Teach For All’s Future of Work Initiative
Supporting teachers and communities to grow students as leaders who thrive in future careers
Teach For All envisions a future where all children and youth, particularly those in low-income communities, have access to the education, support, and opportunity that will equip them to not only navigate that world but lead it. Teach For All’s Future of Work Initiative aims to build the collective leadership necessary to support teachers and communities to grow students as leaders and prepare them for the future of work. Bringing together educators, students, business leaders, and key stakeholders, we strive to reorient education toward students’ holistic development and incorporate career readiness into learning and curriculum.
The Future of Work Initiative adopts a multistakeholder approach, involving all key stakeholders, provides an inclusive platform where all voices are valued, and focuses on three key priorities:
- Supporting teachers to develop students holistically by facilitating the global Future of Work, STEM, and Financial Education communities of practice and learning experiences for educators to share resources and learn best practices.
- Connecting students to opportunities to learn about industries and future careers, and expand their access to Career Readiness Education, STEM, Digital skills, and Financial Education.
- Spreading Future of Work solutions for system-level impact by elevating locally rooted knowledge to contribute to the global discussion on how to reorient education towards students’ holistic development and prepare them for future careers.
The Challenge
The Future of Work is rapidly changing. It is characterized by uncertainty and complexity and influenced by fast-evolving technology and constant shifts in how we live, work, and learn. While all children have enormous potential, education systems around the world are failing to provide many with the learning opportunities that will prepare them for the future they’ll soon inherit. This is especially true for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are less likely to take part in career development activities and access STEM, digital literacy, and financial education.
Improving youth employability through multi-stakeholder collaboration
Through a multi-stakeholder approach, this initiative facilitates collaboration between educators, employers, and communities to co-create and implement career readiness content tailored to the unique aspirations and needs of students in underserved communities.
Teach For All therefore worked with DHL Group to develop Career Readiness Education Framework, which translates the findings of OECD career readiness research into an actionable approach that enables students to experience future career paths.
To continuously enhance Future of Work curriculum and solutions, this Initiative aims to cultivate local innovation and research capacity to ensure relevance and accelerate the adoption of Future of Work solutions by school systems.
Teach For All launched the pilot phase of the Career Education & Leadership Accelerator Fund in collaboration with DHL Group, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at supporting globally-informed and locally-led innovations and generating evidence-based knowledge to deepen our understanding of what enhances the career readiness of students in the communities we work with. The knowledge generated from this project and other activities of the initiative will be hosted in the open-access learning and insights hub, accessible to all educators and stakeholders.
Initiative Impact
In 2023, Teach For All and network partners across the globe focused on Future of Work projects in 37 countries, enabled by 10 corporate partnerships, reaching more than 2,760 teachers and 166,000 students with programs in 4 content areas that we, alongside our partners and stakeholders, believe to be critical to preparing students for the world of work: Career Education, Digital Literacy, Financial Education, and STEM. The Initiative has accelerated access to high-quality career readiness and leadership education for students in underserved communities through several key activities. Click here for our 2023 Future of Work Impact Report.
More Resources: Learning and Insights Hub
The Future of Work section of the Learning & Insights Hub provides even more curated information, materials and other resources designed to empower educators in preparing students to meet the challenges of the workforce.
The materials available are sorted by region and different types of resources emphasizing the four topics of Career Readiness, Digital Skills, Financial Literacy as well as STEM Education.
Get Involved
We are committed to expanding the reach and impact of the Future of Work Initiative to ensure that every child is equipped to thrive in future careers. Whether you are an educator, business leader, or involved in preparing children and youth to succeed in careers, please reach out to Tarek Chehidi to discuss and sign up for bi-monthly updates on the Future of Work Initiative.
