Teach4Reach Project: Exploring the synergies between Teacher Education Programmes and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Teach4Reach is an Africa-Uninet (https://africa-uninet.at/en/) funded collaborative project awarded to the University of Pretoria, University of Vienna and the University of Innsbruck. Two University of Pretoria academics, Professor Irma Eloff and Dr Kgadi Mathabathe work collaboratively with Professor Evi Agostini (Universities of Vienna) and Dr Ann-Kathrin Dittrich (University of Innsbruck) are the principal investigators of theTeach4Reach project. Furthermore, Dr Kgadi Mathabathe is also the Head of Residence (HOR) at the Future Africa Research Institute an initiative by the University of Pretoria to develop innovative transdisciplinary skills transfer programmes to address Africa's growth and development challenges and developing capacity for solution-based, interconnected and Pan-African research networks for innovation.
The purpose of the Teach4Reach project is to expand the curricula on Sustainable Development and the Global Goals in teacher education programmes as a strategic initiative to impact on and optimally support Agenda 2030. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the project will also support the master plan for transforming Africa - Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. The project is a response to the UP-Vice Chancellor-led initiative to increase the role of universities in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to strengthen the partnerships between Africa and Austria.
The project consists of a series of online and in-person webinars that are coupled with research colloquia, workshops and knowledge dissemination events over a two-year period (2021 – 2022). The project explores in-depth how teacher education programmes in the Global South (Africa) and the Global North (Austria) can be leveraged to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It seeks to raise awareness about the SDGs in teachers and teacher educators, to craft future-focused research agendas on quality education (SDG 4), gender equality (SDG 5), the reduction of inequality (SDG 10) and good health and wellbeing (SDG 3). It also aims to build international collaborative networks to support the SDGs and to support scientific knowledge development broadly in the sustainability field.
The first webinar, focused on Quality Education (SDG 4), taking place virtually on the 21st of July, is hosted by the University of Pretoria and will be opened by Professor Kupe. The participants from Austria and South Africa will include researchers, leaders, policy makers, civil society organizations, teacher educators, pre-service and in-service teachers, postgraduate students as well as relevant stakeholders.
The project aligns to the Future Africa themes and underscores the theme: Future Education: empowering stakeholders through access to transformative education opportunities for the 21st century and beyond.
For more information on the project and the project leaders, refer to the links below:
Project description at the University of Vienna: https://vigna.univie.ac.at/standorte/universitaet-pretoria/teach4reach-teaching-the-global-goals/
Twitter: @Teach4Reach
Professor Irma Eloff, University of Pretoria
LinkedIn: https://za.linkedin.com/in/irma-eloff-b55b327
Dr Kgadi Mathabathe, University of Pretoria
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kgadi-Mathabathe
Professor Evi Agostini, University of Vienna
University of Vienna: https://lehrerinnenbildung.univie.ac.at/arbeitsbereiche/bildungswissenschaften/team/agostini-evi/
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evi-Agostini
Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xB4TR0cAAAAJ&hl=it
Dr Ann-Kathrin Dittrich, University of Innsbruck
University of Innsbruck: https://www.uibk.ac.at/ils/mitarbeiter/dittrich/
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dittrich-Ann-Kathrin
