Inc.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests. The SDGs highlight the connections between the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. Sustainability is at the center of the SDGs, as the term sustainable development implies.
Founded in 2002 by Gene Sperling, the Center for Universal Education is a policy center at the Brookings Institution focused on universal quality education particularly in the developing world. Originally a think tank for the Council on Foreign Relations, it moved to the Brookings Institution in 2009. The center works to influence the development of policy related to global education and promotes actionable strategies for governments, civil society and private enterprise. Through its research, policy engagement, and convening, the Brookings Institution's Center for Universal Education aims to inform the global education agenda, advance learning metrics, improve education resources and learning outcomes, and reach marginalized groups.
The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity was set up in 2015 to reinvigorate the case for investing in education and to chart a pathway for increasing investment, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Chaired by United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Global Education and former United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Commission presented its report, The Learning Generation: Investing in Education for a Changing World, to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on September 18, 2016. The report called for "the largest expansion of educational opportunity in history." The Secretary-General indicated that he will act on the commission's recommendations.
Climate change education (CCE) is education that aims to address and develop effective responses to climate change. It helps learners understand the causes and consequences of climate change, prepares them to live with the impacts of climate change and empowers learners to take appropriate actions to adopt more sustainable lifestyles. Climate change and climate change education are global challenges that can be anchored in the curriculum in order to provide local learning and widen up mindset shifts on how climate change can be mitigated. In such as case CCE is more than climate change literacy but understanding ways of dealing with climate
SDG 4, or Sustainable Development Goal 4, is a commitment to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. This goal aims to provide children and young people with quality and easy access to education, as well as other learning opportunities, and supports the reduction of inequalities. The key targets of SDG 4 include ensuring that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education, increasing the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills for employment, and eliminating gender disparities in education.
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Emiliana Vegas is a U.S.-based policy analyst, academic, and author. She is a [[[professor of practice]] at the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University.