Economics & Development

Effective primary school teachers are the foundation of quality education. By instilling in children the skills that carry through further schooling, employment, and life, effective primary school teachers build a country’s human capital and, over time, facilitate economic growth and shared prosperity. How can education systems best equip teachers from the outset of their careers? The answer begins with initial teacher education (ITE), the foundation of teachers’ lifelong professional learning. It provides aspiring teachers with the core knowledge and skills for teaching, as well as with a strong professional identity to prepare them for the demands of the classroom. From Prospective to Prepared Teacher: A Global Study of Initial Teacher Education examines how ITE is delivered worldwide. It offers five guiding principles for countries seeking to strengthen teacher preparation: making ITE programs attractive and selective; providing relevant content delivered by skilled teacher educators; incorporating quality field placements; aligning institutions for responsive and efficient ITE; enhancing quality assurance processes. The report draws on detailed analysis of country experiences from Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Ghana, India, Kenya, Morocco, Viet Nam, and Zambia - as well as examples from many additional countries - to demonstrate how decision makers can improve teacher preparation across different country contexts.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) defines platforms as thematic interventions at a regional, global, or sectoral level designed to address a specific development challenge. This is a snapshot of the early-stage evaluation that assesses IFC’s platforms approach through the lens of all seven platforms introduced between FY17 and FY22.

This document relates to the IFC Project Number 49199.