Ei-iE

Future of work in education

The future of education depends on strengthening the teaching profession, enhancing its status, and improving conditions to ensure that every student has a qualified teacher. The expertise of teachers must be recognised. Teachers must be the ones leading the development and future of education.

Technology and artificial intelligence are currently changing education as we know it. COVID-19 has accelerated the pace of change, forcing classrooms to move online for extended periods of time. While technology has the potential to support teaching and learning, it also poses major challenges, such as the critical digital divide and increased inequity, the commercialisation of education, issues of data privacy and cyberbullying, to name just a few.

Simply introducing education technology does not lead to enhanced learning. The teaching profession has a critical role to play in evaluating and deciding on the appropriate technology for teaching and learning.

As proven by the COVID-19 crisis, relationships between teachers and students and school communities are critical to student development and cannot be replaced by screens. We advocate for a human and student-centred approach to the use of technology and artificial intelligence in education.

Our work in this area

  1. News 10 October 2025

    Education International launches network and resource centre to support the health and well-being of education workers

    On World Mental Health Day, Education International launched two new initiatives dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of teachers and education support personnel around the world. The network and resource centre will allow education unions to share best practices in order to foster healthier, more supportive environments for education...

    Education International launches network and resource centre to support the health and well-being of education workers
  2. Worlds of Education 7 October 2025

    Novice teachers under pressure: Insights from TALIS 2024

    Heewoon Bae

    Reports of teacher shortages in many countries around the world raise questions about teachers’ well-being and job satisfaction. Which teachers are thriving? Which ones are struggling? What might make teachers more likely to leave the profession? What could support teachers to stay? Data from the fourth cycle of the Teaching...

    Novice teachers under pressure: Insights from TALIS 2024
  3. News 7 October 2025

    New TALIS data: Report confirms need to act on global teacher shortage and working conditions

    New data reveals a stark reality: One in five teachers under 30 years of age plan to leave the profession within the next five years. In some education systems, this figure rises to half of young teachers. This finding from the 2024 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), launched today,...

    New TALIS data: Report confirms need to act on global teacher shortage and working conditions
  4. Worlds of Education 29 September 2025

    Education voices | Collective union action in defence of collegial governance

    Sinéad Kennedy

    This testimony was collected as part of the research project entitled “In the eye of the storm: Higher education in an age of crises” conducted by Howard Stevenson, Maria Antonietta Vega Castillo, Melanie Bhend, and Vasiliki-Eleni Selechopoulou for Education International. The research report and executive summary are available here .

    Education voices | Collective union action in defence of collegial governance
  5. News 23 September 2025

    Human-centred AI: EI's global conference charts the future of education

    While tech companies race to embed Artificial Intelligence (AI) in schools and campuses worldwide, the voices of educators have been largely sidelined. Education International's conference, Shaping Our Future: Education Unions Leading for a Human-Centred AI, puts educators back at the centre. The 4-5 December Brussels conference will bring together union...

    Human-centred AI: EI's global conference charts the future of education
  6. News 23 July 2025

    United States: Union-powered National Academy for AI Instruction aims to put teachers in the driver’s seat on technology in the classroom

    Founded by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and its affiliate the United Federation of Teachers in partnership with Microsoft, Open AI, and Anthropic, the National Academy for AI Instruction will provide access to free training and curriculum on artificial intelligence (AI) for all 1.8 million members of the AFT.

    United States: Union-powered National Academy for AI Instruction aims to put teachers in the driver’s seat on technology in the classroom
  7. News 15 July 2025

    Ethiopia and Nepal: Go Public! campaign showing strong results with solidarity and strategic advocacy

    In a world where education systems are increasingly under threat from austerity measures and privatization, EI’s Go Public! campaign has emerged as a powerful force for change, as demonstrated during a recent EI Development Cooperation (DC) Café gathering union leaders and partners.

    Ethiopia and Nepal: Go Public! campaign showing strong results with solidarity and strategic advocacy
  8. News 9 July 2025

    Education International opens consultations to ensure voice of the profession is heard in the revision of international Recommendations on the status of teaching personnel

    In the lead up to the revision of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (1966) and the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel (1997), Education International (EI) has launched a consultation process with its 375 member organisations representing over 33 million educators in 180 countries...

    Education International opens consultations to ensure voice of the profession is heard in the revision of international Recommendations on the status of teaching personnel
  9. News 21 March 2025

    Go Public! Fund Education campaign reaches Dominican Republic

    On Friday 21 March, Eduardo Hidalgo, president of the ADP teachers’ union, announced the organisation’s commitment to hold a National Leaders’ Plenary to plan the development of Education International’s Go Public! campaign in the Dominican Republic.

    Go Public! Fund Education campaign reaches Dominican Republic
  10. Publications

    Quality Education: The Key to Prosperity and Well-being

    EI briefing to International Summit of the Teaching Profession 2025
    4 March 2025

    This year we turn our attention to fostering equity and well-being in our education systems, starting from those essential early years, and to empowering students to actively participate in shaping their futures and the world. We will also focus on the well-being of teachers and education support personnel as a...

    Quality Education: The Key to Prosperity and Well-being See resources 1
  11. Worlds of Education 12 February 2025

    Nordic academic freedom under threat

    Jon W. Iddeng

    All democratic societies rely on facts and scientific evidence for societal decision-making. Academic freedom ensures that researchers and educators at universities can provide this evidence. These institutions have a special responsibility to meet society's need for basic, curiosity-driven research, to maintain a broad knowledge readiness, and to serve as a...

    Nordic academic freedom under threat
  12. Worlds of Education 7 February 2025

    Academic freedom at risk: the view from North America

    David Robinson

    To fulfil their mission of preserving, sharing, and advancing knowledge, higher education institutions must ensure that academic staff enjoy academic freedom. Academic freedom isn’t a special perk or privilege. Rather, it’s a necessary condition for the job. It is a professional and contractual right ensuring that in their teaching, research,...

    Academic freedom at risk: the view from North America
  13. Worlds of Education 24 January 2025

    The best way to celebrate education? Mobilize to defend it, to strengthen, and to fund it

    David Edwards

    Education is a human right, a public good, and a public responsibility. It relies on the millions of dedicated teachers and support personnel who make it happen in a place called school across the world every day. When this committed education workforce is undermined, the right to education is at...

    The best way to celebrate education? Mobilize to defend it, to strengthen, and to fund it
  14. Worlds of Education 23 January 2025

    Addressing the teacher shortage crisis: A Global Imperative

    Dr. Ben Arnold, Dr. Mark Rahimi

    The Global Status of Teachers 2024 (GST) report highlights a stark reality: teacher shortages constitute a crisis with profound implications for education systems in many countries. Drawing on insights from 204 teacher unions across 121 countries, the report provides an overview of the current challenges and opportunities facing the profession.

    Addressing the teacher shortage crisis: A Global Imperative
  15. Research

    The Global Status of Teachers 2024

    Dr. Ben Arnold, Dr. Mark Rahimi
    23 January 2025

    The Global Status of Teachers report provides a global and regional analysis of the status and conditions of the teaching profession by representing the views of teacher unions worldwide.

    The Global Status of Teachers 2024 See resources 1
  16. News 7 November 2024

    Brazil: Education leaders from around the world call for stronger public education systems

    Teachers, union leaders, and legislators from eleven countries came together in Fortaleza, Brazil, for the Global Education Seminar, a two-day event held to coincide with the G20 Education Ministers’ Meeting. The event served as a platform to discuss strategies to strengthen public education amid a complex global landscape.

    Brazil: Education leaders from around the world call for stronger public education systems
  17. News 7 October 2024

    Peru: Latin America commemorates World Teachers’ Day

    On Friday 3 October, Education International Latin America (EILA) commemorated World Teachers’ Day (WTD) with the participation of representatives from Peru, Costa Rica, Argentina, Colombia, Honduras, Ecuador and Paraguay.

    Peru: Latin America commemorates World Teachers’ Day
  18. News 4 October 2024

    The future rests with our teachers. Stand with us!

    Mugwena Maluleke, President of Education International, address for World Teachers’ Day 2024

    I want to acknowledge the incredible work of Education International's member organizations worldwide, who are marking this day with their own celebrations and actions, standing united in our call to value, respect, and invest in teachers. From rural to urban schools, across both the Global South and North, they amplify...

    The future rests with our teachers. Stand with us!